The province of Thanh Hoa is located in the North Central Vietnam. Its farthest north point of land is 110 km south of Hanoi. It borders Laos to the west with 192 km of land borders running through mountainous areas. Its northern neighboring provinces are Ninh Binh, Hoa Binh and Son La with 175 km of land borders, and 160 km shared with Nghe An province to the south. Thanh Hoa lies on the shore of South China Sea which enjoys 102 km of coastline. Throughout the country’s history, Thanh Hoa remained its border stability. The province is home to 7 ethnic groups including: Kinh, Muong, Thai, Dao, Mong, Tho and Kho Mu which have different ways of lifestyle creating a multi-colored picture of Thanh Hoa’s culture. Thanh Hoa has an ideal geographical location which enjoys the characteristics of three economic zones: mountainous area, midland and seaside delta. The province is rich in natural resources including soil fertility, forests and minerals and it is referred to as a small version of Vietnam.

Being one of the largest provinces in Vietnam with an area of 11,106 km2 and the population of over 3,4 million working and living in 27 districts, towns and city, Thanh Hoa has an original geographical location together with the rough river system, mighty mountains and the immense sea. At the dawn of human being, this place was the home of the ancient local people. According to the excavation results, during the ancient Stone Age which dates back as far as a few thousand years ago, three ancient civilizations including: Vi Son, Hoa Binh, Bac Son flourished in the archaeological sites of Do Mountain and Con Moong Cave (Thach Thanh) and later the finding of Dong Son civilization once again proved the long standing existence of this historic land.

Located in the North Central Vietnam, Thanh Hoa is a place of holy land and talented people which has plentiful cultural traditions. Throughout many years of struggling against the nature to survive, Thanh Hoa people managed to create their own distinctive cultural features which are reflected in the diversified cultural heritages. These include the handicraft villages of Kinh. Muong, Dao, Thai, Tho with handicrafts such as the stone carving of An Hoach village (Dong Son), the forging of Tat Tac (Hau Loc), the bronze casting of Tra Dong, the earthenware making of Duc Tho Van village, the paper making of Dao ethnic group (Ngoc Lac), the weaving of Tho (Nhu Thanh), the linen making of Mong (Quan Son), the brocade weaving of Thai and Muong people (Ba Thuoc, Ngoc Lac) … There are legends, anecdotes, cultural folks, art performances and a wide range of theatrical performances which appeared a long time ago and have constantly been refined to the present days. These include Xuan Pha folk performance (Tho Xuan), Chieng and Chut (Yen Dinh), Dong Anh folk songs, Xuong Rang, Bo Meng of Muong group, Ca Sa, Kin Chieng, Booc May of Thai people, Chuong and Rua dancing of Dao people…all of which are regularly seen in hundreds of traditional festivals which are held annually across the province. The typical festivals include Ba Trieu, Le Hoan, Lam Kinh, Quang Trung… Apart from those cultural features, Thanh Hoa is fortunately granted by the nature a wide range of beautiful landscapes and a system of mountain caves such as Bich Dao, Long Quang, Kim Son, Ho Cong… The tropical ecosystem has created some ideal ecotourism sites like Natural Reserve of Ben En, Pu Hu, Pu Luong, Tam Quy... all of which contribute to enrich the spiritual lives of Thanh Hoa people.

Thanh Hoa also has the tradition of heroic and unyielding struggles, a place in which many feudal dynasties originally rose up. The land was involved in the existing, perishing as well as flourishing process of the country. The contribution of Thanh Hoa people have helped to create many glorious pages in our history. Such well known individuals were Trieu Thi Trinh, Le Hoan, Le Loi, Duong Dinh Nghe, Ngo Quyen…whose merits helped to establish many dynasties in the nation’s history such as Le dynasty, Ho dynasty, Nguyen Dynasty. In addition, this holy land is the home of many famous Lords. Trinh Lord had his 249 years of ruling the country, Nguyen Lords, especially Nguyen Hoang is credited with having reclaimed the land to the South, stabilized the borders of the country between the 17th and 18th century creating favorable conditions for the next generations of Nguyen Lords to unite the country.

Thanh Hoa is not only the homeland of Three Kings and two Lords, but also the land of traditional fondness for learning. In the competition examinations of our country’s history, Thanh Hoa had 1627 laureates of whom 240 had the doctor title with popular names in fields like literature, history, military, foreign relation for, instance Khuong Cong Phu, Le van Huu, Dao Duy Tu…

During the two resistance wars against French colonist and American imperialist, Thanh Hoa people overcame many difficulties to be a great supporting rear for the front whose contributions helped to get the victory of Dien Bien Phu as well as the victorious Ham Rong and the final victory of spring 1975.

The more you get to know about the land and people of Thanh Hoa, the more amazed you will find at another version of Vietnam with its beauty and full of vitality. This is the converging place of the spirits of mountains and rivers where the tradition spring has been continuously running.

The heroic Thanh Hoa in the history of resistance wars with the image of elephant riding of the heroine Trieu Thi Trinh and the resounding spirits of Lam Son insergant army, Ba Dinh, Ma Cao, Hung Linh, Ham Rong-Song Ma.

The ancientness of Thanh Hoa with architectural features related to the existing, perishing as well as flourishing process of the Vietnam’s imperial dynasties. A land which boasts its charming beauty, strength and full of vitality with Ma river shanty, Dong Anh traditional dances, Xuan Pha dance and Cheo Chai.

Thanh Hoa, a land of confidence and activeness are making great contribution to the changing process of the country and to the modernization and industrialization activities with growing numbers of factories, industrial zones, processing areas.

Those are the polyhedron image of the holy land with its talented people which is on the rise to the global integration with its proud past and the vehement vitality for the present and the future.