Nghia Do - the vitality of clean streams and green fields

In 2024, natural disasters struck, causing heavy losses in human lives and property. However, after a short time, this place was once again filled with new life. The stilt houses were rebuilt, flowers bloomed along the roads, and the laughter of tourists echoed throughout the village, showing the resilient and persistent spirit of the Tay Nghia Do people in the face of many challenges and hardships.

Khung cảnh thơ mộng của Nghĩa Đô. — The poetic scenery of Nghia Do.

The storm at the end of 2024 caused severe damage to Nghia Do commune: Nearly 400 houses were affected, many houses collapsed completely, many households were forced to evacuate urgently and casualties followed grief. For a land rich in tradition, just starting to flourish from community tourism , the damage was enormous, causing many development plans to be interrupted.

Overcoming difficulties to make the village greener

I still remember, we came to Nghia Do in late autumn 2024, when the mountain mist was still hazy, the village had not yet recovered from the fierce flood. The rain and floods carried mud and soil to the villages, swept away many stilt houses, buried the fields, the whole area was submerged in the pain of loss. But in the midst of the devastation, no one heard any lamentation. The people of Nghia Do have been attached to the land and the forest for generations, suppressing their pain, rebuilding each foundation, erecting each wall, re-roofing the houses...

The rough hands after the storm season continue to weave baskets, plant flowers, repair houses, reinforce dirt roads, and welcome tourists back. Families that suffered heavy losses also do not forget to keep some traditional items such as panpipes, weaving frames, sticky rice steamers... to always remind them of their old family traditions.

In times of hardship, the will of the people becomes even stronger. The village seems to be revived in the green of the palm forests, in the flower beds along the road, in the smiles full of confidence of the people on the journey to restore tourism - to restore the very breath of their homeland.

Ms. Luong Thi Quyen - one of the first people to build a homestay in Ban Hon village - had just felt heartbroken the day before because her house and family heirlooms were broken in the mud, but in the following days, she and her children and grandchildren had helped rebuild the frame of a new house. Neighbors contributed labor, local organizations contributed strength, and everyone helped with whatever they had. Although the new house did not have full amenities, she still decided to maintain the traditional lifestyle, spreading out sedge mats and setting out a tray of food.

“Tourism is not just about beautiful houses, but most importantly, human emotions, that is the soul of the village. If we can still preserve that, we still have the opportunity to start over,” Ms. Quyen shared, her eyes filled with determination and pride for the land she has been attached to.

Since the natural disaster, Nghia Do has both restored and improved its tourism. More than 30 homestays have been renovated, many ancient stilt houses have been restored according to the traditional architecture of the Tay people, the landscape has been improved, the roads have been planted with more flowers, the streams have been cleaned, creating a green-clean-beautiful, close-knit, and attractive space for tourists.

Homestays are now more solid, although they still preserve the traditional stilt house shape. Families have begun to collect more ancient artifacts, restore folk games, and make souvenirs from brocade and bamboo. The living space is delicately arranged so that visitors can not only rest, but also fully experience the cultural life of the Tay people.

The village road, which was once just a simple concrete road, is now lined with flowers, creating a picturesque landscape. The stream that was once filled by landslides was cleared and cleaned by the villagers together. Bamboo trash cans are placed along the path, with a friendly reminder in two languages: “Keep the village clean - happy heart, beautiful scenery”.

Notably, the people now do not passively wait for tourists to come, but actively learn how to promote their village's image. Many training sessions on tourism promotion are held right at the village cultural house. Most households know how to take photos, record videos with their phones, use many digital platforms... to introduce their homestays on social networks. Thanks to that, less than a year after the natural disaster, Nghia Do not only recovered, but also emerged impressively.

The number of tourists to the commune in the first 6 months of 2025 increased sharply, nearly 30 times higher than in 2020. International visitors also began to return, coming to Nghia Do as a place to "touch" the original, authentic identity. Few people could have expected that from the scene of devastation after the flood, Nghia Do could be so strong. That did not come from miracles, but from the hands, minds and hearts of the people here - people who turned loss into motivation, turned difficulties into opportunities.

To continue "long strides"

Nghia Do has now become a name proudly mentioned on the tourism map of Bao Yen district, Lao Cai province as a typical model of community tourism associated with cultural preservation. That initial success is the result of a journey of proactive efforts and creativity from the local people themselves. What the locality has been doing does not stop at "doing tourism" but has been upgraded to "living with tourism".

Homestays are both a place for tourists to stay and a space to fully experience the culture of the Tay people. The way the house is decorated, the food, the greetings, the music, and the sound of weaving in the small kitchen... create a sense of intimacy and sophistication, so that every visitor leaves with a deep memory.

What is valuable is the spirit of not chasing quantity but maintaining identity and prestige. The preservation of nearly 1,100 ancient stilt houses demonstrates long-term thinking, not exchanging identity for modern works. Each stilt house is preserved as a "living museum", so that when entering, visitors not only see, but also feel, and understand the spirit and way of thinking of an ethnic group living in harmony with nature.

In the early summer afternoon, Nghia Do was covered with a light layer of mist, the last rays of the day's sunlight slanted over the fresh roofs of the stilt houses. In the cozy homestay of Mrs. Luong Thi Quyen in Ban Hon village, the cheerful laughter of the group of tourists who had just finished their journey through the village echoed around the fire. The dinner tray was ready with grilled stream fish with mac khen leaves, steamed armpit pork with lemongrass, boiled wild vegetables with cham cheo sauce, five-color sticky rice and a bowl of fragrant corn wine. Mrs. Quyen gently explained to the tourists the meaning of each dish, the story of rice grains, and the hard-working hands.

The atmosphere of the meal is attractive because of the delicious taste of the food and full of warmth, as if after so much loss and pain, the people still sincerely open their hearts with what they have: Humanity, culture, sincerity and deep aspirations. On the wall, a small screen plays a slideshow of village photos, clips filmed and edited by the children in the family with smartphones, posted on social networks to promote tourism in their homeland. The young generation of Tay people now knows how to livestream the harvest season and festival season in a simple but emotional way. Between the laughter, the wrinkles of the Tay grandmother and the sparkling eyes of the children, it seems like a brighter, more stable tomorrow is looming.

However, to continue to take steady steps, Nghia Do needs to continue to develop with smart and sophisticated solutions. Nghia Do has been flexible in digital transformation of tourism, but for people to truly master technology and turn their unique culture into "valuable digital content", it needs solutions that are close, easy to understand, highly communal and closely linked to identity; build a library of copyrighted local content (photos, videos, ethnic music...) for tourism households to use consistently; synchronize the booking and introduction system instead of each household having a page...

According to community tourism experts, the locality needs to expand tourism models associated with real-life experiences, such as “a day as a Tay” with activities such as weaving, cooking, fishing, and going to the forest to collect medicinal herbs. These small but unique tours will both generate income and help tourists have a deep connection with the local culture.

nhandan.vn

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/nghia-do-suc-song-mien-suoi-sach-dong-xanh-post402317.html