The Tay Thien festival kicked off in Dai Dinh commune, Tam Dao district, Vinh Phuc province on March 7 (the fifteenth day of the second lunar month), with the attendance of Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan and Minister of Construction Trinh Dinh Dung.

The three-day festival features traditional rituals, a folk singing contest, a rice cooking competition, and folk games including tug of war, cock fighting, wrestling, volleyball and football.

The festival is held annually to worship Mother Lang Thi Tieu, a Hung King’s Queen, who helped the king defeat invaders and taught the people how to grow rice and develop handicrafts.

On the opening day, a telpher system to the Tay Thien tourist site was launched by the Vinh Phuc provincial People’s Committee after nearly one year of construction.

The 2.5 kilometre-long telpher, reaching from the foot of the Thach Ban mountain to Thuong (Upper) temple, was installed to meet the increasing demand of visitors.

The system, supported by 13 pillars, ranging from 10 metres to 36 metres in height, has 33 eight-seat cabins and can carry 1,000 tourists per hour.

The VND 280 billion project was funded by the Lac Hong Investment Joint Stock Company and was facilitated with equipment from the French POMA Group.

A one-way ticket is priced at VND 120,000 and VND 70,000 while a return ticket costs VND 180,000 and VND 120,000 for adults and children respectively.

When taking a 10-11 minute telpher journey, visitors will have a chance to contemplate the beauty of the Tay Thien complex and feel the tranquility, holiness, and poetry in the air of the imposing landscape of the Tam Dao range, filled with clouds, wind, fog, and colourful and fragrant flowers.
(Source: Nhandan)