Whenever spring comes around, flower lovers wish to buy a yellow ochna flower tree to pray for a new year full of peace and luckiness and it is better if the yellow ochna flower tree stands on the holy Yen Tu Mountain.

Yen Tu yellow ochna flower trees flower in a blaze of yellow petals and give off a fragrant and pure scent (credit: caycanhthanglong.vn) 

The Yen Tu landscape site has long been famous for its architectural system of temples, hermitages, and monuments, boasting both historical and spiritual values. In addition, visiting Yen Tu in the spring brings visitors great pleasure thanks to the beautiful natural scenery including the gentle scent and yellow hues of yellow ochna flower trees. Yen Tu yellow ochna flower trees also symbolise nobility, glory, prosperity, and luckiness.

Legend has it that King-Monk Tran Nhan Tong (1258-1308) abdicated the throne when he was 35 years old and travelled to Yen Tu Mountain to practise Buddhism where he founded the Truc Lam School of Zen and mobilised Buddhist followers to plant yellow ochna flower trees.

Thanks to the care of Buddhist followers and the favour of nature, small yellow ochna flower trees have grown into a large ochna forest.

The forest is now almost 800 years old. Buddhists and visitors to Yen Tu named this forest as "Dai Lao Mai Vang" or Ancient Yellow Ochna Flower. The historical trees grow in many places around the Yen Tu Mountain including the Dong Tu pagoda, Vang waterfall, Bac waterfall, Mot Mai pagoda, Van Tieu pagoda, Bao Sai pagoda, among others.

Ancient yellow ochna flower trees can measure up to 15m in height and 60 to 70cm in diameter with many branches, usually growing on cliffs or near streams. They flower in a blaze of yellow petals and give off a fragrant and pure scent.

Yen Tu yellow ochna flowers are not purely a beautiful variety of flowers but are also associated with faith and Zen. It is also a rare species of flower boasting both economic and spiritual values. The tree represents the spirit of enduringness and the efforts to overcome all difficulties according to the Zen tradition nurtured by Buddhist monks.

According to the philosophy of the Truc Lam Zen, Yen Tu yellow ochna flowers are not only a symbol of purity and nobleness, but also represents of the vitality of the Vietnamese.

It is the vitality, the development and the production of blossoms in the harsh weather and rough terrain along with the legend associated with King-Monk Tran Nhan Tong which has brought about the deep historical and human values of the Yen Tu yellow ochna flower which conforms with the philosophical thought of Vietnamese Buddhism.

To promote the values of the Yen Tu yellow ochna flower, Quang Ninh province has held the Yen Tu yellow ochna flower festival every spring for several years. This year's festival will take place from March 24-28 at the Truc Lam Yen Tu Cultural Centre under the Yen Tu relic site of Uong Bi city.

The Cherry blossom – Yen Tu yellow ochna flower festival has been held for four consecutive years in Ha Long city and 2018 is the first year that the festival will be held at the Yen Tu relic site, the land on which Truc Lam Yen Tu Zen was founded and the land of original yellow ochna flower trees.

Over the past years, the festival has always attracted much attention and participation from Vietnamese and Japanese enterprises along with tens of thousands of visitors. The event is expected to introduce and promote yellow ochna flower trees, the special symbol of Yen Tu sacred land in addition to introducing Japanese cherry blossoms and culture to the people of Quang Ninh and tourists in general.

Through the festival, Quang Ninh province wishes to showcase its potentials and strengths of economy, culture, and tourism to the people of Japan, thereby strengthening cooperation and investment promotion among the enterprises and people of Quang Ninh and Japan.

Nhan Dan