Blooming buckwheat flowers on Ha Giang roads

Buckwheat (or black wheat) flowers are widely grown in the high mountainous areas in Vietnam. Belonging to the legume family, but due to lower productivity than rice and corn, buckwheat is planted on a small area, mainly grown by local people to serve as food reserves, for brewing wine or materials for making cakes.

The buckwheat flower season is an opportunity to promote the natural and cultural beauty of Ha Giang

However, this flower has gradually become a symbol of the Northeastern highlands, attracting thousands of tourists every year. When buckwheat flowers burst into full bloom, the flower fields turn Ha Giang into a vivid natural picture with color gradually changing over time: from white, then changing to purplish pink before becoming dark red, and fading. Although the flowers are small, they have strong vitality which proves the resilience of the local people and nature here.

The buckwheat flower season in Ha Giang lasts from October to December. The flower is everywhere, from the hillsides to terraced fields, in the valleys, on the roads, at the foot of mountains, and even on the precarious cliffs, creating a beautiful natural masterpiece that attracts tourists to Ha Giang.

When the buckwheat flower hills and valleys bloom on the rocky plateau, it is also the time when Ha Giang enters the peak tourist season. The family of Cu Mi Say in Lung Cam village, Sung La Commune, Dong Van District is one of the few households in the village that has a “golden land,” with 1,000 sq.m right at the gate of the cultural tourism village. Every year, his family grows three crops of buckwheat flowers to meet tourists’ demand on taking photos and viewing flowers, earning on average VND30-40 million per year from this service.

Dong Van District has the most buckwheat flowers with a total cultivation area of 250 hectares. This is one of the localities where most tourists gather, especially when Ha Giang enters the buckwheat season. To serve the 10th Buckwheat Flower Festival this year, the district has upgraded and renovated tourism infrastructure of 12 key tourist attractions across primary communes and townships, such as the Welcome Gate to the district’s center, the Holy Well in the Old Quarter area, the Center for Nighttime Tourism and Performing Arts, Dong Van Township; a traditional architecture-inspired exhibition house displaying local products in Lung Cu Commune... to bring the best experiences to tourists.

The buckwheat flower season is not only an opportunity to promote the natural and cultural beauty of Ha Giang, but also an opportunity for tourists to explore the beauty of the high mountainous regions with unique traditional cultural values, contributing to the further development of local tourism.

So far, the province has welcomed over 2.7 million visitors. With favorable weather conditions, careful preparation and involvement of departments, sectors, and localities, especially when Ha Giang is entering the Buckwheat Flower Festival, the province’s tourism attraction is even greater. In 2024, Ha Giang is expected to welcome 3.2 million tourists, thereby creating momentum for better growth of the province’s tourism industry in the following years.