Recently, Thien Phu, a mountainous and underdeveloped commune in Thanh Hoa province, has been appearing frequently on social media platforms. Instead of large-scale media campaigns or elaborate productions, Thien Phu has reached the public through simple videos and melodies that capture the essence of everyday life. This authenticity has created a widespread impact, touching viewers' emotions and sparking curiosity about a region still relatively unknown on the tourism map.
A change in mindset starting from the top
Through widely shared video clips, Thien Phu commune emerges as a vibrant, majestic yet peaceful, pristine yet richly cultural landscape. The rolling mountains envelop the tranquil villages, clouds drift lazily around the stilt houses, and the bright colors of brocade fabrics adorn the skirts of Thai and Muong women… This cultural space has largely retained its unspoiled beauty despite urbanization, and this is becoming a competitive advantage for Thien Phu in the context of increasingly popular experiential and local tourism .
“Thien Phu nestles on the mountainside/Evening smoke lingers in the distant Thai village/Where the vast forest embraces dreams/Majestic mountains and forests, white clouds drift lazily/The sound of furrowing echoes from the cliffs/Corn leaves intoxicate our souls…”. The lyrics of the song “Evening Smoke at Thien Phu” resonate like a heartfelt, whispered confession, telling emotionally charged stories about a beloved land. The author of the song is Phan Van Dai, not a professional artist. Many are surprised to learn that he is the Chairman of the People's Committee of Thien Phu commune.
In reality, despite many difficulties in infrastructure and transportation, Thien Phu possesses unique cultural values.
Previously, Mr. Dai served as the Head of the Legal Dissemination Department at the Thanh Hoa Provincial Department of Justice. Officially assuming his new role on July 1st, 2025, he considers Thien Phu his second home. He aspires to bring Thien Phu closer to everyone and to bring people closer to Thien Phu. This is also the wish of many, and his aspiration quickly received the support of the local leadership in seeking new impetus for development.
In reality, despite numerous challenges in infrastructure and transportation, Thien Phu possesses unique cultural values: brocade weaving, traditional cuisine, folk festivals, and a distinct community lifestyle. The question is how to harness these resources to drive development. In this context, digital transformation has been identified by the leaders of Thien Phu commune as a breakthrough, a "door" opening new opportunities for the locality.
The commune chairman, Phan Van Dai, directly participates in managing the commune's social media pages, creating, filming, and posting content on platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, and Zalo. This pioneering effort has created a widespread ripple effect and inspired officials, Party members, and people from all walks of life. A series of information pages and social media channels have been established: from the official pages of the government and mass organizations to personal channels such as "Thien Phu Today," "Thien Phu Community Tourism," "Muong Khang Market," and "Thien Phu Connecting with Love"...
Each platform is a small "window," but when combined, they create a vast "digital space" where the image of Thien Phu is vividly and multi-dimensionally recreated. Besides boosting promotion, this digital presence brings about significant changes in the perceptions of local people.
Inspiring pride, fostering development.
Witnessing the familiar images of their village being embraced and appreciated by the online community, the villagers themselves began to re-evaluate the value of what they have, thereby creating motivation for each individual to raise awareness of preserving and promoting their cultural identity. The story of Mr. Ha Van Vinh, the owner of a homestay in Lo village, is a vivid example.
He said that previously, welcoming tourists to the village was mostly spontaneous, small-scale, and everyone did it their own way. But since images of the village appeared on social media, the number of tourists has increased significantly. The villagers have proactively connected with each other, organized better hospitality, improved facilities, and better met market demands. Traditional stilt houses, simple ethnic dishes like grilled stream fish, sticky rice, sour vegetable soup, and even fishing in the stream have become attractive experiences for tourists. Vinh and the villagers of Lo village are happy to have additional livelihoods, improved family income, and the appreciation of their ethnic cultural values.
Ms. Phung Thi Hoa, who was initially hesitant and apprehensive about digitalization, is now boldly participating in the "digital life." Thanks to the support of commune officials and young people in guiding her skills, she has confidently created videos introducing her village and shared them on tourism groups. Shyly, when called one of the "ambassadors of the village," she confided that she wants the beauty of her homeland to be known by more people. Similarly, on the community tourism promotion page of Thien Phu commune, Ms. Chieu Luong, a farmer from Thien Phu commune, enthusiastically invites friends from all over to visit the beautiful land where she was born and raised.
Leveraging digital platforms and mobilizing participation from commune leaders to all levels of the population has helped Thien Phu gradually narrow the geographical gap, making this remote and isolated destination increasingly accessible to the public. In the evolution of modern tourism, tourists have a great need to find new destinations, to experience authentic local life, and therefore, the rich cultural values of the region are a powerful "soft resource" that needs to be promoted. When "activated" through the digital space, these values are preserved, disseminated, and gradually transformed into resources for socio-economic development.
The current flourishing of Thien Phu commune also presents new demands. For sustainable development, the locality cannot simply focus on promotion; it needs continued, comprehensive investment: from transportation infrastructure and accommodation facilities to improving service quality and training human resources. Developing well-structured tourism products, linked to cultural preservation, is also a crucial issue requiring careful consideration to avoid uncontrolled, rapid development that could erode the local identity.
Currently, Thien Phu is not yet a bright spot on the national tourism map, but what is happening here shows a clear and promising direction, in line with the Party and State's orientation. The most valuable thing Thien Phu is achieving is instilling confidence in a development direction based on internal strength. With the government daring to innovate and leading with concrete actions, and the people confident in their own value, even with many initial difficulties, the road ahead will surely open up vast opportunities. From the "digital signals" sent out on the internet, the people here hope that in the not too distant future, this peaceful and picturesque land will become a favorite destination for tourists from near and far.
Source: https://nhandan.vn/nhip-song-so-บน-ban-lang-post960806.html
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