Bạc Liêu: Journey into the Realm of Century-Old Lychees

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Ngày cập nhật gần nhất: 15/4/2026

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Explore Bạc Liêu, immerse in the century-old lychee charm

A delightful visit from the countryside, a grandchild brings a gift - a bundle of freshly plucked lychees from the orchard. These are the golden rice-label lychees, a brand representing the ancient aspirations of Bạc Liêu. Once again, it's time to plan a trip...

Explore Bạc Liêu, immerse in the century-old lychee charm

A promised rendezvous, then the weekend. We set off on a day-long motorbike journey from Saigon to Bạc Liêu, spending the night to start the day with a visit to the hundred-year-old lychee orchard.

On both sides of the road, everyone is selling lychees. When I inquire, everyone enthusiastically provides directions: 'Go through the two communes of Hiệp Thành and Vĩnh Trạch Đông. Everyone knows that lychee orchard, it's vast, about a mile...'

From the city center, driving an additional 6 miles south, you can already see both sides of the road covered in the greenery of lychee leaves, lychee blossoms, and the distinctive aroma of ripe lychees for sale.

The locals living around the lychee orchard warmly welcome guests, inviting them into their homes for a drink, expressing a bit of regret: 'The lychees were just harvested in July, and now there are only a few off-season clusters. The trees are blooming and bearing young fruit, with a new ripe harvest expected in September.'

During this season, lychees are slightly higher in price, fetching 55,000 VND/kg at the orchard. The current lychee varieties are the golden rice-label and the bovine pepper. The old varieties like su-bic and tu-huýt are still planted, but not in large quantities due to slow ripening and low productivity.

The locals enthusiastically guide us to the right ancient lychee orchard in Chòm Xoài hamlet, Hiệp Thành commune. This place is home to a cluster of ancient lychee trees over a hundred years old, well-known among tourists.

According to the orchard keepers, the patriarch Trương Hưng of the family is the one who planted these lychee trees. He was also the one who brought lychee varieties from abroad to plant on the sandy lands of Bạc Liêu.

Now, only the cluster of ancient lychee trees in the family's orchard remains, also the largest lychee orchard in Bạc Liêu with an area of up to 3 hectares, owned by the third-generation descendant Mr. Trương Kiết.

These ancient lychee trees still bloom and bear fruit even in the current season, though in smaller quantities. They usually bloom in May and produce ripe fruit in September.

Highly favored by many, the remaining clusters of lychees this season still boast large, thin-skinned fruits with thick flesh. When placed in the mouth, the aroma and sweet taste are immediately apparent. People also claim that Bạc Liêu lychees have very high nutritional value, and dried lychees are used for medicinal purposes or soaked in alcohol for a delightful drink.

In the summer, amidst the ancient lychee orchard, it remains cool. Visitors can handpick and enjoy lychees amidst the orchard, choosing a lychee tree to rest, relax, or even have the chance to participate in cultural exchanges featuring Southern Amateur Music.

Bidding farewell to the hospitable and gentle people of Bạc Liêu, cherishing the promise to return in September, the season of the 'harvest sweep' for the land of golden rice-label lychees.