Potential economic development and tourism

Nam Dinh is located in the major food production – of food in the North is not enough for the consumers in the province but also for export. Also, where there are industrial production developed relatively early with many traditional industries, including industrial Textiles – May is one of the textile center of the country.

Heavy Phu Festival
The province has many villages handicrafts, tourism potential and diversity rich with historical, cultural, many point to tourism.

Nam Dinh province of thickness history and culture, where the king of the Tran Dynasty, a dynasty Hung Thinh to level in the history room in Vietnam with relics such as the vestiges of Tran, Thap pagoda , no ceremony, Keo temple to meditate, Heavy … Phu Nam Dinh is also the hometown of Prime Minister Vo my hero, also is home to many writers, poets famous as Tran backdrop (Tu bone), Nguyen Binh …

Churches Xuan Thuy
Located in the delta rule in the Red River, Nam Dinh of thickness with cultural traditions. Cultural treasure this derived from the life of residents, are stored and transmitted development under various forms, activities as diverse types chèo singing, singing in, then water, singing xam … many traditional festivals media, many popular games such as pleasure boats and swimming, mostly shade … Get your best Vietnam Travel Deals from Viet Vision Travel.

Transportation
Nam Dinh manually Hanoi about 90km south east. Transportation to Nam Dinh relatively convenient: the railway and the North-South Highway 21 linking National Highway 1A to the city center, Highway 10 from the town, Ninh Binh, Nam Dinh through to Thai Binh, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh.

Nam Dinh is situated in the north of Vietnam and south of the Red River delta, about 80 km from Hanoi. It is known for interesting tourist sites namely Thinh Long Beach, Co Le Pagoda, Pho Minh Pagoda and others.

Co Le Pagoda

Located in Co Le town, Truc Ninh district, Co Le Pagoda is said to have been built by Buddhist Monk Nguyen Minh Khong during the Ly dynasty. Buddhist Monk Pham Quang Tuyen rebuilt the existing Co Le Pagoda in November 1920. In front of the pagoda is the 12-storey Cuu Pham Lien Hoa Tower built in 1926. The octagonal base of the tower sits on the back of a turtle facing the pagoda. In the tower, there is a huge staircase spiraling to the top of the tower. From the top, there is a panoramic view of the entire area.

In the center of the pagoda is a large 9,000-kg bell cast in 1936. In the upper temple is the 4-metre-high statue of Thich Ca Buddha which is made of red lacquer trimmed with gold.

Several rare relics, such as a great red bell and bronze drums dating from the Ly dynasty, are kept in this pagoda.

The Pagoda is a great architectural work located in a landscape overshadowed by age-old trees. Co Le Pagoda is a place of interest of the Red River Delta.

Pho Minh Pagoda

Built in Tuc Mac village, Loc Vuong commune on the outskirts of Nam Dinh, the pagoda was originally built in the Ly dynasty, but was expanded during the Tran Dynasty in 1262. This is a very large pagoda, which includes a lotus-flower lake, a floating house and luxuriant old trees. In front of the pagoda is a copper crow weighing 7 tonnes. There is a tower built in 1305, which looks like a 13-level lotus flower 21 meters high.

Phu Giay Relic Site

The relic site is in Kim Thai commune, Vu Bang district, and is dedicated to Goddess Lieu Hanh, one of four immortal Gods of Vietnam (the four are Tan Vien, Giong, Chu Dong Tu and the Goddess Lieu Hanh).

The Phu Giay includes four main areas: Den Thuong (the Upper Temple), Phu Tien Huong (The Tien Huong residence),the Van Cat Residence and the tomb of Goddess Lieu.

Phu Giay includes four main parts. Firstly, Thuong Temple is located on the top of Tien Phong Mountain and is also called Den Mau Thuong Ngan (the temple of the mother of the upstream land). Secondly, the Tien Huong Residence is a interesting architectural site built in the time of Le Canh Tri (1663-1671) and has been subject to many changes of time. It has 19 blocks, which form a total of 81 compartments and looks southwest to the Tien Huong Mountain. Thirdly, the Van Cat Residence was built on one 1 hectare of ground facing the northwest. The residence now has 7 blocks, and 30 compartments of various scales. The residence has 4 palaces similar to those at Tien Hong. The middle palace is where Lieu Hanh is worshipped while the other are for Buddha and Ly Nam De. Fourthly, the tomb of Lieu Hanh was built in 1938 in grey stone with dedicate engravings, and the tombs covers 625 square meters.

Phu Giay is highly valued for its architecture dating from the late 19th century and the 20th century. Coming to Phu Giay area, visitors not only enjoy the sightseeing tour, but also the hope of being blessed with good luck and peace. Phu Giay Festival is held in early March (lunar calendar) every year.

Giao Thuy Natural Preservation Zone

This area is located between Lu and Ngan Islets at the mouth of the Red River. Vietnam has chosen Con Lu-Con Nga to be recorded in the list of ecological zones to be protected and preserved. It has an area of 7,200 hectares and 10,000 hectares of buffer zone.

From November to April every year, this zone becomes the meeting place of tens of thousand of birds coming from the North.

Thinh Long Beach

Situated in Hai Thinh town, Hai Hau district, Thinh Long has only been developed as a swimming beach in recent years. This is a smooth sandy beach, sloping several kilometres gently to the sea bed. Big sea waves here attract visitors throughout the summer. It is a good destination for visitors to come to Thinh Long as its beach is untouchable.

The number of visitors to Thinh Long is ever increasing because they can enjoy both nature and seafood here.

One can experience a slice of authentic rural lifestyle, 5km from Nam Dinh Province’s Xuan Thuy National Park’s headquarters in the coastal Giao Xuan Commune. It is the site of a community-based eco-tourism project by the centre for marinelife conservation and community development (MCD).

The village of 10,000 people has 12 households, where tourists can stay overnight during their trip to Nam Dinh.

According to Cao Quoc Chung of Indochina Travel (VidoTour), the company has co-ordinated with the village to set up a community-based tour of the local surroundings.

“We want to make tourists’ visit here a positive experience, especially foreign visitors,” Chung said.

Tourists can gain hands-on experience of rice farming by using buffalo drawn plough and planting, watering or harvesting rice, depending on the season.

Bicycles are a favourite mode of transport for people staying in the village. For VND45,000 (US$3), visitors can rent a bike for three hours and take a 10km circuit around the village.

From the village centre, tourists ride along a canal and gaze at locals net fishing – a traditional by-trade in the area. From there, they can proceed to a sea dyke to witness indigenous birds feeding near oyster farms and the bustling Tien Lang fishing dock.

Although rice farming is still the dominate breadwinner in the region, the presence of fishing and oyster farming has jumped in recent years.

Home-made fish sauce is a big industry there. Farmers can show visitors how the indispensable Vietnamese condiment is made firsthand.

From the dock, travellers ride up the coast to see traditional wooden houses with soil floors and layered roofs of thick sedge. The oldest house in Giao Hai Village was built in 1945 and still shelters three generations of the Tran Thi Tuong family.

The local outdoor markets, as can be expected, is often crowded in the mornings as throngs of people busily go about trading.

When the sun dips down, travellers can spend VND80,000 ($5) on a home-stay with a local family, and an additional VND50,000 ($3.1) for a meal.

They can also grind rice with a stone mortar – a necessary part of rice production in rural Vietnam.

Visitors can catch a performance of a traditional opera, cheo – just as it has been done for centuries. Amateur artists, singers and musicians perform cheo on a sedge mat without the aid of modern facilities.

Stilt walking, a typical cultural performance of the northern coastal province is also included in the home-stay.

“We want to be hospitable and introduce visitors to the real life here, outside of the city,” said Phung Thi Thin, chairwoman of Giao Xuan Village women’s union.

Community-based eco-tourism in the village only began this year and expects to drum up more visitors into and beyond 2008.

Birdwatching tour

Located 150km south of Hanoi is Xuan Thuy National Park, a 7,100ha haven and favourite of birdwatchers and community-based ecotours.

As a wintering site in the East Asian-Australian flyway, from March to September it is possible to glimpse the black-faced spoonbill and the spoon-beaked plover – two rare birds listed in the International Red Book of Endangered Species.

Visitors can hire a boat from the park’s headquarters to Con Xanh hillock and outer Con Ngan in the Hong (Red) River estuary – where they can discover western white pelicans, black-headed gulls and red-headed egrets in the Tra River.

Park director Nguyen Viet Cach says that over the years management has gone to great lengths to not only protect the park’s unique natural environment, but also provide the best possible conditions to view endangered birds.

Visitors can also take advantage of the many hiking trails within the park’s limits. Strolling through the wetlands, one might happen upon an unusual species such as the sander’s gull, spotted greenshank and spoon-billed sandpiper

Entrance to the park is VND50,000. It’s a good idea to hire a local guide to uncover the real gems for US$10 a day, throw in another $30-40 for boat hire. For weary souls looking to rest, the park has a new guest house capable of sleeping 20 people at US$15-20 a head.

Since 2005, the sea level of Quat Lam in Giao Thuy district in the northern province of Nam Dinh rose 20cm. Scientists say this is clearly an effect of climate change.

Under the framework of a workshop on global climate change and Vietnam’s solutions on February 28 and 29, over 100 delegates and scientists took a field trip to Giao Thuy district, Nam Dinh province.

Giao Thuy is a coastal district covering 203,000ha and has over 31km of coast, 11.4km of Red River and 15km of Go River.

According to Nguyen Van Dong, Vice Chairman of Giao Thuy District People’s Committee, since storm No. 5 in 2005, the sea level of the Bach Long – Giao Thuy coast and the Quat Lam tourist town has risen by 20cm. Surveys by the Nam Dinh Hydrometeorology Center confirmed this figure.

Local authorities have invested billions of VND to upgrade the dike system. This year the Government will allocate the district more than VND100 billion to reinforce dikes.

Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Sinh, Chairman of the Association for Natural and Environmental Protection of Vietnam, said the association has chosen Giao Xuan commune in Giao Thuy district as a focus of research on the consequences of climate change.