These days, in the stories of many people, everywhere… the two words “Dong Hoi” are often mentioned. The very familiar noun has now become strangely “hot”. People discuss a lot about the future, that is in the exciting stories of young people. The elderly reminisce in the endless wind by the Nhat Le River, on the park benches recalling a difficult time together rebuilding the town, a generation like the writer The Tuong once told: “Returning to Dong Hoi, lying on the vacant land that had just been granted, looking up at the sky…” in the early days of dividing the province, returning to the old administrative boundaries.
Or they still tell each other about the history of a land with the ancient name Dong Hai, running along the river to the sea with many ancient lakes, lagoons and white sand dunes... Everyone has their own stories and memories about this familiar land...
For those of us who grew up in the rice fields on the outskirts of the town, Dong Hoi was strange and spacious in the early days when we knew how to cycle to the stadium to eat a cool ice cream, watching people eagerly go to watch football and then return without dreaming of having tickets to watch the match. It was with friends chattering every day to Dao Duy Tu High School in our youth years, leisurely strolling along the green willow trees looking over to the green island of Bao Ninh during the break of classes... Everyone had a reason to love and talk about Dong Hoi passionately. To love more the street corners, roads, rows of trees...
This city has enough things for everyone to seek. It is the ancient relics of a time when the country was founded in the South. Come and touch Quang Binh Quan - a towering vestige on the ancient Luy Thay system to the seaport lighthouse that today still diligently calls boats to the dock.
Those who love flowers and plants will see a charming Dong Hoi in all four seasons. In spring, Tet flowers are brilliant and show off their colors on every street, in squares and parks. The streets are ablaze with the fire of royal poinciana in summer, the purple of lagerstroemia or the rustling of bougainvillea by the river in all colors. The flowers have a strong vitality like the people here, loving the scorching sun but still shining brightly, vibrating with all the colors. Then, when autumn comes, in the cold, it brings the passionate scent of milk flowers and when the cool breeze pulls the white reeds to appear on the sand dunes in the distance, the gradually deepening cold of winter makes the roses even redder and dreamier on the streets, at the foot of the ancient citadel, making passersby dazed.
 |
A mossy and ancient Dong Hoi of the past with the East Gate and Dong Hoi citadel, the Tam Toa relic... in harmony with a young, modern city stretching out in the sun, reflecting on the poetic and sparkling Nhat Le river, shimmering with colorful lights like fireworks at night. Rarely is there a city that is surrounded by both river and sea. The central urban area of Dong Hoi and Bao Ninh peninsula are like two wings spreading out to let the Nhat Le river stretch out to the sea... These are the things that friends, colleagues and tourists from all over the world, every time they have the opportunity to pass by or stay in Dong Hoi, they all tell me: "Your Dong Hoi is so beautiful".
The urban center today is spacious and modern enough to meet the needs of domestic and international tourists. From here, you can go to any tourist destination, such as: Phong Nha, Vung Chua, the homeland of the General - the rice granary and the Le Thuy folk song... and many other places you want in Quang Binh with quite similar distances. Here, you can go everywhere because of the convenient transportation system, with airports, trains, roads, sea routes... so more and more people choose this place for their vacation with family and friends. Many people have returned more than once.
For artists like us, there is no need for a campaign, no one makes an appointment but it seems that there are quite a few works about Dong Hoi at this time. Perhaps, facing great changes, historical moments have brought many emotions that each person wants to keep their own memories with the land they are attached to. Although each person chooses a different point of view, each story in a different language, it shows that they all share a story about love for Dong Hoi in the stages of their life journey.
We, the photographers, have the advantage of capturing vivid images of Dong Hoi today. Everyone understands that the images captured in the lens will be a document for a period of time in the future, when Dong Hoi will develop more prosperously. Therefore, we made an appointment to take our cameras together and set out to capture moments of the rhythm of coastal life.
From now on, Dong Hoi will take on a new mission, becoming the center of a land area many times larger than today. It will continue to change and develop further like the Nhat Le River that has been flowing for thousands of years. Believe that tomorrow, the land where we are attached will take off and fly high. So that we will love this land even more.
Nguyen Sa
Source: https://baoquangbinh.vn/van-hoa/202506/de-them-yeu-manh-dat-nay-2227132/
Comment (0)