Mr. Thong sat there, next to a pile of papers, books and newspapers, his eyes squinted, his fingertips running evenly over the neatly printed lines. He also had a pencil tucked neatly into his earlobe, so that whenever he came across an interesting passage or needed knowledge, he could reach out and grab it right away, then mark it down, and find it when needed: “Books, newspapers, official dispatches, and papers, if you are willing to open and read them, you are like a smart teacher. There, there are enough policies and regulations. If you understand and know, then people will listen, even if a rooster wants to crow, you have to learn,” Mr. Thong shared. I have never set foot on a tourist train connecting Hanoi with Thai Nguyen. But, with the very passionate introduction from the female officer of the Thai Nguyen Province Tourism Promotion Information Center, I really wanted to sit on that very train to go to the land by the Cau River. The introduction is like a heartfelt voice, urging, inviting and hard to refuse. Concluding the meeting of the Steering Committee on Science, Technology Development, Innovation, Digital Transformation and Project 06, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested to promote national digitalization, develop comprehensive digital citizenship, cut and simplify administrative procedures without limits, do as much as possible; resolutely transform the state from passively receiving and resolving administrative procedures to a proactive, active state serving the people and businesses. Implementing the Central Government's policy on streamlining the apparatus, from March 1, 2025, the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions of Ho Chi Minh City was established and officially put into operation. "When the two fields of ethnicity and religion "come together under one roof", it will create favorable conditions for State management in the fields of ethnicity, belief and religion, especially in Ho Chi Minh City - where 53 ethnic minorities live together and millions of followers", said Mr. Nguyen Duy Tan, Director of the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions of Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh sharedIn recent years, from the resources of the National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction, Vi Xuyen district, Ha Giang province has focused on creating livelihoods and solving employment problems to help people escape poverty sustainably. Not only playing an important role in propagating and disseminating the law to the people, in recent times, the prestigious people in the mountainous districts of Quang Nam have continuously increased production, pioneered in converting the structure of crops and livestock to develop the family economy, supporting people to improve their livelihoods. On March 18, leaders of the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions, the Fatherland Front Committee of Thanh Hoa province came to congratulate the Bishop's House on the occasion of the Feast of the Patron Saint of Thanh Hoa Diocese in 2025. Receiving the delegation were Bishop of Thanh Hoa Diocese Nguyen Duc Cuong and priests. Located on Pham Ho Phap Street, Hoa Thanh town, Tay Ninh province, about 5km southeast of Tay Ninh city and 10km from Thanh Hoa city. About 100km west of Ho Chi Minh City, the Tay Ninh Holy See is where important religious activities take place, where Cao Dai followers come to make pilgrimages and perform solemn rituals. General news of the Ethnic and Development Newspaper. The morning news on March 18, there is the following notable information: The sacred ceremony of the Hoang Sa soldiers' memorial service. The ancient temple in Bac Ninh. The potential for community tourism in Bau Ech. Along with other current news in the ethnic minority and mountainous areas. The Quan The Am festival is one of the major cultural and religious events in Da Nang, attracting a large number of domestic and foreign tourists. With its rich activities, the festival is not only a place for people to worship and pray for peace, but also an opportunity to promote the unique cultural values of the Ngu Hanh Son land. Tuyen Quang province has 121 communes in ethnic minority areas, of which 570 are particularly disadvantaged villages. According to the report of the Provincial People's Committee, in the period of 2021 - 2025, from the capital of the assigned national target programs, especially the National Target Program 1719, the province has supported investment in the construction of 600 infrastructure works to serve production, exchange of goods, and people's daily life, of which 80% is invested in developing infrastructure in difficult areas. Mr. Thong sat there, next to a pile of papers, books and newspapers, his eyes squinted, his fingertips running evenly over the neatly printed lines. He also keeps a pencil tucked into his earlobe, so that whenever he comes across an interesting passage or knowledge he can reach out and take it right away, then mark it down, and find it when needed: “Books, newspapers, official dispatches, and papers, if you open them and read them, you are like a smart teacher. There are enough policies and regulations. If you understand and know, then people will listen, even if the rooster wants to crow, you still have to learn,” Mr. Thong shared. Although the People's Committee of Dak Ha district (Kon Tum) has issued a Decision to sanction administrative violations in the field of road traffic against Mr. Tran Bao Khanh, for the act of arbitrarily leveling the ground in the road safety corridor, up to now, Mr. Khanh has not yet taken remedial measures and the violating construction still exists, even though the 30-day deadline has passed. Is not fully complying with the Decision to sanction a disregard for the law? On the morning of March 18, in the city. Ho Chi Minh City, Lieutenant General Le Duc Thai - Member of the Party Central Committee, Member of the Central Military Commission, Commander of the Border Guard (BĐBP) chaired the Conference and awarded units with outstanding achievements in the fight against drug crimes. Also attending the Conference were Major General Tran Ngoc Huu - Deputy Commander of the Border Guard; Chief of the General Staff; Political Department; Department of Drug and Crime Prevention and Control; representatives of the award-winning units.
Mr. Ly Dai Thong is a prestigious person of Nam Dam village, Quan Ba commune, Quan Ba district, Ha Giang province. Over the years, he has made many contributions to local activities and emulation movements for the development of the village.
Typically, in developing household economy, in order to encourage people to change farming practices and shift crop structure, he pioneered the development of a specialized fruit tree model for high economic value. Currently, Mr. Ly Dai Thong has 2 hectares of peach, pear and plum gardens with an annual revenue of more than 200 million VND. In addition, over the years, Mr. Ly Dai Thong has worked with local authorities to research and collect traditional dances and songs of the Dao ethnic group; together with the people, he has restored and reenacted the Dao people's Cap Sac ritual to perform for tourists.
At dawn, I returned to Nam Dam. The wind from the mountain top poured down into the cool valley. The sky behind the eastern mountain range was red. The first rays of sunlight crossed the valley and spread many alternating light and dark streaks on the western mountain top like a curtain... The last time I visited, Nam Dam was entering winter, the peach and plum trees had long since shed their leaves, leaving only their bare branches, standing trembling in the cold wind. This time I returned, the weather was still spring, the pure white plum blossoms and the bright pink peach blossoms dyed patches of fresh color along both sides of the road.
There was a long time ago, not only the Dao people in Nam Dam but also many other ethnic groups in the Ha Giang Stone Plateau were only familiar with the "knife and fire" farming method, tying knots to calculate and using worship to cure diseases, so life was still full of hardships. The Quan Ba district government at that time was determined that if they wanted to build a progressive life, they first had to solve the problem of "settling down".
And then in 1992, the Dao ethnic people, who used to live on the high mountains around the area, unanimously came down the mountain and established a village right in the Nam Dam valley - a flat, fertile land, suitable for specialized crop cultivation and economic development.
The baggage that many generations of Dao people brought down the mountain that year was not only wealth, but also cultural identity and pride in the unique cultural identity of their people. That is the answer to why only 20 years after settling in the valley, Nam Dam is one of the first places in Quan Ba district to do community tourism.
Starting with only a few households, up to now, Nam Dam Village Community Cultural Tourism Village has 39 households providing homestay services, qualified to welcome guests with the capacity to serve 600 guests/day and night. Nam Dam has now become one of the most vibrant tourist destinations on the Happiness Road leading to the Stone Plateau. The average annual income of each household doing tourism is from 200 to 300 million VND.
The house of Mr. Ly Dai Thong - a prestigious person in Nam Dam village, Quan Ba commune was built with new materials, but in the ancient style of the Dao people, so it was still very close and simple like the first time I came back. However, the pair of red parallel sentences posted on both sides of the entrance door had been replaced to welcome the recent Tet. Rice and corn from the fields had been brought back to fill the path next to the porch.
In the small fire, the kitchen smoke quietly rose thin and light like morning dew. Mr. Thong sat there, next to a pile of papers, books and newspapers, his eyes squinting, his fingertips running evenly over the neatly printed lines. He also had a pencil tucked neatly into his earlobe, so that whenever he came across an interesting passage or needed knowledge, he could reach out and grab it right away, then mark it down, and find it when needed. “If you open and read books, newspapers, official dispatches and papers, you are like a smart teacher. There are enough policies and regulations there. If you understand and know, then people will listen. Even a rooster has to learn to crow,” he explained to me like that!
Then he smiled gently and stood up: "Luong! Are you tired from the long journey? Of course, but it's okay. The legs that can walk far but still remember the way home are like the Dao people, in line with the Dao people's logic."
Not giving me time to answer, he excitedly said: "Look, the last article you wrote about your father's model of growing 2 hectares of pears, plums, and peaches (Mr. Thong's affectionate way of calling reporters), the newspaper you gave me is still here, and the copy I gave to Mr. Danh (Head of Nam Dam Village - Ly Ta Danh), he has left it at the commune's cultural house and put it in the community bookshelf! Mr. Danh told my father, as a person of prestige and a good businessman, he must let everyone read, know, and learn together", which is also very fun.
Having said that, Mr. Thong nodded again: “Dozens of hectares of specialized fruit trees of many households in the village are also providing stable annual income. From now on, each hectare of specialized fruit trees will bring in an additional income of several hundred million dong. Before, we only thought about “settling down”, but now it is stable, “settling down””.
The Dao people here are like that, they only "show off" what they have done, what they have in their two hard-working, industrious hands, and never look at the wind and clouds! And also among the Dao people, no matter where they are, they can always find a place to stay and live.
He and I chatted, mostly about the village, the hamlet, and the people who overcame difficulties to escape poverty. As if suddenly remembering a story from nearly 2 years ago, he said: Five years ago, I read in the newspaper Dan Toc and Phat Trien the story: Dao people preserve traditional herbal medicine. That's right, among the ethnic groups, Dao people are known as masters of natural medicinal leaves in the forest. Dao people use their experience and traditional methods of picking leaves, preparing, pounding, applying or drinking... to eliminate many diseases. The medical theories that Dao people have learned have been accumulated into medicinal recipes passed down for many generations. Dad and cadre Danh encouraged Mr. Den (Ly Ta Den - the eldest son of Mr. Ly Dai Thong) to establish the Nam Dam Medicinal Materials Cooperative. Initially, that Cooperative operated effectively!
After noon, the sun was shining golden on the stream, I said goodbye to the prestigious person of Nam Dam village to continue my business trip. He gave me a tube of sticky rice still steaming, the warm aroma of sticky rice flowing through my fingers. "The road from here to Meo Vac is still far, if you get hungry on the way, you can rest anywhere", then he added: "When you go up there, if you see a good tourism model, good economic development, remember to write an article, so that every time we have a community activity, everyone will pass around that newspaper to read, to learn and be bold, confident in doing business to change their lives for the better".
Source: https://baodantoc.vn/nam-dam-ngay-tro-lai-1742107286239.htm
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