Con Son Pagoda - one of the typical relics of Hai Duong.

Located in the Northeast of the Northern Delta, Hai Duong has a natural area of ​​1,668 km2 and a population of over 1.9 million people. Belonging to the Northern key economic region (Hanoi - Hai Phong - Quang Ninh), it has convenient transportation by road and waterway due to its proximity to seaports and airports, so the connection is very convenient for Hai Duong to develop its economy and tourism.

Cultural heritage treasure

Hai Duong today - the ancient Eastern land has many valuable landscapes, which have long been famous such as Con Son - Kiep Bac, Phuong Hoang, Thanh Mai red maple forest (Chi Linh); An Phu - Kinh Chu - Nham Duong (Kinh Mon); Huong river landscape with fruit orchards (Thanh Ha); Stork Island area (Thanh Mien) - a wetland ecosystem with thousands of storks, herons... the only one remaining in the Red River Delta.

For generations, this has been the birthplace, gathering place and shining place of many national heroes and cultural celebrities such as Khuc Thua Du, Tran Hung Dao, Chu Van An, Mac Dinh Chi, Pham Su Manh, Tue Tinh, Nguyen Trai, Nguyen Thi Due... As a land with a rich history and unique cultural heritage with 3,199 historical, cultural and scenic relics, Hai Duong also has four relics, clusters and groups of relics ranked as special national relics: Con Son - Kiep Bac, An Phu - Kinh Chu - Nham Duong, Mao Dien Temple of Literature, Xua Temple - Giam Pagoda - Bia Temple; along with 142 national relics and 271 provincial relics; 11 national treasures and 11 national intangible cultural heritages.

Besides many scenic spots, amazing caves and attractive ecological areas, this place preserves many rare artifacts such as animal bones, fossilized prehistoric human bones, stone tools, ceramic household utensils, ancient coins... confirming that humans have continuously resided in Kinh Mon land from 30,000 to 50,000 years ago.

The land is famous for many traditional craft villages such as: Dong Giao wood carving (Cam Giang), Chu Dau pottery (Nam Sach), Chau Khe jewelry (Binh Giang), Hong Luc and Lieu Trang woodblock printing (Hai Duong city), Xuan Neo embroidery (Tu Ky), Tam Lam footwear (Gia Loc), Tien Kieu mat weaving (Thanh Ha)... This is also a countryside rich in traditional art forms such as Cheo singing, Tuong singing, Ca Tru singing, Chau Van singing, water puppetry... which have been recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Coming here, visitors can enjoy many famous domestic and foreign culinary specialties such as: green bean cake - top 10 Asian specialty gifts; rice cake, rice rolls (Hai Duong city); gai cake (Ninh Giang); Ke Sat rice paper (Binh Giang); sausage (Gia Loc); yellow flower sticky rice, onion and garlic (Kinh Mon); lychee (Thanh Ha); rươi, cay (Tu Ky, Kim Thanh) ...

With over 800 festivals, including major festivals such as Con Son, Kiep Bac (Chi Linh), Cao Temple (Kinh Mon), Tranh Temple (Ninh Giang)... the province has great potential and strength in cultural tourism, contributing to the development of the tourism industry in the locality and the entire Northeast region.

Efforts to honor heritage and develop tourism

Possessing a rich and diverse cultural heritage, in recent years, the province has focused on focusing many investment resources on preserving and promoting the value of cultural heritage and developing tourism.

Notably, the Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac Monuments and Landscape Complex in the three provinces of Quang Ninh, Hai Duong, and Bac Giang is being surveyed and evaluated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for nomination to be considered for recognition as a World Heritage Site. The importance of this monument and landscape complex is affirmed through a series of monuments and landscapes in the heritage area that have been identified and ranked at the provincial, national and special national levels, with all four types: historical relics, architectural and artistic relics, archaeological relics, and scenic sites.

The dossier of the Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son - Kiep Bac Monuments and Landscape Complex is the first cultural heritage dossier to be implemented in all three provinces, an unprecedented event in Vietnam. To build a scientific dossier of this complex to submit to UNESCO, the Provincial People's Committee coordinated with the People's Committees of Quang Ninh and Bac Giang provinces. If recognized by UNESCO, the Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son - Kiep Bac Monuments and Landscape Complex will be the first inter-provincial world cultural heritage of Vietnam, demonstrating the efforts to honor the heritage of the three provinces, including Hai Duong province.

In the field of intangible cultural heritage, after Ca Tru singing was recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent protection in 2009, the province has made practical and responsible contributions to protecting and promoting the values ​​of Ca Tru singing heritage passed down to future generations as well as contributing to protecting the national cultural identity.

Currently, together with other provinces and cities in the Northern midland delta, the province has completed the Cheo Art Profile to submit to UNESCO for recognition as a representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

Along with efforts to preserve and promote heritage, Hai Duong also focuses on exploiting and developing tourism products associated with the province’s cultural strengths. Many unique tourism products have become its “brand”.

Coming to Hai Duong means coming to cultural tourism to visit scenic spots in Con Son - Kiep Bac, An Phu - Kinh Chu - Nham Duong, Chu Van An temple, Tranh temple, Khuc Thua Du temple, Mao Dien Temple of Literature... This land is also famous for festival tourism associated with typical festivals such as: Spring festival, Autumn festival Con Son - Kiep Bac, Cao An Phu temple festival, Nham Duong pagoda festival, Mao Dien Temple of Literature festival, Tranh temple festival...

Many types of ecotourism here also attract tourists such as: community tourism area at Stork Island, Chi Lang Nam commune (Thanh Mien); the area along Huong River (Thanh Ha)...

Determining that preserving and promoting cultural heritage must be associated with traditional cultural communities and ensuring the livelihoods of local people, Hai Duong focuses on developing craft village tourism: Chu Dau pottery (Nam Sach), Hoang Dieu footwear (Gia Loc), Hung Dao embroidery (Tu Ky), Dong Giao wood carving (Cam Giang), Hoi Yen rice paper, green bean cake (Hai Duong city), gai cake, gac cake (Ninh Giang)...

Along with developing agricultural products associated with the province's geographical names, agricultural tourism has been exploited in localities with typical agricultural products such as Thanh Ha (lychee, guava, grapefruit, earthworms, crab), Kinh Mon (oranges, onions, garlic, ostrich), Chi Linh (custard apples, longans), Nam Sach (onions, garlic, carrots), Gia Loc (melon, grapes), Tu Ky (earthworms, crab)...

Chu Dau pottery.

Keeping up with the trend of sports tourism combined with entertainment, the province also has many locations to meet the diverse needs of tourists such as Chi Linh golf course (Chi Linh city), indoor sports events at the Provincial Sports Gymnasium (Hai Duong city)...

Determining the vision for the future, the province has been building eight specific tourism products according to the Project "Developing high-quality tourism in Hai Duong province in the period of 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050". These include "Returning to the art of water puppetry in the Red River Delta" (Bo Duong village, Hong Phong commune, Ninh Giang district), "Chu Dau ceramic road - Quintessence of Vietnamese culture" (Chu Dau village, Thai Tan commune, Nam Sach district connecting with Hai Duong Provincial Museum, Hai Duong city), "Vietnamese countryside resort tourism" (Huong River area, Thanh Ha district), "Culinary culture of the Eastern people" (An Thanh commune, Tu Ky district)...

In the context of international integration, Hai Duong actively connects with international markets, especially focusing on the Asia-Pacific market such as China, Japan, Korea and ASEAN. Cooperation is carried out through exchanges, interactions and organization of regional or international cultural and tourism events, through exchanges and performances of traditional art forms (ca tru, chau van, cheo, water puppetry...).

As a land of “spiritual land and talented people”, Hai Duong today - the ancient Eastern land is always proud of its beautiful cultural heritages and is making efforts to inherit and promote those cultural traditions, contributing to affirming the role and position of the province on the map of Vietnamese cultural tourism.