Memories of the Tea Festival

"The Festival has closed"... Although participants have returned to all areas of the country, their minds are also attached to many memories of the land area covered with green color of tea.

After the Tea Festival, the native land of Thai Nguyen tea came back to its inherent simple life. However, repercussion of a big tea festival held in Viet Nam at the first time has made a strong impression on local people, domestic and international tourists about Thai Nguyen land, where there have been heroic and enduring people in fighting and production. Time elapsed, consecutive generations have made a new look of Thai Nguyen to become the first industrial park of the country; a Nui Coc legendary lake enriches Sli sentence, and songs sung by mountain girls on tea-terraced field make a lively tune warming participants.

Enjoying green tea on legendary path

The green color of tea at Thai area is magnetic so that anyone who “drank by mistake” is unforgettable. During the days of the Tea Festival, the whole Thai Nguyen city seemed not to sleep. The traditional tea villages performed the techniques of making, inviting tea and introduced products on Thanh Nien Street near Cau riverbank and the Museum of Cultures of Viet Nam’s Ethnic Groups. Especially, on the road section separating the Museum of Cultures of Viet Nam’s Ethnic Groups, Organization board decorated a tea legendary path with decorative multi-coloured lanterns hung above, and panel of introduction to tea history of countries hung below. In addition, there is a series of popular cultural activities such as chess-playing, songs of a strolling blind musician, test for picking tea leaves, tea-drying and tea-enjoying, etc. All made a eventful but warm atmosphere.

A “tea party” lasts a whole week with participation of artisans, tea makers from Suoi Giang high mountain (Yen Bai); arrived from Lang Son; came in tea regions of Phu Tho, Tuyen Quang; arrived from Lam Dong highland.

Especially with presence of representatives of some countries, territories in the world such as India, an economically great nation; China, a country with population of over 1.3 billion and Sri Lanka, a region having most tea in the world… Representatives of each region, country and territory bring with them the most delicious tea pot of their homeland to take part in the Festival. They are India’s black tea, Taiwan’s Oolong Tea, Lao’s herbal tea….

In the Festival, everyone is proud of being born in the homeland where the god granted the tea plant, a product is compared as a precious medicine having close attachment with spiritual life of thousands people on the earth. Because of this, in the Tea Festival, anytime when tea table has a visit, regardless of skin color, race or gender, age, representatives of all tea regions in the world have smile greeting that make customers drinking tea cup feel lightly as taking a walk into the paradise.

Together with Thai Nguyen - “the greatest tea”, tea regions of other provinces in Viet Nam and some countries in the world gather in the friendship arm to make an attractive, abundant “Great Tea Banquet” by hundreds of tea products which are displayed, introduced and popularized. Through this affirm potentials, advantage of tea plantation, processing, and import industry of Viet Nam as well as countries in the world. Among the Festival, Thai Nguyen people gather into interesting tea Banquet, visit tea regions of Tan Cuong (Thai Nguyen City), La Bang (Dai Tu District), Minh Lap (Dong Hy District) together to rub their eyes because of smoke when seeing by their own eyes artisans use their hands in hot pan with green tea shoots; burn into laugh when enjoying interesting folk tricks; feel free when slowly drinking a fragrant tea top, feeling flavor of tea spread into blood-vessel.

Thousands of people coming to Thai Nguyen to participate the Festival

Many people pay attention to the performance of “Miss Tea-land” attracting 150 contestants from 17 provinces, cities of tea nationwide. In the yard of the Museum of Cultures of Viet Nam’s Ethnic Groups, the “Beauty Tea Plant” contest made surprised because of proud, firm, rough shape of tea plant but full of life with green tea shoots. Many people enjoy the Tea Festival such as “Cuisine market and cultural products of ethnic groups”, “Trade and Tourism Exhibition Fair”; “Tea Carnival” and “Tea-Essence of the earth of four directions” nights… boat racing tournament on Nui Coc Lake, exhibition to introduce Viet Nam country and people; human chess fighting; marital performance; art performance and “Economic Conference on tea plant”…

Activities in the fair and conference created opportunity for Thai Nguyen’s businessmen and domestic and foreign businessmen to meet, exchange and sign investment memoranda, or economic contracts of tea. For Thai Nguyen people, the pride in this Festival is that Viet Nam Guinness Book of Record establish 2 big records: One record with the most people drinking tea at the same time (about more than 1,000 people) and one record for the biggest tea set, of which the tea pot is 3 metre high, 4.5 metre diameter; 3 cups each is 1 metre high, 0.8 diameter. The tea set is placed on the tea leaf with fastened pottery and 8m x 5.6m dimension.

The Tea Festival brings Thai Nguyen people the impressive, extraordinary, attractive art performance nights, a combination of fire and water, of fireworks performances lightening the sky of Thai Nguyen tea region. As a delightful signal, through the Tea Festival created belief and pride of the tea for tea farmers, processors and businessmen in the country, from which to encourage tea farmers as well as manufacturers and businessmen to strengthen connection, make active investment, promote development, improve economic efficiency and expand tea market with friends in the world. The Tea Festival ended, the goodbye moment was full of being attached to, many tourists promised to themselves that the latest day they will come back to Thai Nguyen to feel on green tea-terraced field, admire running flow of Cau river, or drift and bob on boat to listen to legendary songs of love sang loudly on Nui Coc Lake, and enjoy tea fragrance and flavor of Thai Nguyen.