Promoting the value of Tay people's stilt houses in Nghia Do

A poetic picture from the stilt houses in Nghia Do commune.

Preserving the old family traditions

After walking around to see the ancient stilt houses, we stopped by to visit Mr. Co Kim Ve's family, who lives in a stilt house built decades ago in Nam Cam village. Over time, many details have shown signs of deterioration in the roof and some details, his family has repaired three times, but the design of the house with columns "shining with the color of time" is still kept intact. According to Mr. Ve, the stilt house is the property, tradition, and history of the Tay ethnic people here, a witness to the ups and downs of his family over the past decades. "I don't know when the stilt house was built, I only know that since our ancestors' generation, we have lived in a stilt house built from trees, roofed with palm leaves in the old forest. Houses like that have lasted over time, any broken details are repaired and passed down from generation to generation. My family has lived in this house for three generations."

According to the architecture, the Tay ethnic stilt houses in Nghia Do usually have three rooms. The difference with the stilt houses in other regions is that the staircase has nine steps, but there is only one staircase, unlike many places that make two staircases, one to go up and one to go down. Another difference is that in the design of the Tay ethnic stilt houses in Nghia Do, there is a porch and a wooden railing in front of the house.

Currently, the whole Nghia Do commune has 1,423 stilt houses, of which more than 90% are traditional stilt houses. People's lives are increasingly developing, the number of newly built roofs is also increasing, but the stilt houses of the Tay people here are not overshadowed but continue to be preserved, conserved and promoted in value.

Comrade Tran Quoc Toan, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghia Do Commune, said: "To preserve and promote the value of traditional stilt houses, the People's Committee of the Commune regularly propagates and mobilizes people to preserve and conserve ancient stilt houses. For households whose houses are degraded and cannot be repaired, and must be rebuilt due to the scarcity of materials, we encourage people to build concrete stilt houses to ensure durability, but still maintain the design of the stilt houses of the Tay people."

Community tourism development

With favorable climate conditions and beautiful natural scenery, in recent years, as community tourism has developed, many households in the commune have boldly invested and renovated their houses to provide homestay services to welcome domestic and foreign tourists.

In a spacious stilt house built decades ago, Mrs. Nguyen Thi San in Na Ria village is busy preparing to welcome a group of tourists. The kitchen is red with fire, the smell of grilled stream fish, local pork, and stir-fried bamboo shoots permeates the fragrant air. Mrs. San quickly cleans the tray and says: “Before, my family only worked in the fields, with an unstable income. Since tourists started coming to visit, my family has invested in repairing and renovating the traditional stilt house to make a homestay, and this stilt house has also become a place to welcome guests. Every year, hundreds of people come to use the services and experience the culture of the Tay people. Thanks to that, the family's income has also increased, both preserving tradition and introducing tourists to the unique stilt house style.”

Being recognized as a community tourism destination with poetic natural landscapes, many unique traditional cultural features combined with ancient stilt houses being preserved, Nghia Do has been and is an ideal destination for tourists. With the goal of developing green tourism, linking community tourism with nature protection, the commune has focused on propaganda, joining hands with people to improve the environmental landscape at tourist destinations; encouraging people to renovate living spaces with environmentally friendly materials; building tourist highlights from traditional materials such as bamboo, reed, straw... which are loved by many tourists.

Mr. Do Trung Hieu, Lao Cai ward, was surprised that this place still preserves so many traditional cultural features. He said: “The stilt houses of the Tay people are very beautiful, clean, and tidy. When staying with the people, sleeping in the stilt houses, eating specialties such as grilled stream fish, lam duck, pickled bamboo shoots... and breathing the fresh air, all feelings of fatigue seem to disappear.”

Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghia Do Commune, Tran Quoc Toan, said: With the goal of "Turning heritage into assets", Nghia Do has been focusing on preserving and exploiting the potential and strengths of indigenous culture associated with local tourism development, thereby contributing to improving and enhancing the material and spiritual life of the people. The commune will continue to support households to borrow capital to renovate stilt houses, train tourism skills, promote images, thereby building the brand "Nghia Do Community Tourism" to increasingly develop, becoming an attractive destination for domestic and foreign tourists.

Article and photos: MINH TRUONG

Source: https://nhandan.vn/phat-huy-gia-tri-nha-san-dong-bao-tay-o-nghia-do-post912806.html