Visitors to La Pan Tan commune, Mu Cang Chai district, the northern mountainous province of Yen Bai will be dazzled by a garden of crystal clouds which is set up to mark the 128th birthday of the late President Ho Chi Minh (May 19).

The crystal cloud display will take place from May 19 to October 5 (Photo provided by Architect Pham Thanh Duong)

Taking place from May 19 to October 5, the display is jointly organised by the Vietnam Association of Architects, the Yen Bai Association of Architects and the People’s Committee of Mu Cang Chai district. 

The display is the first of its kind in Vietnam and the second in the world, following the Crystal Cloud garden created by artists Andy Cao and Xavier Perrot at Swarovski Crystal World in Australia. 

Together with local landscapes and light effects, 59,000 crystals, which are mounted atop bamboo and steel poles on wire netting in the shape of clouds, are expected to create a romantic atmosphere for tourists. 

Vu Van Duc, Chairman of the Mu Cang Chai district People’s Committee, said the crystal cloud installation honours handicrafts of the Mong ethnic minority group in the district, while promoting local tourism. 

Mu Cang Chai has 500 hectares of rice terrace fields in La Pan Tan, Che Cu Nha and De Xu Phinh communes, cultivated by the H'mong people for centuries. The local terrace fields are among the 2,500 hectares recognised as national heritage sites in 2007 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The locality is about 1,000 metres above sea level, making it impossible to adopt rice farming method from the deltas. Local residents grow rice in terraced fields to prevent water flowing downhill. 

Terraced fields in Mu Cang Chai are beautiful all year round. Visitors in March can see glittering ponds before locals transplant rice seedlings from April to May. After May, the hills are covered in green until the fields start to turn yellow with ripe rice in early September. During the harvest in October, the golden rice fields stand out amidst green forests.-VNA