A 97-year-old artisan in Ha Giang goes viral on social media after a video of him saying "hello!" has gone viral.

97-year-old folk artist Sung Thi Co from Lung Tam, Tuyen Quang (formerly Quan Ba ​​district, Ha Giang province) has taken social media by storm for her endearing and friendly demeanor towards tourists.

Ms. Sung Thi Co (97 years old, H'Mong ethnic group) - the oldest beeswax painting artist on linen fabric at the Lung Tam Linen Weaving Cooperative - Photo: PHUC TAI

American travel blogger Anjelica Castaneda (Anjel) posted a clip of an elderly H'Mông woman in Ha Giang (formerly) saying "hello!" which went viral on many social media platforms. In a short time, her clip attracted millions of views.

Social media users are "melting" over the 97-year-old artist.

During her exploration of the Ha Giang rocky plateau, Anjel visited the Lung Tam Linen Weaving Cooperative in Lung Tam commune, Tuyen Quang province. As she entered, 97-year-old Sung Thi Co, who was drawing with beeswax on fabric, looked up and greeted her: "Hello!"

Anjel captured that moment; the clip, though only 7 seconds long, quickly garnered millions of views on social media. Many other accounts shared and reposted it, melting the hearts of netizens.

Foreign tourists take commemorative photos with Ms. Co - Photo: PHUC TAI

Anjel said: "She (Grandma Co) is the most hardworking and lovely woman I have ever met."

Among the thousands of user comments from around the world , many expressed feelings of wanting to "melt." Some said the old man had "stolen their hearts." Many other young people called for forming groups to travel to Ha Giang to meet him.

Nicole Burnell, a digital content creator in Brisbane, Australia, commented that she felt like she had met Grandmother Willow from Disney's Pocahontas in real life.

Lady Lieu is a thousand-year-old sacred willow tree, a symbol of wisdom. Lady Lieu teaches the protagonist Pocahontas to listen to the voice of the wind and the river, while Mr. Co teaches the younger generation to listen to the breath of their heritage.

The 97-year-old artisan is likened to Lady Lieu - a symbol of wisdom and the connection between time in Walt Disney's animated films - Photo: PHUC TAI

The hands of the linen weaver have a "memory."

Ms. Sung Thi Co is the oldest artisan of the Lung Tam Linen Weaving Cooperative. She has known how to spin flax and weave fabric since she was 13 years old. To date, she has 84 years of experience in the craft.

Every day, Mrs. Co still walks to the cooperative with her cane and sits there drawing patterns on the brocade fabric. This is the process of creating patterns for the brocade before dyeing it.

The exceptional hands of an artisan with 84 years of experience - Photo: PHUC TAI

The frail, gentle old woman, like something out of a fairy tale, meticulously painted each stroke on the linen fabric. The strange thing about these artisans who paint brocade with beeswax is that they don't use stencils or rulers; each stroke is done entirely by hand. Every pattern on the brocade comes from the skillful hands of the artist. A single flawed stroke means the entire piece of fabric must be discarded.

The brushstrokes are straight and precise, while the floral and comma-like lines are soft and fluid. The artist's hands are unusually deformed. The thumbs point outwards, the finger joints resemble bundles of bamboo tied tightly with rattan for a long time, the middle section constricted, and the fingertips bulging.

She recounted that when she was 32 years old, after a debilitating illness that left her bedridden, her fingers gradually took on their current shape. "Back then, I was very ill! My hands hurt as if they were being crushed by rocks. My family went to find a doctor, but he couldn't prescribe any medicine! He didn't know what the illness was! After nine days, I recovered on my own. And after that, my fingers have been like this!"

Tourists proudly display their embroidered bags featuring patterns drawn by Ms. Co - Photo: PHUC TAI

Every day, the Lung Tam Linen Weaving Cooperative welcomes hundreds of tourists who come to visit and take photos. Among the nearly a dozen artisans who regularly work here, Mrs. Co always has a special appeal to foreign tourists.

Everyone wanted to hold the artisan's extraordinary hand, to take photos with him, and to preserve precious moments with the artisan who has dedicated almost a century to his craft.

The Lung Tam Linen Weaving Cooperative has over 130 members, working in 9 groups. Traditional linen weaving products of the H'Mong ethnic group in Ha Giang have been exported to dozens of countries around the world - Photo: PHUC TAI

Foreign tourists are delighted with souvenirs made from brocade fabric in Ha Giang - Photo: PHUC TAI

VU TUAN - PHUC TAI

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nghe-nhan-97-tuoi-o-ha-giang-chao-hello-gay-bao-mang-xa-hoi-tu-video-cua-du-khach-my-20260206132036589.htm