Litchi is a plump and dark red yet cool and white-fleshed, extremely famous fruit in Ha Noi. It is considered the sweetest of all tropical fruits. In fact, it is so popular that tasting the “enchanting” fruit doesn't seem to be enough to visitors, they “have” to go to Luc Ngan District, Bac Giang Province, the “Kingdom of Litchi.”

Luc Ngan District has around 30,000 litchi trees, producing about 100,000 tonnes of litchi every year, enough to supply the whole country. There are so many litchi trees in the area that there are mountains of litchi, and practically everywhere from the ground to vehicles as big as trucks and even as small as bicycles, ready to transport the in-demand fruit. The district is even more known because of a unique variety of the fruit, Thieu Litchi. It is an especially sweet version with thick flesh and tiny seeds not found in other areas.

Luc Ngan District is located about 90 kilometers North of the capital and about an hour's drive along National Road No. 31. Although ride to the district is a smooth one, arriving at the area itself is an entirely different story. The road can be clogged for kilometers long and deadlocked for about an hour because of the demand and business of litchi going about the place. Motorbikes carrying the fruit fill up the sides of the road. Refrigerating vans wait for the litchi to be loaded into their vehicles and transported to the city. Vendors shout out their product, while customers and other businessmen walk to and fro to buy or sell the mouth-watering fruit.

The market in Chu Town is one of the places where litchi is being dropped off to be sold, while a farm in Quy Son Commune is where the sumptuous fruit is being planted, developed and harvested. Cao Thi Thuy is the owner of the 7-hectare litchi farm, and he allows eager visitors to eat and enjoy as much of the fruit as they can. Tourists who come from big and busy cities find litchi fruit-picking especially liberating. Moreover, buying the fruit at the farm itself is much cheaper at VND10,000 ($0.05) per kilo, compared to VND25,000 ($1.2) in Ha Noi.

According to the farm owner, the special Thieu Litchi originally came from Thanh Ha District in Hai Duong Province. But the fruit seemed to thrive as well as, in fact better at Luc Ngan District. Thuy's farm in particular produces about eight tonnes of litchi annually, an earning of around VND160 million ($7,600). Luc Ngan District as a whole had harvested over 21,100 tonnes of litchi both for domestic and export use. Multi-storey abodes are evident in the locality, which only goes to show how litchi has changed and improved the lives of the local residents. Farm owner Thuy herself owes her house to her litchi business.

Aside from eating the fruit as it is, litchi is also dried and processed to be sold as snacks and even herbal medicine. The fruit is dried in charcoal kilns and dried in the shell. The process takes about three days wherein the fruit retains its natural sweetness but the pulp becomes dark and nutty-tasting. 100 kgs. of fresh litchi produces about 30 kgs. of dried litchi.

The farm tour includes a lunch with the host wherein local specialties cooked with home-grown ingredients are served to the guests. The highlight of the meal is the dessert which of course is made with the star of the show, litchi.

Aside from Thuy's farm, there are other litchi plantations in Phuong Son, Hong Giang, and Phi Dien, which can be developed into visitor-attracting, eco-tourism areas. However, the local government has no definite nor urgent plans in doing so, as litchi is more than doing its part in drawing visitors into the place, just by being its natural, sweet self.