Unique style of fence construction in mountainous village of Ha Tinh

For generations, people in Trung Tien village, Son Tien commune (Huong Son, Ha Tinh) have kept the habit of building low fences and shortcuts for convenient access and visiting neighbors.

Trung Tien village has 116 households with 401 people. Since ancient times, villagers have had the habit of not building full walls to avoid separating households from each other. In particular, families reserve a part of their land to make a shortcut to their neighbors' houses. This is a cultural feature that creates a bond of neighborly love.

Trung Tien village seen from above.

To create a common path, when building a fence, families in Trung Tien will choose a suitable location on their land so that it is convenient to go to the neighboring house. The common path is usually 1-3m wide, 5-7m long, with a small door but almost never locked. When needing to go to a neighbor's house, instead of going through the main gate, people just need to push the side door, follow the common path a few steps to get there. In Trung Tien village, there are families that open up 2 common paths in the garden.

A shortcut between two families in Trung Tien village.

The passages between families in Trung Tien village often use small doors but are almost never locked.

“The shortcuts create connections between families. Thanks to that, many urgent cases and incidents are supported promptly. Besides, we can conveniently go back and forth to each other’s houses to exchange, chat and strengthen our neighborly feelings,” said Ms. Dinh Thi Phuong (Trung Tien village).

Due to the low terrain, during the rainy season, many families in Trung Tien village are often flooded and have to evacuate. Thanks to the common paths, people can quickly support and help each other evacuate people and property to higher areas to avoid flooding.

“I still remember the flood in 2010, at that time the flood water rose very quickly, Mr. Nguyen Duy Sang's family lived in a low-lying area, both husband and wife were old and weak. Thanks to the shortcut, the neighbors promptly discovered that Mr. and Mrs. Sang had not yet moved their property, so they called everyone to come and help. Thanks to that, the evacuation of people and property to help Mr. Sang's family was carried out promptly, ensuring safety", Ms. To Thi Linh - Head of Trung Tien village recounted.

In addition to Mr. Nguyen Duy Sang's household, households in low-lying areas in the village such as Mr. Nguyen Van Hiep's and Mr. Dau Quoc Luan's households... were also able to move their assets and livestock through both the main gate and shortcuts to households in higher areas during the flood that year.

A special point is that although the common path has been maintained for generations, the security and order situation in the locality is always guaranteed. In the commune in general and Trung Tien village in particular, there are almost no cases of theft or social evils.

Village chief To Thi Linh said that since ancient times, villagers have had a tradition of “taking shortcuts” to visit and help each other. In the past, households did not even have fences, some even shared a garden with their neighbors to grow crops. Inheriting that good tradition, today, when building fences, each household sets aside a piece of land as a common path for neighbors to conveniently travel and support each other. Households are very united and have never had any conflicts.

Thanks to the connecting walkways, Ms. Dinh Thi Phuong (far right) and her neighbors often visit, meet, and help each other.

In particular, Trung Tien is one of the 8 villages meeting the model new rural standards of Son Tien commune. In early 2022, Trung Tien completed the construction of a bright - green - clean - beautiful residential area (including 12 households). To achieve the above results, the local government has actively mobilized, propagated and supported people in the implementation process. Many households have spent tens to hundreds of millions of VND to build model gardens, which not only bring economic efficiency but also create a modern landscape for the countryside.

“When we learned about the local policy of building a bright, green, clean and beautiful residential area, my family spent tens of millions of dong to renovate our house and garden and invest in a composite wastewater treatment tank to protect the environment. Everyone here wants their house to be clean and beautiful, so they all invested heavily in construction. Thanks to that, the appearance of the residential area has gradually become more spacious and prosperous,” said Mr. Dau Quoc Luan, a villager, excitedly.

The mural road in the bright - green - clean - beautiful residential area of ​​Trung Tien village is regularly cleaned by the people.

In addition, on the roads in residential areas, households regularly clean and periodically trim the green hedges on both sides of the road. People also hire artists to decorate the walls with murals with bold mountainous countryside features.

During the process of building new rural areas, the infrastructure in Son Tien commune in general and Trung Tien village in particular has changed significantly, but the cultural features and village sentiments have been preserved, especially the rare tradition of interconnection of households here. This has created solidarity, consensus, and high unity when implementing common movements, becoming a model for many other localities to learn from.

Hoang Nguyen - Sy Thong

Source: https://baohatinh.vn/nui-hong-song-la/kieu-xay-hang-rao-khong-giong-ai-o-thon-mien-nui-ha-tinh/252069.htm