Evergreen Dreams: Celebrate the Season At Moc Chau’s Christmas Forest

Located about 200 km from the center of Hanoi and a 4-hour drive, Moc Chau (Son La) has become one of the most beautiful traveling destinations in Vietnam.

Moc Chau is a large, mountainous district of the Son La province, about 200 kilometers west of Hanoi. It is a great place when you are planning to visit Mai Chau from Hanoi. Thanks to the cool climate, it is home to around 3,000 hectares of tea plantations. These vast green tea plantations extend as far as the eye can see and spread over many green hills. The area has beautiful traditional villages of Vietnamese hill tribes and is especially known for the many beautiful flowers ranging from plum blossoms to cherry blossoms.

Photo: Quang Kien

If you come here during the last months of the year, you will have the opportunity to admire and take many beautiful Instagram check-in pictures of the brilliant wild sunflowers on the highlands.

In recent days, a lot of tourists have flocked to Moc Chau before Christmas to enjoy their relaxing time in the garden of nearly 2,000 imported pine trees.

Photo: Sang Doan Dang

This pine garden is located in the Bo Bun sub-area, Nong Truong town, right in the center of the Moc Chau district with an area of nearly 1ha.

Hai Tom, the owner of the garden, said that many foreign pine varieties are grown here, mainly imported from Denmark and Russia. There are about 2,000 large and small pine trees, including two main varieties, which are from Nobilis and Siberia.

Before that, Hai Tom tried to plant pine trees in Hanoi but it took a long time for the trees to grow, with only about 1 – 2 cm each year.

She then moved them to Moc Chau, where the environment and weather are much more suitable for her to plant a large garden and grow pine trees, both to support herself financially and create a lovely destination for photography and sightseeing.

Photo: Quang Kien

Each pine tree is decorated with Christmas accessories such as bells, silver stars, bows, ribbons, etc, creating a shimmering colorful scenery. Besides, many corners in the garden are arranged alternately with miniatures such as straw rolls, tents, and wooden chairs for visitors to comfortably pose and take pictures.

Vu Quang Kien, the 27 – year – old photographer who lives in Moc Chau, said the ideal time to visit this place is from 4 pm to the evening. It is even more alluring and mysterious – looking at night when the colorful light bulbs are turned on.

The owner said the garden will be open from 8 am to 8 pm. The price ticket for one person is VND30.000 ($US1,27).

Aside from sightseeing, visitors here can also buy pine trees right in the garden to bring home decorations and welcome Christmas. The price of the smallest pine tree, 60cm high, is VND900,000 ($US38.26), while a tree up to 4m high costs VND7 million ($US297.72).

Photo: Quang Kien

The garden is also near some famous tourist attractions in Moc Chau such as Moc Suong tea hill, Son Moc Huong cave (Bat cave), pine forest in Ang village, Pa Phach village, Chieng Khoa waterfall, etc, in which travelers can conveniently visit after seeing Moc Chau’s pine trees.

Food is also one of the must-try experiences in Moc Chau. In addition to specialties such as plums, tea, and milk, this land also attracts guests with many delicious dishes such as salmon hotpot, buffalo meat in the kitchen, vegetables dipped in fish-heart sauce or five-color rice, etc.

Photo: Quang Kien

Moc Chau does not have an airport or railway station, so you always have to travel over the road. The town is located 190 kilometers from Hanoi.

The distance between Hanoi and Moc Chau is 190 km, so it takes around 4 to 5 hours to get there. Every day a number of buses leave for Moc Chau. Most start from the My Dinh bus station in Hanoi. All buses to Son La and Dien Bien Phu also always pass by Moc Chau. Alternatively, you can take a direct tourist minibus including pick up and drop off at your accommodation.

Photo: Quang Kien

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