Since the end of February, tourists have been flocking to the mountainous province to enjoy the ban flowers that bloom along its roads. Although the Ban Flower Festival has not been held since the outbreak of covid-19, this region remains one of the most popular tourist destinations in spring.
Representing young women’s purity and loyalty, Ban flowers have become a symbol of the land and its people. Local authorities have implemented plans to preserve and promote Ban flowers, as well as create a brand identity for Điện Biên’s tourism.
With an innocent white colour and gentle fragrance, orchids start to bloom in mid February and are in full bloom in March. Each orchid flower has five petals. Its fragrance is strongest at sunrise, when the wind helps disperse the fragrance.
In the lore of Thai ethnic minority people, the flower is named after a beautiful woman named Ban, who is in love with a strong man named Khum.
As the tale goes, once upon a time, in the northwest region lived beautiful and gentle Ban. Many men in the village wanted to marry her. But she fell in love with a poor hard-working man named Khum.
However, Ban’s parents prohibited the lovers to meet and forced her to marry a rich man instead.
Ban snuck into Khum’s village to meet him but she could not find him at his house. She left her scarf at his staircase as a sign that she had been there and rushed to search for him. She wandered from mountain to mountain and called to him, before collapsing exhausted under some trees.
When Khum returned from working in the fields, he found Ban’s scarf at this house and sensed something bad had happened to her. He searched for her from forest to forest, before he perished of exhaustion and turned into a lonely bird, flying about looking for his lover.
Where Ban died a tree grew, which bloomed with white flowers in spring. People heard birds twittering like Khum calling for his girlfriend and named the tree after the woman to remember their beautiful but tragic love
