Poetic village of happiness 'rice in the same pot, money in the same pocket' Thai Hai

Under the green canopy of trees, 30 rustic stilt houses of Thai Hai village (Thai Nguyen city) appear in the morning mist. More than 20 years ago, a woman turned the desolate hill into a happy village.

Tourists celebrate the New Rice Festival with the people of Thai Hai village - Photo: THAI HAI

There are many factors that create happiness for Thai Ha people. Happiness comes from preserving the forest with acacia trees, palm trees, and bamboo hedges that the villagers have cultivated for the past 20 years. Happiness comes from the whole village working together, "eating rice from the same pot, spending money from the same pocket". And especially, the children in the village who go to school have returned to contribute to the village, the teachers, the people working in tourism, contributing to preserving the national culture to international friends, making Thai Hai a model of a community tourism village.

A day in the happy village

Walking on the poetic road among the cool green trees, Ms. Le Thi Nga - deputy village head of Thai Hai - stopped in front of the village gong that is as old as the village itself. Knocking the gong herself, the sound of the gong echoed throughout the mountains and forests, deputy village head of Thai Hai led "golden and silver guests" to visit the villagers. And then, the ancient stilt houses of the Tay ethnic group gradually appeared in the morning mist, as if holding back visitors. Right next to the village yard is the "heritage stilt house" with the traditional profession of making green tea, the whole family of Ms. Nong Thi Hao (60 years old) together roasts tea to serve the villagers, and also as gifts for tourists. By the simmering fire, visitors can enjoy a cup of green tea with fragrant sticky lam tea. Gathered around are women humming Then melodies to welcome the distinguished guests.

Mrs. Trua (84 years old) - from Thai Hai village

Near noon, Mrs. Hao carefully packed the boxes of Che Lam cakes into a bamboo basket to bring to the place where the village's products were displayed, then carried a basket of dishes to the food court to get lunch. In Thai Hai, every day, the whole village gathered together at the food court to eat three meals a day and tell each other interesting stories about life.

Ms. Le Thi Nga - deputy village head of Thai Hai - returned to her village to work as a tour guide because she loves her ethnic culture.

Ms. Hao was one of the first people to trust and follow the village chief to the new place. For more than 20 years, her family has lived here for four generations, becoming one of the four most sacred "heritage stilt houses" that the villagers have preserved and protected together. She said: "In the village, no one has to think about money, nor what to eat today because we don't need to shop. At mealtimes, we eat together with everyone. When my family makes cakes, we just need to inform the reception desk. After making sweet soup and cakes, we bring them to the village stall to sell to tourists. The village chief takes care of everything from food, education, and accommodation for all the villagers." Why is it called a happy village? "Because here we live with love for people, for grass, trees, and flowers. Every day we talk to the trees, because the trees also have their own souls," Ms. Hao said. Indeed, the village chief takes care of all the big and small things in the village. Children going to school, the elderly and the sick are all taken care of. Each family takes on a different task, there are tea houses, traditional cake houses, beekeeping houses, herbal medicine houses, wine making houses, brocade weaving houses... The young people in the village will welcome and guide visitors, then prepare delicious meals for the villagers as well as visitors. Everyone is happy to work and does not need to be paid. All income from tourism activities is transferred to the village's common fund, from which children can go to school, take care of boys and girls of marriageable age, and take care of the lives of the villagers.

Teaching the young to preserve traditional spirit

The Happy Village not only preserves the traditional houses of the Tay ethnic group, but also the children in the village from kindergarten to grade 5 go to school every day. In addition to teaching literacy, this place also teaches Tay culture and English. The children do not come to class in the usual uniforms, but from the time they can walk, they are dressed in traditional indigo shirts to further love the color of their ethnic group's shirt. The teachers in the village are also the girls who grew up in the village. "In the past, my parents and the village chief brought the first stilt houses here and lived together in Thai Hai. I love the culture of my people, love the people, love the way of life here. After being adopted by the village chief to study at Hanoi Pedagogical University, I chose to return and now teach 20 preschool children who are descendants of the village. We teach according to the curriculum of the Ministry of Education and Training, then teach the children to sing Then, play Tinh lute and experience the village's work during holidays and Tet," said Ms. Tran Thi Thuy Linh - a preschool teacher, from Thai Hai village.

In Thai Hai village, each family has a different profession, each person has a different job, working together to preserve the tangible and intangible cultural heritage values ​​of their people - Photo: NH

The good news spread far and wide, not only the Tay people in Thai Nguyen, but also people from other places who knew about the village also came and became "brothers of the village". When they returned to Thai Hai, everyone wholeheartedly trusted the village chief, lived in harmony, preserved traditional culture, raised children to be good people, and aimed for a good life. Mrs. Le Thi Hao is an example. Originally a junior high school teacher in Gang Thep area (Thai Nguyen city), when she learned that the village preserved cultural heritage, Mrs. Hao applied for retirement and returned to Thai Hai with her husband. Up to now, Mrs. Hao has been attached to the village for 17 years. As a Kinh teacher, she did not know how to weave. When she returned to the village, she learned from the elders in the village. Now that her children and grandchildren also want to learn to weave, she teaches them as much as she knows. Every day, at the heritage house about 30m from the village school, she teaches the children how to weave bamboo baskets. "She hopes that the next generation, in addition to learning knowledge at school, will learn life skills to continue to protect and preserve traditional culture like what the villagers are doing," Ms. Hao confided.

The oldest stilt house in Thai Hai village is now 80 years old. When moving to Thai Hai, the traditional stilt house appearance was preserved: the rafters and pillars are made entirely of wood, the Tay people's floor is made of bamboo, and the Tay people still maintain the fire on the stilt house. In the village, there are four heritage houses: a tea house, a medicine house, a cake house, and a wine house. During the Lunar New Year, villagers will divide into four heritage houses to eat and chat at the beginning of the year. The preparation for Tet of Thai Hai people is marked by the New Rice Festival (the 10th day of the 10th lunar month).

20-year journey to establish a happy village

Ms. Lo Thi Sen - tour guide at Na Sang Community Tourism Village (Van Ho District, Son La) - Photo: N.HIEN

More than 20 years ago, in the Dinh Hoa Safe Zone, some Tay people dismantled their traditional stilt houses to build more convenient brick houses. Worried that future generations would no longer see the stilt houses, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Hai, now the village chief, determined to borrow money to buy back 30 ancient stilt houses to restore them to their original state. Then she chose the bare hill of My Hao hamlet (Thinh Duc commune, Thai Nguyen city), where no one lived, to establish the village. Persevering, the village chief and the first villagers together transported each stilt house from the Dinh Hoa Safe Zone to Thai Hai. Like "ants carrying for a long time will fill their nest", each beam, column, and skewer was dismantled, carefully marked, loaded onto a truck, and gradually moved to the new land. It took more than 700 days for 30 new stilt houses to be moved to Thai Hai from the old village nearly 60km away. Building houses with one hand, sowing seeds and planting trees with the other, the people of Thai Hai village worked together to turn the barren land into a cool, peaceful forest in the heart of Thai Nguyen city. When they arrived at the new place, they had to face many hardships and difficulties, even having to plant trees for shade. Under the stilt house, they raised buffaloes, chickens and ducks to get fertilizer for each tree. The village chief even carried his child to the forest to plant trees. Life at that time was not like now, people ate whatever they had, sometimes they only ate rice with sesame salt, but everyone still hoped that the village would develop. Having land and houses, the people of Thai Hai told each other to work hard and build a new life. From the first villagers, up to now, there have been nearly 200 people here, many families have lived with 3-4 generations. By 2014, the new village became a tourist area of ​​Thai Nguyen. "When awarded the Best Tourist Village award - voted by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), all the villagers were happy because their ethnic culture and their village are known to the whole world," said Ms. Nong Thi Hao.

Unlike other community tourism areas, Thai Hai was built to preserve the culture of the Tay ethnic group to keep the stilt houses from being lost. They not only preserve the "body" of 30 ancient stilt houses, but also the "soul" of the cultural life, the soul of an ethnic village is still preserved and developed in the center of the city. Receiving the award "Best Tourist Village", the number of tourists knowing about Thai Hai has increased but the pace of life here is still not caught up, for tourists it feels like returning home, blending into the rhythm of life of the village. The longer they stay in Thai Hai, the more interesting things for tourists to experience and explore. Living like a local, trying to make tea and cakes during the day, enjoying festivals during the year, eating with the villagers in the food court, and lighting a campfire at night. For the Thai Hai people, the stilt houses are still preserved intact, cultural and spiritual practices are preserved by the villagers. All traditional occupations of the Tay people are still preserved, from making tea, making cakes, beekeeping, brewing wine, to weaving... People in the village talk to each other in the Tay language, children are taught about their origins and culture from the cradle through Then singing and Tinh lute. When they grow up, today's children will become the owners of the village, continuing the beautiful traditions of the ethnic people here.

"When I first started learning to build a community tourism village, I had a practical training session at Thai Hai village. I saw that people were doing a very good job of preserving culture, especially "eating rice from the same pot, spending money from the same pocket". The practical trip gave us useful knowledge to build tourism in our hometown. To do that, we must really understand the culture and customs of our people to explain to tourists with our own true feelings" - Ms. Lo Thi Sen, tour guide at Na Sang Community Tourism Village, Van Ho district, Son La.

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