“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.” – Anonymous

Thanh Hoa Province

Location

Thanh Hoa is not the tourist place that is famous as the other provinces in the North now. The province has its other important role in the region for a long time. It is considered the connected province between the North and the Middle. Thanh Hoa province has the long history of building and development, so with the values that the province own that makes it to become one of the potential tourist province in the region. Beside this is the place where were born the famous names in the history of the country, so the province is mentioned so much in the journey of exploring and understanding the North of tourists.

Related to the position of the province, it borders with Son La, Hoa Binh and Ninh Binh provinces to the north. Thanh Hoa is bordered with Nghe An to the south, with Laos to west, with Gulf of Tokin to the east.
  • Center city: Thanh Hoa City.
  • Town and Districts: Bim Son Town, Sam Son Town, Ba Thuoc District, Cam Thuy District, Dong Son District, Ha Trung District, Hau Loc District, Hoang Hoa District, Lang Chanh District, Muong Lat District and Nga Son District.
  • Tourist places: Thanh Hoa City, Sam Son District, Hoang Hoa District, Nga Son District and Vinh Loc District.
  • Climate: Thanh Hoa is in the tropical monsoon climate region. The climate is not hard for travelling for year around. The average temperature is from 23 C degree to 24 C degree.  
  • Transportation: Travel conveniently by land and railway to the province and from it to other provinces. There is the develop river way in the province but it is for freight primarily.

         The distance is for reference as below:
         From Thanh Hoa to Ha Noi: 152 km
         From Thanh Hoa to Noi Bai Airport: 180 km
         From Thanh Hoa to Son La:  338 km
         From Thanh Hoa to Ninh Binh:  62 km
         From Thanh Hoa to Hoa Binh:  161 km
         From Thanh Hoa to Nghe An: 139 km
  • Population: There are the main groups who live together such as Kinh, Muong, Thai, Tho, Dao, H’mong and Kho-mu. 


Landscapes

  • Sam Son Beach: the beach is considered the symbol of tourism of the province. The beach belongs to Sam Son Town and far from Thanh Hoa City about 15km. There are the great landscape named Truong Le Mountain with many wonderful natural places and the eco destination that named Quang Cu in the north east of the town with more than 350ha in scale.
  • Han Son Site: the landscape is in Ha Son Commune in Ha Trung district. The place is close with Han Son Festival that is very important in the province. There is the famous temple here called Ba Bong Temple with over 500 years old.
  • Ben En National Park: the national park is located in Hai Van commune, in Nhu Thanh District. It is far from Thanh Hoa City more than 45km to the south west. There is the rich system with fauna and flora where the tourist can take the great time for trekking and exploring.
  • Lam Kinh Historic Site: The site is in Xuan Lam commune, in Tho Xuan District. It is far from Thanh Hoa City about 50km to the north west. This is the famous place with the ancient citadel was established in XV century. And now this citadel is being reconstructed for visiting the architecture and knowing the history of the second citadel of the country in XV.
  • Nga Son Tourist Site: this is the huge tourist place of the province. It locates in Nga Son district with different sites such as Tien Pagoda, Tu Thuc Cave, Mai An Tiem Temple, Than Phu Gate, etc.
  • Nghi Son – Tinh Gia Tourist Site: this place includes the famous destination such as Hai Hoa Beach, Ngoc Hoang Cave and Lach Bang with romantic nature. The site is located to the south of Thanh Hoa City.
  • Ho Dynasty Citadel: it is the famous ancient citadel in Thanh Hoa located in Vinh Loc District. The citadel was built in 14th century. It is located to west of Thanh Hoa City and became the world heritage site recognized by UNESSCO in 2012. There is different tourist sites locate around such as Kim Son Cave, Binh Khuong Temple.
  • Ham Rong Mountain: the potential tourism area that include the huge mountain, Ham Rong Bridge, Long Quan Cave, Tien Son Cave. The area locates far from Thanh Hoa City just some kilometers to the north. It is one of the promised destinations for travelling and exploring in the very near future in the province.
  • Hai Tien Beach – Hoang Hoa District: It is considered the new destination for whom who loves the beach time in Thanh Hoa. The district is located close with Sam Son District with more than 10km long of the beautiful beach.


Festivals:

  • God Fish Procession Festival:  the festival is happened in 8th of January. The festival is in Cam Luong Commune where there is the famous spring attached with the interesting legend related the fishes here.
  • Mai An Tiem Festival: the festival is happened from 12th to 14th of March in lunar year in Nga Son District. The festival is the time for memory of Mai An Tiem who was the first exploder of the Nga Son area.
  • Ba Trieu Festival: the festival is happened from 20th to 23rd of February in lunar year in Trieu Loc Commune. The festival is for the memory of the heroine named Trieu Thi Trinh in the 3rd century.
  • Lam Kinh Festival: this is one of the biggest festivals in the province. Lam Kinh Festival is happened in 22nd of August in lunar year in Tho Xuan District.  

And there are many other unique festivals in the province.

Local specialties

There are different local specialties in the province such as nem chua ( fermented pork rolls), che lam Phu Quang (local sweet soup from Vinh Loc district with sticky rice, ginger, peanut, molasses, etc), banh gai Tu Tru ( Tu Tru black glutinous cake), seafood from Sam Son, Tinh Gia and Nga Son districts and other typical specialties.