According to old documents, the proper noun B'Lao was renamed Bao Loc on August 19, 1958, but the old name is deeply ingrained in the memories of those who have lived there since 1940. For the 80s and 90s generations born in this tea-growing region, some of whom excelled academically and went abroad to study or build careers, they still remember the rows of green tea plants by the house, the hedges, and the steaming hot cups of fresh tea, all deeply etched in their minds.
Tea harvesting in B'Lao
As a teacher with over 30 years of experience teaching foreign languages in this tea-growing region spanning two centuries, I occasionally share with my students: "I am a B'Lao person, so you must have knowledge of your family history and region, especially the tea culture of the local people. Perhaps when you grow up, you will still remember the image of your homeland, your family, and your former teachers from a bygone era."
Although green tea is a traditional beverage, like people, tea only tastes good when it has time to steep and develop its full flavor...
Last Tet holiday, Master Nguyen Hung Son - a former student - visited. I offered him a cup of fresh tea from the garden, and he gazed intently at the fragrant green tea, his eyes shining brightly. She confided: "I've traveled to many countries and enjoyed many different drinks, but when I come home and see a cup of fresh tea with the flavor of my homeland, I suddenly remember the tea fields of my childhood, the image of the conical hats of my mothers and sisters with their baskets bobbing on their backs in the tea hills, or the K'Ho mountain girls walking in long lines carrying firewood home along the tea and coffee gardens—all deeply etched in my memory. Then I remember the echoes of my teacher from over 20 years ago... Although green tea is a traditional drink, tea is like people; it only tastes good when it has time to be absorbed and have a lasting effect. People are the same; for tea conversations to penetrate the mind, one must contemplate and reflect on the conversation to bring good things to the person sharing it. The ancients said, 'Wine is for a moment, tea is for a moment.' Clapping one's tongue expresses appreciation for the flavor of green tea and gratitude from the host."
Recently, I met Master Tran Dinh Long, who had returned home for a visit. While waiting, we brewed a pot of green tea, and Long confided: "I left B'Lao nearly 10 years ago. Over there, in winter, the temperature drops to 0 degrees Celsius. I miss the idea of drinking a hot cup of green tea with ginger and listening to the wisdom about tea from an old man like you, it warms the heart of a person far from home. Drinking tea and talking about the culture of the newly settled people and their struggle to survive is incredibly enjoyable. A few years ago, I fell off my motorbike and broke my arm. After the cast was put on, I truly understood loneliness and thought a lot about money – the means to survive. You know my family isn't well-off, and as the eldest son, I'm trying to survive to test my survival skills in a foreign land. I always remember your advice before I left: 'In a family where no one brings honor to the family name, that's an unhappy family.' Taiwan also has many wild sunflowers like in Lam Dong . One type..." "The flowers endure until their vibrant yellow bloom, full of life, like a life of hardship for a better future, or like the lingering aftertaste of a cup of green tea. Now I have a family, my wife is a master's degree holder - a native of B'Lao - that's something to be happy about, teacher! Remembering my hometown means remembering the tea hills, the steep road to the autumn when the wild sunflowers bloom yellow, where my grandparents and my mother and I once tilled the land..." Long bowed his head, covering his face, reminiscing about a bygone era...
The green tea plant in front of the house.
For Nguyen My Hoa, who graduated with an MBA in the US and became the Deputy CEO of a large American company, her family only drank green tea during her childhood until they settled abroad. She shared: "I really like my teacher's old saying: 'First water, second tea, third brewing, fourth drinking, fifth company of friends;' and 'company of friends' is the most important. Because these are knowledgeable people who share a common stream of consciousness, they all have gentle words, deep feelings, and respect for each other during the ups and downs of life. Green tea, besides being a simple drink, also preserves stories of wisdom that beautify life and partners, especially in this era of integration, communication, and negotiation; people need three things: foreign languages, appearance, and diplomacy . Every time I return to Vietnam to visit my teacher, over a cup of old green tea with his gentle request for a pot of fragrant green tea, I picture a time when I and my friends cycled through the lush green tea hills at the foot of Dai Binh mountain, a place that holds the soul of my homeland and the nostalgia of those far from home..."
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/xu-tra-blao-noi-mang-hon-que-and-noi-nho-185250127222541524.htm
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