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Story Huong Quynh
Photos Heritage photo tour – Thai Nguyen 2024
“What’s interesting about Thai Nguyen province?”
We wondered this before joining the Heritage Photo Tour – Thai Nguyen 2024 because our only associations with Thai Nguyen province were Tan Cuong tea, the Safety Zone (ATK) during the resistance war, and the iron and steel industry. After three days of exciting experiences, we likened this midland region to a beautiful girl, slowly awakening after a long sleep in the forest.
After the summer rains, the greenery along the winding paths in Thai Hai village was lush. The village’s Tay people welcomed us with bright eyes and gentle smiles as if we were long-lost relatives on our way home. The first stop on our Photo Tour left deep cultural impressions thanks to its stilt houses and unique customs of communal living. With nearly 200 inhabitants, this model village operates like a large family, with residents sharing meals, production, and expenses. Children are cared for as they study, the elderly are provided medical care, and working-age men and women are assigned production tasks or serve visitors to the village.
The photographers spent a valuable day creating vivid images of the locals’ way of life: from carrying water, cooking rice, and weaving agricultural tools, to performing customs like offering water to guests, singing traditional songs, and playing a traditional game of throwing a sacred ball through a ring.
As usual, we worried about taking photos out of doors since rain was forecasted. Fortunately, the second day dawned with clear skies over Nui Coc Lake. With vast waters and mountains faintly visible in the distance, this legendary blue lake provided many poetic shots. Upon reviewing the photographers’ creations from the early morning, we recalled a song we had heard earlier during the journey:
Floating (oh) floating
Swaying (oh) swaying
The boat meets the wind-drunk guests
The boat drifts, the boat drifts
The oar stirs the deep blue water.
Excerpt from Huyền thoại hồi Núi Cốc (Legend of Núi Cốc Lake) by musician Pho Duc Phuong
The scenery continued to stir the photographers’ souls as they visited the gently rolling, lush green tea hills or witnessed torrents of water rushing down Cua Tu Stream after heavy rains. The Photo Tour inspired participants’ full creativity by interspersing experiences with stories about local people.
One such story follows the female “captain” of the Hao Dat Tea Cooperative, who is passionate about developing clean tea while protecting the environment and making products that have received national 5-star OCOP certification. Another story revolves around the meticulous manual processing steps needed to produce the renowned Tan Cuong tea products, such as Bup Non tea, Non Tom Tan Cuong tea, and the famous Dinh tea. The secrets of tea-processing were shared over a cozy meal featuring delicious dishes made from tea leaves. These dishes had intriguing names like “golden-robed green tea”, “jade hidden in the clouds”, and “braised fish with tea buds”. Photo Tour participants also learned about the efforts of young tourism enthusiasts in Dai Tu district, who build homestays and promote them to domestic and international visitors. This district is home to Cua Tu Stream, which is surrounded by trekking routes and wild nature.
With many more stories to uncover, we all promised to return to Thai Nguyen to admire this “beautiful girl sleeping in the forest”. See you again, during sunny days, Thai Nguyen!
