Buckwheat buds spur tourism
Update: Oct 19, 2015
The first buckwheat flower festival, which will feature art performances and a display of buckwheat flower products, will celebrate the blossoming of the iconic flowers next month in Dong Van district in Ha Giang province.

The Ha Giang People's Committee said they would also plan development strategies to promote the buckwheat flower as a tourism brand in the province.

The buckwheat flower will be planted on a larger scale, primarily in tourist areas such as Lung Cu flag tower, central Dong Van, Meo King's Palace, Ma Pi Leng pass and Sung La Valley.

The committee decided to plant more than 500ha of buckwheat in four districts: Dong Van, Meo Vac, Yen Minh, Quan Ba.

The flower festival, which has an opening theme named "The Karst Plateau - Thousand Blooming Flowers", will be held in Ha Giang from November 12-15. Hoang Van Kien, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism in Ha Giang, said that following the festival, the buckwheat flower would be developed into a tourism brand of the Dong Van Karst Plateau and Ha Giang province.

About 2,000 visitors have reserved accommodation in Ha Giang for the festival. Since Dong Van district is the heart of the festival, accommodation services have been fully booked.

Ly Trung Kien, Vice Chairwoman of Dong Van District People's Committee, said there were initially about 600 bedrooms available in Dong Van.

However, they have been fully booked on weekends between now and the end of December. Any guest who wants to visit the Dong Van Karst Plateau Geopark can arrive about 20 days before or after the festival, as the buckwheat flowers will remain beautiful until the end of November.

VNA