'Slow living' in Sung village

There is a place where time seems to stand still. The hurried footsteps of the city seem unable to penetrate. There, people live with the mountains and forests, with the wind and with simple, honest smiles. That place is Sung hamlet, nestled at the foot of Bieu mountain, Cao Son commune, Phu Tho province.

In Sung village, the Dao ethnic group still preserves the cultural traditions of hundreds of years of developing community tourism .

The smile of the "forest man"

Coming to Sung hamlet this season is not only coming back to the fragrant scent of ancient Shan Tuyet tea from the windy hillsides but also coming back to the pristine space that still retains a slow pace of life. It is a place where even strange eyes are welcomed with a friendly smile. We came to Sung hamlet, partly out of curiosity, partly because of the earnest message of comrade Dinh Cong Bao, former Secretary of the Da Bac District Party Committee ( Hoa Binh (old). He said: Come back to Sung. That place still retains the intact cultural identity of the Dao ethnic group. There are many strange things! The whole hamlet lies under the canopy of the primeval forest, where people and nature seem to blend together as one...

With a strange excitement in mind, we returned to Cao Son commune, now part of Phu Tho province after the merger. Comrade Luong Van Thi, Secretary of the Commune Party Committee, welcomed us with an enthusiastic story: Sung hamlet is a "gem" in the middle of the deep green forest. Here, the Dao ethnic people still preserve their cultural traditions from hundreds of years ago. This is the foundation for the commune to focus on developing community tourism. Previously, Cao Son commune (old) had a specialized Resolution on "developing community tourism in Sung hamlet". Until now, it is still a breakthrough direction. Curious about the seemingly strange name, the Secretary of the Commune Party Committee smiled and explained: In the 60s and 70s of the last century, before the dam was built to block the river to build the Hoa Binh Hydroelectric Plant, Sung hamlet was the highest point of Da Bac district (old) where people lived. Because it is located at a high altitude, the roads are difficult to travel, the only way to get to the hamlet is to walk along the trails through the forest, climbing steep mountains until the knees swell. Perhaps that is why people named the hamlet Xom Sung. The name both reminds of hardship and encapsulates a unique feature that cannot be found anywhere else.

That was the old story, today the village is still at the foot of Bieu mountain covered in clouds all year round. Going to Sung now is no longer a trail through the forest, the steep mountain facing up. Instead, there is a concrete road for cars to go all the way to the center of the village. Following that concrete road, we went up Bieu mountain to the Dao ethnic people under the canopy of the primeval forest. Just like the stories told by those who came before. When we got to Sung, we saw that it was beautiful, still preserving many unique cultural features passed down from ancient times. We were greeted by the smile of Ly Sao Mai - the most beautiful girl in the village and the tight handshake of people we had never met but felt like we had known each other. So warm!

In Sung village, the Dao ethnic group still preserves the cultural traditions of hundreds of years of developing community tourism.

Peace under the canopy of the old forest

Village chief Ly Van Nghia said: The village has 75 houses and 364 people. Now some families do community tourism, have homestays to welcome guests like the houses of Ly Van Thu, Dang Van Nhat, Dang Van Xuan... But in fact, no one here is a stranger. As soon as they come, they are familiar. Guests can go to any house and they are welcomed like relatives. We are people from the forest, we are very happy when guests come!

As instructed, we stayed at the house of Mr. Ly Hong Si, the most prestigious person in the village. He is considered a "living history" of the Dao community here. After a warm dinner, we sat by the crackling fire, pouring a cup of Shan Tuyet tea brewed from young shoots picked on the top of Bieu mountain. He said: This type of tea is hundreds of years old, roasted and soaked using the traditional method passed down by ethnic people. It is not available everywhere. Sitting next to him, Ly Sao Mai continued: Coming to Sung village this season, in addition to Shan Tuyet tea flowers and Gio flowers blooming in pure white, there are also patches of bright yellow mustard flowers after the harvest; terraced fields in the pouring water season are as beautiful as paintings; delicious dishes such as sour meat, hill chicken, deer wine, rice on the fields... All are made by the people themselves, so they still retain the sweet taste of the mountains and forests.

Under the firelight, stories about life in the peaceful Dao village flowed like streams. In the story, we heard Mr. Ly Van Hinh, one of the oldest people in the village, tell stories about the life of “forest people” with all respect and pride.

"Mountains grow to gain people"

Like many other places, for the Dao ethnic people in Sung hamlet, forests are not something to be cut down. Forests are the source of life. Since ancient times, their ancestors have established customary laws to teach their children and grandchildren, considering forest protection a way of life. Therefore, the primeval forest around the hamlet has been protected intact for hundreds of years, never encroached upon. This is evidenced by the hundred-year-old trees standing tall, protecting the houses. And not far away, right at the beginning of the hamlet, there is a Cho tree that is only bigger than 2 people can hug. There are also Dinh and Muong Co trees that are as big as trees, providing cool green space.

As a witness and experiencer of many ups and downs in the small village, Mr. Ly Hong Si said: For the Dao ethnic group, wherever the forest is lost, the original culture is also lost. Wherever the forest is still preserved, the cultural features passed down by our ancestors are still intact. It's that simple! That's why people in Sung live slowly. Not because they are backward, but because they know enough, know how to appreciate, and know how to live in harmony with nature. Life in Sung village is not noisy, not competitive. Instead, there are nights gathering around the fire, glasses of wine filled with human affection, and affectionate looks for each other like brothers and sisters. Every month, hundreds of visitors, mostly foreigners, come to Sung village. They come to find the feeling of living and breathing in a cool and quiet green space. Here, the chirping of birds, the mist covering the paths every morning, and the wild flowers blooming all four seasons... All of these make people slow down, enough to see the things they often miss. Coming to Sung is to love life again.

We left Sung village when Bieu mountain was still sleepy, in the middle of a vast forest of ancient trees, the wind was whispering through the leaves. A strangely peaceful feeling. A place that once set foot in, will never be forgotten. Sung is such a place. There, people live slowly, live deeply, live with the forest. There, there are still silent hearts that preserve the old forest as they preserve their own breath.

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Source: https://baolaocai.vn/song-cham-o-ban-sung-post648530.html