Lung Po wind blows along the Red River

I can’t remember how many times I’ve knelt down and hugged that border marker numbered 92. I can’t explain what magic that marker has that makes me feel nauseous every time I see it.

Without forcing it, it was natural, I held it since the first time we met, when the milestone was just built of concrete, dry, square, not much different from the kilometer markers along the national highway. At that time, “92” was located in the middle of a dense reed area, to get down, I had to part the reeds, wade through wild grass, and the reed leaves cut across my face before I could see it.

Milestone 92 - where the Red River flows into Vietnam.

The first time I saw "92" was when my border guard friend rode his Chinese motorbike to greet me and carried me along the trail, turned down to the border marker, and laughed contemptuously: "A Mu Sung Border Guard Station manages a 27 km long border, with 4 border markers, numbered from 90 to 94. Border marker 92 is where the Red River "jumps" into Vietnam." I looked up at him. The word "jump" he just said sounded strange, funny and haunting. The point where the Red River "jumps" - the first point where the Red River flows into Vietnam - is called Lung Po, located in A Mu Sung commune, Bat Xat district, Lao Cai province. It is the northernmost point of Bat Xat district, under the management of A Mu Sung Border Guard Station.

Wandering and chatting with the villagers, I learned that Lung Po - the ancient Vietnamese name is Long Bo, is a stream that is a small branch of the Thao River, originating from the Vietnam - China border mountain range in the northern part of Nam Xe commune, Phong Tho district, Lai Chau province. The source stream flows southeast to the end of Nam Xe commune. When it reaches Y Ty commune, Bat Xat district, Lao Cai province, it changes to the northeast and flows to Lung Po village, A Mu Sung commune, in the local language it is called Big Dragon Hill, which also means dragon head, the stream winds around the hilltop like a dragon head, pouring into Lung Po village junction.

At that time, it met the flow of the Nguyen Giang River (as the Chinese name) flowing into Vietnam under the name of the Red River, dividing the watershed between Vietnam and China at the 92nd milestone. That was also the first point where the Red River "popped" into Vietnamese land as my border guard friend introduced. From here, the Red River flows tirelessly on Vietnamese land, through the midlands of palm forests, tea hills, and then carries alluvium to create a fertile delta with the brilliant Red River civilization associated with many ups and downs of the nation's history.

And then, not the northernmost point like Lung Cu - Ha Giang , not the westernmost point like A Pa Chai - Dien Bien, not the place to draw the S-shaped map of Vietnam in Tra Co - Mong Cai - Quang Ninh, Lung Po with milestone number 92 leaves a deep impression in the hearts of every Vietnamese person because it is not only the point marking where the Cai River - Red River flows into Vietnam but also the soul, the place to preserve the silent history pages about the origin, about the prosperity, the blood and bones of many generations of Vietnamese people in the border area.

Lung Po wind blows along the Red River

Where the Red River merges with Lung Po stream and flows into Vietnam.

Carrying those vibrations, quietly climbing to the top of Dragon Hill, looking downstream along the flow of the Red River, the low, rough villages next to the green rice fields overlapping each other filled my eyes. The wind carried the scent of the soil, the scent of the forest filled my lungs, I suddenly felt moved. Perhaps, the color of the water where the Red River "plunged" into the Vietnamese land, where the river water had two colors of reddish brown and blue, like an unlimited mark of sacred contiguity, a designation but also an integration and development in this remote borderland.

Lung Po - a historical memory

The story begins at the fireside of the old man Thao Mi Lo's house during the French colonial invasion of Vietnam. Before that, this mountainous area was the land of the Mong, Dao, and Giay people living together. The song "Giay is low, Mong is high, Dao is floating" is to tell about the division of housing areas of each ethnic group. They lived peacefully with the forest, the stream, and their own festivals and seasonal holidays. Only when there appeared a strange ethnic group: white skin, blue eyes, long noses, and bird-like voices that were not Mong, Dao, or Giay, did this Lung Po forest and stream become disturbed.

Village elder Thao Mi Lo took a sip of wine and coughed: “The Lung Po elder said: “In 1886, the merchants leading the French warship carried a heavy gun up the Red River to attack Lao Cai. The ship rumbled on the river, the gun's mouth spit fire into the village. People died, buffalo died, houses burned... The Mong people, most of whom were of the Thao clan, joined forces with other clans, the Dao, the Giay... to fight back against the merchants and the French.

Lung Po forest and stream that provided vegetables, corn, and meat to feed them every day now joined the people to fight against the land and village robbers. With flintlock guns and stone traps, the Mong, Dao, Giay, and Ha Nhi people fought back the long-nosed army. In the first battle, the people ambushed and destroyed the French army at Trinh Tuong. That place, Tay waterfall is still there. After a while, they came back. Eight years later, at Lung Po, the Lung Po people ambushed and defeated a French army.

The story of old man Thao Mi Lo is the beginning of the heroic tradition of fighting against invaders to protect the border of this historical place, so that the battles of many border guards to protect the sacred border of the Fatherland throughout the long history were continued, especially this place became a place to remember the sacrifice of border guards and ethnic minorities in the fight against invaders to protect the Fatherland's border in February 1979.

The story of the loss and sacrifice of soldiers and civilians along the northern border is as endless as the journey upstream of the Red River from Lung Po, which divides the Vietnam-China border in Bat Xat - Lao Cai, making both the speaker and the listener feel uneasy. On the stele at the land at the A Mu Sung Border Post, right where the Red River flows into Vietnam, the names of 30 soldiers who died in the war to protect the border on February 18, 1979 are still engraved.

The red incense sticks flickering in the early morning mist at the memorial at the new post site are like red eyes reminding those who come after of the brave spirit, determined to attack the enemy until the last breath. The inscription on the memorial stele once again affirms the sacred and immutable sovereignty of the border.

Lung Po - a milestone of pride and love for the Fatherland

“Under the golden stars at the border

Stone is also my country people

Afternoon dew crawls out onto the rock face

Like the water keeper sweats

Both the rock and the man are majestic...

Do Trung Lai's poems not only depict the hardships of the border soldiers and people in general, and Dong Van in particular, but also express a love for the Fatherland sent to this Lung Po land. When Lung Po is not only a marker where the Red River flows into Vietnam but also a place to preserve the silent history of the border region, a place to honor the sacrifices of the border soldiers and people who fought and died to protect the Fatherland.

To commemorate that, right at the position of milestone number 92 at the foot of Dragon mountain of Lung Po village, on March 26, 2016, Lung Po flagpole with a height of 41m, of which the body of the flagpole is 31.34m, attached to the symbol of "Roof of Indochina" of the legendary Fansipan peak, was started to be built with a campus of 2,100 ^m2 by Lao Cai Provincial Youth Union as the investor and completed on December 16, 2017.

Climbing 125 spiral steps through the 9.57m length of the pole, you will reach the top of the flagpole where the 25m2 wide red flag with yellow ^star symbolizing 25 ethnic brothers living in Lao Cai province proudly flutters in the border wind.

Lung Po wind blows along the Red River

Patrol to protect milestone number 92.

The national flagpole at Lung Po point once again reminds us of the heroic feats and steadfast sacrifices of the soldiers and civilians here who have kept the border land peaceful and is a symbol of national pride. From the top of the flagpole, looking far away, following the red color of the Red River flowing below, where the immense green color below is the river junction of endless corn, banana, cassava fields... the two banks are enough to make our hearts vibrate when we understand that the green color, the red color in every inch of land, every tree branch, blade of grass here is soaked with the blood of many people who have stood up bare-chested to protect the land, to protect the country's territory. The flag fluttering proudly in the sun and wind affirms that no matter what the cost, the national border is always strong.

Now, when the war has long since ended, when the Red River from the "cho" point into Vietnam's land still flows with the tide, the sovereignty of the Fatherland is protected by the people's hearts. That is still a very very long story. After the war, the hardships, sufferings, and misery of the people here are as numerous as the leaves of the forest, so numerous that it is impossible to remember them all.

The residential area of 5 ethnic groups Mong, Dao, Tay, Nung, Kinh with the same practice of slash-and-burn farming and exploitation of forest products, when the guns stopped, the people's lives almost started with zero: no water, no roads, no electricity, no schools, no stations; then there were bombs and mines left over from the war...

All those difficulties, under the ingenuity, closeness to the people, and attachment to the people in the border areas of the border guards - they are pioneers in movements, making people see so they can speak and people listen, have been gradually removed... So today, many new things, many effective economic models helping people improve their lives, have food and clothes to get rich have been affirmed. Now, electricity, roads, schools, and stations have reached the Lung Po milestone, people's lives have become prosperous, gradually catching up with the villages below.

From Lung Po, the Red River flows downstream. Following that flow, the nation's indomitable tradition has been passed down through generations of Vietnamese people. The Red River still flows day and night from Lung Po into the body of the Fatherland with a length of 517 km with 10 different names depending on the way of calling of each locality, depending on the culture of the land it flows through.

The section flowing from Lung Po to Viet Tri, meeting the Lo River, has a very poetic name: Thao River; from Viet Tri, the river junction to Hanoi, it is called Nhi Ha (or Nhi Ha according to the local pronunciation) and then, the Red River leisurely flows downstream, creating the entire brilliant Red River civilization with vast fertile deltas before pouring into the sea at Ba Lat estuary. Whatever its name, the flow starts from Lung Po, the mark of Lung Po, of the patriotic tradition at the point where it "plunges" into the Vietnamese land, unchanged for thousands of years.

Ly Ta May

Source