In the red color of lychee from the East

Coming to the lychee land, visitors can enjoy the beautiful countryside scenery under the red ripe lychee trees. Photo: Thanh Chung

Lamp to harvest lychee

The fresh air of the peaceful countryside in the early morning is filled with the fragrant smell of ripe lychees. After filling two large baskets with bunches of lychees, Mr. Nguyen Van Dung (in Thanh Son commune) transported the lychees to provincial road 390 to sell to traders. There are many purchasing points on both sides of the road. At the third purchasing point, Mr. Dung's two heavy baskets of lychees were quickly loaded onto a truck. "I also want to sell the lychees quickly so I can go back to the garden to continue, but I haven't gotten a good price yet. I have to choose a place that offers a higher price to make it worth it," Mr. Dung said happily after selling all the lychees to traders.

To have full trucks of lychee delivered to traders, many families in Thuy Lam village (Thanh Son commune) have kept their lights on all night by the lychee trees. With more than 6 hectares of lychee, Mr. Cao Xuan Vuong's family gets up at 3-4 am to go to the garden to harvest lychee. "We are old so it's late to go at that time. Other households here pick lychee from 2 am," Mr. Vuong shared.

The tools of the lychee pickers are only a pair of gloves. The ladies wear hats and scarves on their foreheads to absorb sweat. Mr. Vuong pours fresh tea into cups, offers it to his guests, and continues: "Taking care of lychee trees is not too tiring, mainly just picking weeds and fertilizing properly." As he spoke, he peeled a lychee and introduced me to the quality of his lychee. Mr. Vuong's lychees have thick, juicy flesh and small seeds.

"Has Mr. Vuong picked a lot of lychees yet?", a voice said from behind the lychee trees. Mr. Vuong smiled happily and said as if to show off: "The neighbors came to pick lychees to help." In Thanh Ha, the relationship between neighbors is deeply connected, during lychee season, neighbors come to visit and chat with each other, which is calculated by the bunches of lychees. "Today someone took two quintals of lychees, my family had to pick them all afternoon to have time to weigh them," said Mr. Vuong. Under the skillful hands of the women, the girls, and even the simple, honest men, each bunch of lychees weighing about 3 kg is neatly arranged under the cool canopy of the tree, covered with leaves to deliver to the traders.

Tourists experience boating on the river.Photo: Thanh Chung

Potential for tourism take-off

Coming to Thanh Ha this June, you will not only see trucks coming to buy lychees but also bustling convoys of cars carrying visitors from many provinces, cities and even foreign visitors coming to visit and travel. Many tourists compare Thanh Ha to a "miniature West". It is reasonable to call it that, because there are few places with crisscrossing rivers and lush gardens like Thanh Ha. Large rivers such as Thai Binh, Rang, Van Uc, Huong embrace and deposit sweet alluvial soil for Thanh Ha to have lush fruit trees all year round.

This season, Dong Man – Dong Quao eco-tourism area is as beautiful as a watercolor painting. Above is the green of the trees and leaves mixed with the brilliant red of ripe lychee, below is the gentle flow of water, winding through the cool green canals.

Ms. Pham Thi Liem, in Dong Man eco-tourism sub-area, An Lao village, Thanh Khe commune (Thanh Ha) has turned a lychee garden of about 3 hectares into a tourist destination. Ms. Liem said: "From the 2022 lychee season, the garden will officially open for visitors to visit and experience lychee picking". Mr. Vu Dinh Phong (lecturer at Dai Nam University) - a tourist visiting here shared: "The interesting thing is that when coming to Thanh Ha, you can not only admire the vast, bright red lychee garden, enjoy the delicious ripe lychees right on the tree, but also sit on a small boat, rowing and enjoying the peaceful river space".

Another tourist destination with cultural and historical value for the people of the "Lychee Land" is the ancestral lychee tree in Thuy Lam village. After nearly 200 years, the ancestral lychee tree has brought countless sweet fruit seasons, and has "sent" its seeds to germinate in many places. Ms. Nguyen Thi Dao (in Hanoi) shared while admiring the ancestral lychee tree: "Every year, when the lychee season comes, I always ask my acquaintances to buy it for me. In addition to buying it to eat, I also give it away, and everyone who eats it praises it as delicious. This year, I came here to visit in person and will introduce my friends and relatives to Thanh Ha to experience the interesting and uniqueness of the miniature garden area."

The red color of Thanh Ha lychee also contains a deep cultural layer with about 300 historical and cultural relics including communal houses, temples, pagodas, shrines, churches, and shrines associated with unique folk art forms such as Thanh Hai water puppetry with a history of over 300 years; the traditional festival of Hao Xa pagoda which is over a thousand years old; Minh Khanh pagoda - a national historical relic, dating back to the 13th century. In 2022, Dong Man eco-tourism area welcomed tens of thousands of visitors to visit and experience, including many international delegations.

LE TUYEN