Proud of livable countryside

A corner of the model new rural commune Hoang Thai (now Hoang Loc commune).

Bustling new life

Each of us has a hometown to love and remember. Hometown is the closest, most simple and dearest thing. It is the house, the dike, the ferry, the communal house, the road to school when we were young. For me, hometown is also the place where the soul is anchored, the nostalgia of those who are far away. And every time I remember my hometown, I feel proud because the place where I was born is changing every day in the process of building a new countryside.

Before the administrative unit was rearranged from July 1, 2025 to become the new Hoang Chau commune, my commune was recognized as a model new rural commune at the end of 2024. Perhaps the pride is partly because, as a commune at the end of the canal, there are still many difficulties, but it has "broken through" to become the first model new rural commune in the Southeast region of Hoang Hoa district before.

The highlight of the model NTM is probably the truly changed appearance of the countryside. The inter-village and inter-commune roads are paved with smooth asphalt and concrete; the number of high-rise buildings with Thai and Japanese roofs is increasing in residential areas; schools and medical stations are spacious and well-equipped next to rows of shady green trees. The area of sour, saline rice fields along the dike foot is also gradually being replaced by high-value aquaculture areas. Many local households have also invested billions of dong in high-tech shrimp farming with high productivity and efficiency, many families have become "billionaires" in shrimp farming. Households with large gardens have paid more attention to renovating mixed gardens, planting fruit trees such as custard apples, guavas, etc. The young generation has jobs and stable incomes in industrial parks. Every evening, the women and mothers chat and laugh together to the vibrant music at the cultural house, creating a warm and united atmosphere... All of this "paints" a picture of the countryside filled with the sounds and colors of innovation - something that more than 10 years ago, the people in my hometown's coastal area could not have imagined.

New Rural Areas always have new things. Therefore, when recognized as meeting New Rural Area standards, many localities continue to focus on the "journey" of building advanced and exemplary New Rural Areas. As a result, many villages like mine have become livable countrysides.

Returning to Kim Son village, Hoang Tien commune - a once poor coastal agricultural land that has now transformed itself. More than anyone else, those who were born, grew up and are attached to this land can truly feel it. Ms. Le Thi Nga has been attached to this land since she was a child, and now at an old age, she is very excited that her homeland is increasingly changing.

Ms. Nga said: “The country roads are big and beautiful, with electric lighting, the internal traffic is also solidified, the fields are divided into production areas, mechanization is applied to serve production, so farmers are much more leisurely and productivity and value are higher. The cultural house is spacious, has a sports field, installed exercise equipment, free wifi... all to serve people's lives."

The proudest thing is that to have a beautiful Kim Son today, the villagers have sacrificed their personal interests, voluntarily donated land, contributed materials, working days... to contribute to asphalting the commune's main roads, hardening the hamlet and inter-hamlet roads, installing lighting for more convenient traffic. The new look of Kim Son village and the amenities of a model new-style rural village, a smart village are also understandable when the average income of the people here reaches 77.6 million VND/year, higher than the average income of the villages in the area.

“The model village is truly an opportunity to mobilize the strength of the entire population to join hands in building the countryside, helping people enjoy increasingly better technical and social infrastructure works,” emphasized Mr. Le Van Tu, Head of Kim Son village.

Towards civilized and comprehensively developed countryside

Looking back on the journey of nearly 15 years, to have the bustling new rural areas of today, Thanh Hoa province has gone in the right direction in focusing on leading and directing the tasks of the national target program.

Proud of livable countryside

A livable countryside is a place that brings a peaceful and convenient living environment and development opportunities for people.

In particular, in the period from 2021-2025, our province directs to improve the effectiveness of implementing the New Rural Development Plan according to the plan to improve the socio-economic life of rural areas associated with the urbanization process of each locality, thereby narrowing the regional gap, rural people have a better living environment, gradually access and enjoy services like urban areas, develop sustainable socio-economic development, ensure national defense - security, sustainable poverty reduction, especially in ethnic minority areas, mountainous areas, coastal areas and islands.

With high determination and great efforts, the New Rural Development Program has developed in depth, with many innovations, contributing to improving and enhancing the quality of life of the majority of rural people. The number of communes meeting the New Rural Standards of the province is among the leading in the country. As of June 2025, the whole province had 15 district-level units and 374 communes meeting the New Rural Standards (83.3%); of which, 4 districts and 125 communes met the advanced New Rural Standards (33.4%); 33 communes met the model New Rural Standards (8.8%). There are 629 villages and hamlets meeting the model New Rural Standards.

Notably, many exemplary models in new rural construction have been deployed and replicated by the Fatherland Front at all levels and socio-political organizations. The movement of land donation and contribution to the implementation of new rural construction in localities has been supported by the people, creating positive effects and practical results for the development of rural infrastructure, especially in terms of environmental landscape and rural transport. In the period of 2021-2024, the whole province donated about 1,980,000m2 of land (of which, residential land is more than 800,000m2, other land is nearly 1,180,000m2). Households have moved and demolished hundreds of houses worth more than 60 billion VND; demolished more than 2,400 fences, gates, yards, ancillary works... worth more than 90 billion VND to carry out village construction movements.

The total capital mobilized to implement the program for the 2021-2025 period (as of May 2025) reached more than 29.9 trillion VND. Capital is used reasonably and effectively, infrastructure is invested synchronously, the appearance of the countryside is increasingly spacious, bright, green, clean, beautiful, gradually meeting the production and living needs of rural residents.

And especially, after operating the 2-level local government with the goal of administrative reform, streamlining the apparatus, improving management efficiency and serving the people better, while creating a new development space for the locality, the New Rural Development program will also enter a new phase with higher goals. There, New Rural Development will be in the direction of civilization, comprehensive and sustainable development associated with the urbanization process, changing the face of the countryside, improving the quality of life, taking people's satisfaction as the destination.

It is expected that, with a new stature, new awareness and new government apparatus, in the near future, Thanh land will have many more civilized, prosperous, and unique countrysides, truly becoming livable countrysides, so that anyone who goes far away will long to return and be proud of the place where they were born.

Article and photos: Viet Huong

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/tu-hao-nhung-mien-que-dang-song-258718.htm