The giant banyan tree over 200 years old is considered the guardian spirit of the village.

200-year-old tree takes 4 people to hug. Photo: Hung Cuong

Queo (Thai people still call it muong tree) is similar to mango trees, with a large trunk, flat and curved fruit, edible and sour. Can be used as a flavor to cook sour soup.

The ancient Queo tree is located at the end of Chieng village, where there is a suspension bridge across the Quang River connecting Chieng village with Cu village. This March, the tree blooms with fragrant yellow flowers, its wide green canopy spreads shade, signaling a bountiful fruit harvest.

The trunk and branches are home to many types of mistletoe such as orchids, incense roots... Photo: Hung Cuong

The tree's trunk is gnarled with many scars of time but shows no signs of hollowness. The branches extend about 10 m long, covering an area.Under the old tree, there are two bamboo huts built by the villagers to worship the "guardian god" of the village.

The tree worshiping ceremony takes place in May and June every year with the participation of all the people of Chieng village. The ceremony includes rice wine, rice wine, fish and chicken offerings, sticky rice... The villagers also play gongs, dance on bamboo poles... to pray for luck and peace for the village right here.

The bamboo shrine was built by the locals to worship the "tree god". Photo: Hung Cuong

Mr. Lang Van Lam, 83 years old this year, is one of the village elders of Chieng village. He shared: “Chieng village was established more than 200 years ago. The elders in the past said that when they came to establish the village, they saw the towering “old” muong tree. No one dared to cut this tree. The Queo fruit also helped children and people here to eat to their heart’s content every summer.

Many ancient tree traders came to the village to buy the tree, but the villagers refused to sell it. The tree is considered a symbol of the village, a witness to the process of creating the village and establishing the village by our ancestors.

The tree canopy spreads out and casts shade over an area. Photo: Hung Cuong

We asked the villagers to measure the diameter of the tree, it took 4 people to hug the trunk. The diameter measured at the base was 1.8m, the estimated height was 25m because the bamboo trees around were over 10m tall but still dwarfed by the height of this ancient tree.

The people of Chieng village are very proud of their village's ancient tree, promising to preserve it together, considering it a spiritual support, bringing luck and protection to the villagers.