Lesson 12: Fairy tales in Muong Lay

When the Dien Bien Phu Campaign took place, Muong Lay town was the provincial capital of Lai Chau. After many administrative changes, in 2003, the National Assembly passed a decision to turn Muong Lay town into one of the administrative units of Dien Bien province. Muong Lay town has the smallest area and the smallest population in the country.

On a working trip to the Dien Bien Phu battlefield in April 2024, the Lao Cai Newspaper delegation stopped for a day in Muong Lay town, a land that is both poetic and has a very heroic history. Among the leaders of Muong Lay town who received and worked with us was comrade Tran Bang Lang, Head of the Propaganda Department of the City Party Committee.

Muong Lay town (photo by Quang Cong).

When talking about the town during the Northwest Campaign, the peak of which was the Dien Bien Phu Campaign, the Head of the Propaganda Department of the City Party Committee informed: The most typical event was in the early morning of December 8, 1953, when our troops opened fire and attacked Pa Ham post, destroying two enemy companies and calling for the surrender of two other companies; two enemy battalions stationed in the East of Muong Lay district, upon hearing the rumor that Pa Ham had fallen, immediately gathered in the town (today's town center). Taking advantage of the victory, the troops advanced to liberate the Tua Chua area, and on December 12, 1953, they completely liberated Muong Lay town before liberating Sin Ho and Muong Te districts, crushing the enemy's plan to use Lai Chau troops to reinforce the Dien Bien Phu base, and use the posts and outposts in Muong Lay to prevent our troops from supporting the Dien Bien battlefield.

Lao Cai Newspaper's working delegation in Muong Lay town.

At that time, upon hearing the news that the army had come to liberate Muong Lay and Lai Chau province, the people in the area enthusiastically went to serve the campaign. Wherever the main force troops advanced, the guerrilla teams sent people to welcome and guide them, coordinating with the troops to fight and suppress and sweep away the remaining enemy troops. Muong Lay district also mobilized local logistics forces to serve the troops in fighting the enemy, sending loyal and core people to welcome cadres from the Northwest region to take over the town.

After liberation, the people of all ethnic groups in Muong Lay town and district were temporarily given land for production, and were provided with cloth, salt, and agricultural tools by trade. The people were excited to increase production, enthusiastically joined the labor force to serve the bandit suppression campaign, and participated in building roads to pull artillery and transport military supplies to Dien Bien.

During the Dien Bien Phu Campaign, despite many difficulties, the people of all ethnic groups in Muong Lay town and district contributed 49 tons of rice, 26 tons of meat, 3,849 people to work as laborers on the front line; mobilized 24 boats and 160 pack horses to serve the Dien Bien Phu Campaign.

Muong Lay town is praised as "the pearl of the Northwest", "Ha Long in the mountains and forests". Only when you are here can you fully feel the beauty and special attraction of this peaceful urban area amidst majestic mountains and vast water waves. Muong Lay town used to be full of dangerous rapids and waterfalls. After the Son La Hydroelectric Plant came into operation, the water rose to form a calm lake in the heart of the town. Looking down from the top of the pass, Muong Lay town is a colorful ink painting, a place where land and water, mountains and rivers, land and sky meet.

Muong Lay town (photo by Quang Cong).

For us, in addition to the unique landscape, Muong Lay town also has a part of the Southern region's landscape, which is the rows of coconut trees swaying on the waves. The person who is interested, knowledgeable, and thorough about coconut trees in Muong Lay town is comrade Tran Bang Lang, Head of the Propaganda Department of Muong Lay Town Party Committee. He said that coconut trees are an imported species, brought to this land by the French when they occupied the land, at that time they were planted the most in the Chien Thang airport area, later the airport no longer exists and many coconut trees were cut down.

Green coconut trees in Muong Lay.

Coconut trees are not suitable for the climate of the North, especially in mountainous areas where there is often frost. After each frost, the coconut trees will wither, weaken, and eventually die. But in Muong Lay, it is different. For generations, people have planted many coconut trees in their gardens and along the banks of ponds. Now, coconut trees are planted in rows and paths in neighborhoods and on both sides of the Da River, but they still thrive and grow well.

Leading us to visit the rows of green and neat coconut trees in front of the City Party Committee headquarters, right next to the riverbank, Mr. Lang added: The town plans to plant coconut trees not only for landscaping but also for multi-purposes. Coconut trees in other places take 6 or 7 years to bear fruit, but here they only bear fruit after 3 or 4 years, and every tree is full of fruit. Coconut water in Muong Lay town has a sweet, clear taste like Ben Tre coconut, the coconut flesh is thick, has a high oil content, and is rich when making jam. "Muong Lay is truly the South of the Northwest," one of my colleagues exclaimed.

According to Mr. Tran Bang Lang, geographically, Muong Lay town is not convenient for transportation and lacks land, but it is an important point, the throat between the two extremes of the East and West of the Northwest region, so the French built large posts and forts, built Hang Tom bridge across the river and built a combined military and civilian airport. The French also supported their henchman Deo Van Long, who called himself "king of the Thai people" to rampage and plunder in the area and built a mansion near the center of the town today. Currently, the ancient mansion still has most of its moss-covered walls and is still visited by many tourists to visit and take pictures.

The ancient mansion still has most of its mossy walls (photo by Quang Cong).

A part of Muong Lay was submerged under the river after the Son La hydroelectric dam raised water levels, and there are sad traces of two fierce floods. That was the flood in 1990 that devastated Muong Lay town, leaving hundreds of people dead and missing; in 1996, another flood swept through here, killing nearly 100 people.

Overcoming the pain and loss, the ethnic people of Muong Lay town still cling to this land and are determined to rebuild the town to be bigger and more beautiful, strong enough to withstand natural disasters and risks in life. Thanks to the systematic and scientific investment in hydropower resettlement projects, hamlets with stilt houses in neat rows have been formed, sheltered by swaying coconut trees.

Khau chi chop cake, Khau xen cake or traditional culinary dishes of the Thai people of Muong Lay have been upgraded by the Cooperative to become products known to consumers.

On the way to visit the new rural commune of Lay Nua, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of the town Chui Van Thanh said that the town is the most special case in the country with only 3 administrative units, including 2 communes, 1 ward, and a population of less than 12 thousand people. Muong Lay town used to be a purely agricultural land, a poor countryside, with constant natural disasters, but now there have been many changes, with 67% of the economic structure being services - trade, and the rural areas are increasingly prosperous.

The White Ban Flower Cooperative in Lay Nua Commune is a fairy tale of exploration, creativity and progress for the rural people in the region. Khau chi chop cakes, Khau xen cakes or traditional dishes of the Thai white people in Muong Lay have been upgraded by the Cooperative into products that are popular with consumers in many provinces and large cities across the country, thereby creating direct jobs for nearly 20 people. In addition to traditional occupations, Lay Nua Commune also strongly develops aquaculture, cinnamon cultivation and initiates tourism services in the form of homestay.

Muong Lay is starting to form homestay tourism.

Talking about the prospects of Muong Lay town, Vice Chairman of the town People's Committee Chui Van Thanh joked: It's a fairy tale, but it still needs to be written to become a good story.

The leader of Muong Lay town added that the orientation of the town Party Committee in the coming time is to promote the exploitation of tourism strengths, focusing on opening new tours and routes, promoting links with famous tourist companies and areas such as Sa Pa and Dien Bien Phu. Pointing to the rocky mountain opposite the town's administrative headquarters, Vice Chairman Thanh said that the town has agreed to let a business invest in carving the tallest statue in Vietnam on the cliff, nearby is a large pagoda that is preparing for inauguration. Intracom Group has also completed the survey and is preparing a feasibility project to build a large-scale static hydropower plant of tens of MW based on the biomass source in the Son La hydropower reservoir.

Regarding the scale of the locality, the People's Council of the town has passed a resolution proposing to adjust the administrative boundaries, in which it agreed to transfer 2 communes of Muong Cha district to the town, thereby increasing the total population of the town to about 20 thousand people. The smallest town in Vietnam is starting to change with steady steps, as calm as the surface of the Da River on a calm day.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/bai-12-co-tich-o-muong-lay-post383739.html