Heading along the windy roads from Thai Nguyen city’s centre to Tan Cuong commune where there are immense terraced tea fields, tourists arrive in Nui Coc Lake Tourism Area that was built in a total area of 19,000ha.

The lake, covering 25sq.km, was built in 1993 on the Cong river, a tributary of the Red River with a main dam, 480m long, and six supporting dams. It is surrounded by mountains and green tea hills.

Visiting the area, tourists not only explore the natural beauty of the lake, amazing islets, and giant mountains, enjoy entertainment activities and the region’s specialties, but also learn about a romantic love story of a girl named Cong and a man named Coc.

The love story provided the source of inspiration for musician Pho Duc Phuong to create the famous song entitled “The Legend of Nui Coc Lake”. The song’s beautiful lyrics tell the legend of Nui Coc Lake and many people learn it by heart and dream of travelling to the place.

Legend has it that there was a couple who loved each other very much, but their families did not allow them to get married. Coc returned to his homeland and waited for his sweetheart until he turned into the present Coc mountain. Receiving the bad news, Cong was broken-hearted and bewailed her lover until she died. Her tears flowed and changed into a river, the present Cong river, soaking deep into the soil to raise tea plants, thereby creating a specialty of Thai Nguyen-Tan Cuong tea.

Coming to the tourism area, tourists will enjoy travelling by boat on the lake for a panorama of the whole lake and discover the wild beauty of the islets. The water surface is like a giant mirror reflecting mountains and trees. All create marvelous and splendid scenery, charming any visitor.

After finishing the boat trip, visitors can take another to the amusement park in the tourism area. One of the highlights of the park is the complex of “Thuyet Nhan Qua” (causality) which was built according to the style of “Thieng Thac Vang Pagoda in the Buddha’s Heart”.

Visiting the pagoda, tourists are amazed by the sculptural art of relievoes on the walls, each showing the Buddhist philosophy of the causality. The whole area of the pagoda, including the central chamber, three-door gate, the hall worshiping Three Refuges (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha) and the ancestor worshipping hall in the pagoda, was built under the Buddha’s throne that faces the lake and looks magnificent amidst the forests and mountains. The Buddha statue is 45m high and the Buddha’s throne has a horizontal diameter of 37m.

Visitors to Nui Coc Lake can take a trip to other favourite stops, including Huyen Thoai Cung (Palace of Legends), an animal reservation, a fairy tale house, an artificial cave system and a light music stage that was built in an area of 1ha with a 40m-high water fountain. It is one of the most modern ones in Vietnam.

The impressive performance on the legend of Nui Coc Lake and the love story of the young couple brought us relaxing moments before ending the trip to discover the beauty of the Nui Coc Lake Tourism Area.