The charming scenery of Khe Ro Nature Reserve (Son Dong, Bac Giang)

In Yen Tu mountain area, there are main mountain ranges, such as: Loi Am, Phat Son, Am Ni, Chung Sơn, Thanh Mai, Bac Ma, Con Sơn, Huyen Đinh, Tuong Son, Kham Lang… The highest mountain peak of the Yen Tu range is the Lôi Âm peak (nearly 1,200m), Phu Lam peak of Phat Sơn mountain is (nearly 1,000m) The remaining ones are 800m or less. In these mountain ranges there are two primary vegetation types consisting of the multi-layer forest vegetation and the dry forest vegetation.

The rock here is also not homogeneous, the ecosystem is also different. From the mountain there are big water sources flowing into the slot to create large streams of water. Many water slots dive down cliffs creating large waterfalls, such as Nuoc vang, Rot,(Luc Son),Suoi Mo, Thum Thum(Nghia Phuong), Vuc Reu(Cam Ly) waterfalls of Luc Nam district. In the savan forests, the forest of shrub heath and straw grass plots intercropped with xerophytes, the water source is low and only wet at the foot of the slot, so the trees are only tracks along the slots without growing on the mountain slopes. The land of Yen Tu is close to the sea, the obstruction of sea creats the climate of this place to become the tropical climate with cold northeast monsoon. Looking at the panorama, Yen Tu is a large mountain range, a famous mountain of the Northeast area. It has an important strategic position in history and also contains many historical and cultural values.

Tu is the largest centralized natural forest of Bac Giang province and the Northeast area, located in areas of An Lac, Thanh Son, Thanh Luan (Son Dong district) and Luc Son communes (Luc Nam district). This is a forest distributed at altitudes from 200m to over 1,000m above sea level and with a complex high steep terrain.

Yen Tu forest is very important for the protection, environment and climate regulation of the Northeast of the province. Besides, Yen Tu forest has still quite large forest resources, enough conditions to build a nature reserves with an area of over 17,000 hectares and total timber reserves of nearly 1,000,000 m3. On the other hand, due to the craggy and high sloping terrain, Yen Tu natural forest still maintains relatively intact areas with a rich , varied and typical population of organisms for the North East area of Vietnam.

According to the preliminary survey result, there are 728 species of plants in Yen Tu, belonging to189 genuses of 86 families and 226 species of animals belonging to 81 families of 24 ordos, including tens of species of precious and rare forest animals and plants listed in the Red Book of Vietnam are in danger of extinction. The typical species of forest plants are Fujian cypress, First quality wood, Tali, Lauan meranti, Sindoer, Mahogany, Lat hoa, Agarwood, 5 Leaf Pine, White pine, green tali and small leaf apitong ... The rare medicinal herbs such as: Amomum, Arrowroot, Sarsaparilla, cham chim, devil flower, Holarrhena antidysenterica, Medicinal Indian Mulberry, …., Forest animals are panthers, Sloth-monkeys, Francois' Langurs, wolves, tibetan bears, Indochinese rhesus macaque,. Hog-deers, chamoises,. varans, big flying squirrels, peacock- pheasants, pheasants, Malayan snail-eating turtles and King cobras …

Tay Yen Tu Nature Reserve has many gene sources of precious, rare and typical forest plants and animals of the North East area of Vietnam that many other nature reserves do not have.

In the Yen Tu mountain system, there are many well-known scenic spots recorded by the ancient books including Am Vai, Suoi Mo - Ho Bâc and Huyen Son scenic spots; Kham Lang and Hon Thap- Yen Ma relics … These scenic spots are a large complex of famous mountains and historical vestiges to integrate. Mostly, the relics located on the the Yen Tu mountain range in Bac Giang province are ancient relics dating from the Ly dynasty (11th to the 14th centuries) Most of the relics located on the Yen Tu paint in Bac Giang province are ancient relics, dating back to the Ly dynasty (11th century to the 14th century).These are relics of historical and cultural significance imbued with Buddhist color of the Truc Lam Zen founded by Tran Nhan Tong King.