Culture and Cuisine

Phu Tho boasts a rich and ancient cultural heritage. Archaeological sites such as Son Vi, Dong Dau, Lang Ca, along with numerous communal houses, pagodas, tombs, and shrines around the Nghia Linh mountain range, attest to Phong Chau’s status as a cultural hub of the Vietnamese people. Significant historical sites include the temple dedicated to the Mother Goddess Au Co and the complex of Hung Kings’ temples.

This region is renowned for its vibrant festivals, with the most notable being the celebration of the death anniversary of Hung Vuong, the legendary founder of the nation, which takes place on the 10th day of the third lunar month. Various ethnic groups in the area contribute to the cultural diversity, with the Muong people having their own poetic tales, proverbs, customs, and unique musical traditions such as xec bua, hat vi, and hat dum. The Vietnamese people also have traditional singing styles like xoan and gheo.

• Culinary Delights:
  • Fruits: Doan Hung is famous for its Doan Hung pomelo (formerly known as Phu Doan pomelo) featuring varieties like Bang Luan, La Hoang, Suu, and Chi Dam, known for small seeds, small fruits, thin peels, juicy sweetness, and coolness. In Tien Cat Ward, Viet Tri City, there are Hac hong (or Hac Tri hong) and seedless Gia Thanh pomelos.
  • Highland Products: The Phu Tho mountainous region, with its hills covered in tea plantations, produces local specialties such as tea (bud tea, fresh tea leaves, and tea seeds for making green tea). Coconut fruit: Coconut oil extracted from the fruit’s flesh and gac fruit seeds used for brewing sour soup with river shrimp or small fish.
  • Fish: Phu Tho’s cuisine features unique freshwater fish, including rare species like Anh Vu fish, found only at the confluence of the Bach Hac rivers. Other specialties include lang fish and smooth-skinned fish varieties.
  • Meat: Sour meat dishes made from pork and small fish fermented with rice bran at Thanh Son district are well-known not only within the province.
  • Vegetables: Moss from Thanh Son district is made from various mosses harvested from streams, marinated, and grilled. Additionally, indigenous vegetables such as white vegetables and ferns are sourced from the Xuan Son National Park in Tan Son district.
  • Cakes: Traditional cakes like Chung cake, Giay cake, Tai cake, San cake, Nang cake, and rolled cakes.
  • Rice: In the northern mountainous regions of the province, lam rice is a popular dish made from sticky rice, especially Xoi co, a type of sticky rice mixed with ripe coconut fruit.