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S
ituated in the Mekong River Del-
ta, Bac Lieu borders Can Tho city
and Soc Trang province to the
north, the East Sea to the south,
and Ca Mau and Kien Giang provinces
to the west.
Bac Lieu has many large, open rice
paddies spread across its fertile land as
well as huge, deep mangrove swamps.
As such, it has perfect conditions for
cultivating fruit trees and rice, salt mak-
ing and fishing off-shore.
Furthermore, with many beauti-
ful and attractive sightseeing options
stretching along a system of green ca-
nals and river branches, the area is an
ideal venue for developing ecotourism,
adventure tourism and leisure tourism.
In the past, Bac Lieu was popular
with French colonialists, so the prov-
ince has several western-style villas and
palaces. When in Bac Lieu you should
not miss three of its most attractive
destinations: the villa of a Bac Lieu
mandarin’s son; the museum of famous
composer, Cao Van Lau; and the Bac
Lieu bird reserve.
Located in the heart of Bac Lieu
town, the villas of the mandarin’s son
were built in the Western style of the
early 20th century. With their spacious
surroundings, symmetrical architec-
ture and tiled roofs, they look beautiful
standing on the river bank.
The materials for the construction of
the villas were all sent from France and
the 30 that remain standing have be-
come part of the heritage of the province.
Moreover, there are many other
interesting spots, such as the unforget-
table longan gardens, the Viet Hung
Tower, the Xiem Can Pagoda and the
mangrove forests.
Bac Lieu is a huge sanctuary for
birds. Just 3km from the town center
a 230ha area is home to more than 40
species, some of them in the red book.
The main forest in Bac Lieu is man-
grove, so tourists can boat among the
trees and go fishing or simply enjoy the
fresh air in this calm, quiet place.
The area is also famous for its ju-
bilant festivals, with Da Co Hoai Lang
(Cai Luong Opera) running from August
13-14 of the lunar calendar; Nghinh
Ong Ganh Hao festival on March 10; the
Bodhisattva festival from March 21-23
and various other colourful festivals of
the Kinh, Chinese and Khmer people.
After exploring the natural and cul-
tural beauty spots, tourists love to enjoy
the variety of delicious specialties, such
as chili beef noodles, ngang dua cake,
turnip cake and steamed snails with
coconut.
With its favourable nature, Bac Lieu
is a sleeping beauty that needs to be
awakened to its tourism potential. To
achieve this, the local authorities have
defined a strategic plan to invest more
than VND1,200 billion into tourism de-
velopment and to welcome 1 million
tourists to the province by 2015.
With many incentive policies, the
province encourages investors to invest
in improving the three main destina-
tions outlined above.
With the increasing number of in-
vestors in tourism, Bac Lieu has a bright
future and is fast becoming a must-see
destination for tourists when traveling
to the Mekong Delta.
Bac Lieu is 280km from Ho Chi
Minh City and 110km from Can Tho.
National Highway 1A crosses the prov-
ince and links it to Soc Trang and Ca
Mau provinces.
BAC LIEU
Aging charm