Published:  00:00 Thursday - February 05, 2009

Despite cold weather, thousands of pilgrims and tourists have flocked to Yen Tu mountain on the first day of the Yen Tu festival, which began on January 4 or the 10th day of the Lunar New Year.

Last year, 1.6 million pilgrims flocked to the mountain, located in Ung Bi town in the northern province of Quang Ninh. This year, the figure is expected to reach over two million, according to the festival’s organizers.

Situated within the swooping mountain range of northeastern Vietnam, Yen Tu mountain is famous for its beautiful natural landscapes, historical relics and hundreds of ancient pagodas and shrines. Atop the mountain sits Dong pagoda at an altitude of 1.068m above sea level.

The beauty of Yen Tu is steeped in the majesty of the surrounding mountains, the quietness of the landscape and the solemnity of the religious buildings.

But the quiet has been broken again this festival season, with cultural and traditional sports events to celebrate the lunar new year, including a dragon dance, martial arts performance, and music shows. This year’s highlight is a performance by a cheo (traditional opera) troupe, with a three-act play Hao khi non thieng (Spirit of the Sacred Moutain), which tells the story of the Way of King Tran Nhan Tong (1258-1308).

Traffic jams

The large number of visitors to Yen Tu Moutain often causes traffic congestion, says Nguyen Dinh Trung, deputy chairman of the Uong Bi town People’s Committee as well as the organizing board. But this year, he says, local authorities are introducing measures to ease the problem, by widening and upgrading Highway 18 and deploying local public security teams.

A newly installed cable car system, including 36 cars, is capable of transporting 1,800 tourists from Mot Mau pagoda to Statue of An Ky Sinh in an hour. Two new stations have been opened to meet demand.

Yen Tu has long been considered sacred but its fame spread in the 13^th century, when the King founded the Truc Lam Zen School here. It was one of the first national Vietnamese Buddhist branches of the legendary Zen Buddhism sect.