The land of rock rises up

Luong Van Hung, Khau Vai commune official, started raising fish in cages on Nho Que river. He was threatened by people to release herbicides and kill the fish, but he did not give up; Sung Mi Chu bought a pair of parent cows for the whole village to borrow so that the locals can have calves. They are the ones who have made up their mind to escape poverty, overcoming hurdles by themselves. They are the prime example of the land of rock rising up!

I.

“Can you see? the entire Khau Vai lay on a saddle-shaped land. It is the top of a long, narrow mountain of earth. That green canopy is the headquarters of the commune committee…"

Just like Hoang Thi Dao, cadre of the Fatherland Front of Khau Vai commune said, the Nung’s Khau Vai village with 50 roofs is like horsemen living on the saddle, taming the unruly horse of the rocky mountains. It’s as if the mountains is playing hide and seek, concealing the Nho Que river.

On that rare green river, Luong Van Hung, born 1981, the commune’s cultural officer, decided to set up a raft to raise fish in cages. He established a tourism service and agro-forestry-fishery service cooperative, taking Chau Kiet - his baby son’s name as its name.

There is a rare segment of the Nho Que stream that stops at the end of Trung Tam village, Khau Vai commune. In this section of the river, Bao Lam (Cao Bang) is the nearest to Meo Vac (Ha Giang), poeple only need a raft to cross over. Hung established a transport service cooperative, ferrying passengers back and forth. However, he knew that it was not the full extent of the value the river section could bring. He came up with the idea of raising fish in cages.

“Easier said than done. The people in the village hinted that they would drop herbicides to kill the fish so that I could never raise fish in cages. But I still did. They kill this litter, then I raised another. At some times they would be bored and stop doing that,” said Hung.

And someone really did it. That time, the fish died. Herbicide bottles were floating next to the fish raft. The commune police found the person who poisoned the fish, but he said that a person gave him money to throw the chemical drug bottles down. Hung was not discouraged. He continued to release a new batch of fish, with a firm determination: "I can do this. I can raise the fish, I can make the raft, then I will ask my people to do it together, get rich and eliminate poverty".

We were listening to the stories in a 5-room stilt house with Luong Van Hung, Linh Thi Vi (commune vice chairwoman), and Ly Hong Pao (vice chairperson of the commune People's Council).

At the age of 11, Hung left Khau Vai village to go to the district to go to… Grade 1. Along with Hung, there was Vi and Pao. The first 3 children of Khau Vai village went to seek knowledge. And after a decade, they are now officials of Khau Vai commune...

II.

Being able to go to school and visit lands beyond the village, Hung broadened his horizon, he knew many new things. But his root still brought him to think about the beautiful love story of Ba and Ut and thought of Ong Temple and Ba Temple - relics attached to the Khau Vai love market in his hometown. The idea of ​​using legends to make tourism was thus born.

But, only the younger generation was excited about doing tourism. The elders didn’t like strangers coming to the village and sleeping at their house. If you come to Nung Khau Vai village and see an ancestral altar placed in the house, there is an immutable convention that strangers are not allowed to sleep in that house. Even when the daughter-in-law and son-in-law return home, their parents do not allow them to sleep together, they have to sleep separately. Even Hung's mother objected to the idea.

She said, “You are an official, your wife is a teacher, you even work hard in farming and raising livestock, you have fish cages and boats to carry passengers. You have enough income, so why bring strangers to stay in the village? They went everywhere around the village taking pictures. The villagers didn't like it. I don't want to hear them whispering bad things. As for ancestral beliefs, don't do what your ancestors forbid”.

Thinking back and forth, Hung went to ask the local authority and rent the stilt house that was formerly the headquarters of the People’s Committee to make a homestay. Vi and Pao were the first to show support.

Hung's homestay is the first model in Khau Vai. Now, along the road of Trung Tam village, Khau Vai has 14 houses with tourism board signs. As for the eternal custom, Hung has a plan, which is to build new houses without up ancestral altars. The altar of ancestors is placed in the old house. The story of the old people protesting against tourism in the village was never mentioned again.

III.

Vang Di Xoang is a man from Lo Lo. Before being transferred to serve as chairman of Sung La commune, he was vice chairman of Lung Cu commune. Despite not being a local, but every place where the Xoang comes, the villagers welcome him with open arms.

Unable to bear to see their parents struggling with life, there was a time when Xoang wanted to quit school. But her mother told Shuang that leaving school helped the parents suffer less, but only for a few years, while Xoang would suffer for the rest of his life. Xoang continued to go seek knowledge.

The Sung La people love Xoang because even though he is new to the commune, he knows the faces and remembers the names of almost every house in the commune. More importantly, he also pushes the people to think of ways to make buckwheat, cruciferous vegetables, or corn achieve high yields, bring in more money, and so, poverty is gradually pushed away.

When tourism has not yet come to the villages of Sung La, although the corn fields were so productive each year, farmers can only earn VND 3 - 4 million. Now, many villages like Lung Cam and Lao Xa become the most attractive tourist destination in Dong Van.

Planting buckwheat for tourism generates tens of millions of dong per crop, because it not only gives buckwheat seeds for baking and winemaking, but there is also income from guests taking pictures of the flower season, renting costumes, or groups playing khen mong collecting tickets for guests to take pictures and listen to the performance.