The ancient land of Yen The

Yen The has a long history with many relics and intangible cultural heritages, such as ancient Cheo (traditional operetta), Trong quan singing and Ong singing together with various cultural features and customs. It is the home of eight brother ethnic groups so it boasts various interesting rites and religious ceremonies, including Cap sac (conferring a title) ceremony of the Dao and Cao Lan, the land genie worshipping rite and the birthday celebration of the Nung and the singing ceremony in Spring of the Cao Lan.

Besides its valuable cultural treasures, Yen The is well-known as the land of martial arts, witnessing glorious feats of strength of the ancestors, such as the Yen The Upspring. It is the cradle of the famous flute martial arts school in Vietnam. Through the two resistance wars against the French and the US, the people’s armed forces of ethnic groups in the district were awarded the title “Hero of the People’s Armed Forces”.

Despite the ups and downs of its history, Yen The today has seen great changes with many projects and new models for economic, cultural and social development thanks to taking advantage of its local potential and strength.

The district has a synchronous education system of 67 schools, consisting of 22,330 students of all-levels. Among these schools, Yen The Vocational Training School with many suitable education programmes, has contributed to changing the labour structure and shifting the economic structure into an industrial direction. For example, the faculty of poultry and veterinary training of the school has contributed to increasing the total number of animals from 810,000 in 2003 to over 4 million in 2010.

Recently, the Department of Intellectual Property under the Ministry of Science and Technology granted a certificate to protect the product brand for Lai Mia chicken, a speciality of this district. This species of chicken has yellow legs and skin with firm and delicious meat so it is in much demand.

Along with education, the network of medical stations was also established in all hamlets and wards. 20 out of 21 communal medical stations reach the national standards that help improve the healthcare treatment for local people.

With a diverse terrain of rivers and streams, Yen The has a great potential for tourism, mineral and agricultural development. The district boasts the Thuong and Si Rivers, large lakes and small springs together with famous cultural and historical relics related to the Yen The Upspring. These include Ho Chuoi post, Hom post, Leo Pagoda, Thong Pagoda and Dinh Thep Communal House which provide favourable conditions for the development of convalescent, ecological and cultural tourism.

With a total area of over 30,000ha, including 48% of forest land, Yen The has a great strength in forestry. Therefore, Yen The annually exploits about 40,000-50,000m3 of timber of different kinds. The income earned from timber, firewood and other pharmaceutical products has reached 70 billion/year. The district is also rich in minerals, such as iron ore, clay and gold.

In recent years, industrial areas have been built in Yen The, attracting some large investment projects, like the project of building Truong Son Cement Factory and Bo Ha Thermal-Electric Power Plant, increasing the value of industrial and craft productivity of the district to over 70 billion/year.

In terms of agriculture, the district is fortifying a network of irrigation canals, considerably improving agricultural production. The total productivity of grains reach over 30,000 tonnes/ year, increasing the rate of average foodstuff per capita to 361kg/year. The district has also helped develop nearly 7,000ha of fruit trees, bringing to the community about 45,000 tonnes of fruit each year.

The district’s infrastructure has also been built step by step with a system of asphalted provincial roads. The rate of local people accessing electricity has reached 100%. Other trade and service activities have also been boosted with a growth rate of 13-15% each year.

Yen The now plans to give its top priority to the development of the areas of industry, thermal-electricity, cement, wood processing, supermarkets and ecological tourism.

With this clear direction, in the near future the ancient land of Yen The is expected to have a new face and emerge as a bright spot in the northwestern mountainous area in Bac Giang Province.