Green street corner

(Baonghean) - You are a Hanoian. During the upcoming long holiday, I invite you to Vinh city, to visit the city that still lingers between old and new values, but does not forget the desire for integration. You said, Vinh is as small as the palm of your hand, with the hot Lao wind, big and small streets intertwined, hot and steamy, what is there to attract visitors from afar? Oh, my friend, not to mention the dense historical and cultural relic complex, the hundreds of streets in the heart of the city, with all shapes and sizes, rustic and bustling with youthful life, are enough to make you feel the excitement of the city... This discovery tour, let's start from a small street with a strange name: Cay Xanh Street, in Binh Phuc block, Hung Phuc ward.

From the “heart” of the inner city, Ho Chi Minh Square, I will lead you on the sunny golden streets. The spacious Ho Tung Mau street, the bustling Nguyen Van Cu street… Do you see, my young city is not inferior to the bustling streets of the capital Hanoi, but even more radiant and prominent in the future. Feel free to shop, do not hesitate to stop here, turn around there, just fill your mind with the bustling, fresh and modern, and in a moment, I will take you on an interesting road…

A peaceful moment on Green Tree Street

Next to the luxury of the foreign wine shop on the front of Nguyen Van Cu street is the humble appearance of a small street. It is humble not because the street rhythm is less bustling than the main road, but because the street space is as small as a child's palm line, only about 150m long, branching out into 3 alleys leading to Kim Dong street. The small street hides many stories of the past and present, bustling with the rhythm of new life. I guess that if you join me on the journey to explore the small street, you will become one of the few visitors from afar who have the opportunity to know this place, and even Vinh people, whether native or resident, may be a little surprised by that Cay Xanh street.

The street is strange from its name. It is not the name of a famous person, region or any glorious event in history. The street name honors the rows of green trees, it is a "unique" street in Vinh with such a simple and unique name. On the street, I met Mr. Hoang Nghia Hung, 62 years old this year. Believe me, you will understand and love this street a lot, because on the street, there are people like Mr. Hung, there are small corners filled with green and peaceful mornings and afternoons, drifting with gossip as gifts. Mr. Hoang Nghia Hung is the owner of house number 7, lane B3 - the ultimate lane of Green Tree Street. Before, he was an employee of Nghe An Real Estate Company, retired a few years ago and since then, has become a "big guy" trusted by the street's residents. In front of his house was an empty plot of land, with a row of mango trees nearly ten years old spreading their luxuriant shade, enough for a simple barber shop with tools, a few faded plastic chairs, a wooden chair and a mirror that had aged over time. No one knew since when, but the shop had invisibly become a meeting place for the people of that town.

Mr. Hoang Nghia Hung will surely tell you, as he told me, about the history of Cay Xanh Street. Then, he will surely point to the front of his house, which is the vast 4-hectare nursery of Vinh City Green Tree Park Joint Stock Company. That nursery was formed in the 1970s, with green shoots sprouting all year round, creating a highlight for the entire wild and deserted land of the past. Mr. Hung was one of the first residents to live on this street, from the time when the street was not yet a… street! That was in the early 1980s, when he got married to Ms. Nguyen Thi Thinh - who was then a worker of Vinh City Green Tree Company.

Memories of the street at that time were not much other than rows of casuarina trees planted by the Green Tree Company, waiting for them to be old enough to be transplanted for decoration. The road was just a narrow path, with sandy soil, dusty sun, and muddy rain. Along both sides of the road were fields of melons, ponds of water spinach, water hyacinth and even a cemetery. The people of the town still told each other that this land was sacred land, because this whole area used to be the burial ground for thousands of people who died of hunger in 1945, forming spontaneous cemeteries such as Tap Phuc cemetery, Con Diem cemetery... Before that, in 1926, right at the location of Hung Phuc private kindergarten today, was Tap Phuc pagoda, the largest pagoda in Nghe An.

Hung Phuc Kindergarten on Green Tree Street.

In 1985 and 1986, according to the city's policy of granting land for resettlement, hundreds of cadres, workers and employees of agencies and enterprises in the area were granted land to live on this road. Mr. Hoang Nghia Hung said that his house originally belonged to the collective housing area of ​​the City Green Tree Company, after being divided into lots and sold at a stable price until now. Not only his family, but most households when building houses here, when digging the foundation of the house a few meters deep, immediately "met" the remains of those who died. Could it be the remains of those who died in the famine of 1945, or maybe even longer? It was normal for a family to "meet" dozens of remains in just one day... Back then, being poor, without anyone telling anyone, they still tried to "buy" for the deceased a clay pot, lit incense sticks and mumbled prayers for the soul to be liberated, praying for future joy. Don't be afraid of those mysterious stories. My hometown Vinh rose from pain and loss. Tall buildings were built from broken bricks. Deep in every inch of land and tree branches are sacred roots. Listen to them to remind yourself not to forget the gratitude for the past!

That vein of gratitude, the residents of the street always nurture, creating a humane character of the street. The name Cay Xanh street originates from the daily calling of the residents, because of the presence of the nursery of the City Green Park Joint Stock Company. Calling it over and over again, the name "died" without knowing when, until 2008, the executive committee of Binh Phuc block representing the residents put up a street name board, proud of the unique identity of their place. The name Cay Xanh street, but the street is not green, it is not even a street! So, the residents voluntarily advise each other to build and build the street to be more beautiful.

Mr. Dang Quang Chau, now the deputy head of Binh Phuc block, whose house is right on Cay Xanh street, happily shared about the humanitarian work of his neighbors: "Even alley B1, recognized as a civilized alley in 2007, has a beautiful red brick walkway like this, thanks to the efforts of the neighbors. The alley is about a hundred meters long, and the residents are all civil servants and retirees, living very peacefully." And not only alley B1, the other two alleys are also green with ornamental plants, with the occasional glimpse of someone's garden with a pink bougainvillea trellis, ornamental banana trees, and rows of ivy...

The rows of ivy trees are also a visual highlight when first entering Cay Xanh Street. The ivy trees on this street grow several meters high, planted in large bushes, in straight rows, and trimmed to look beautiful, all by the hand of Deputy Head of Block Dang Quang Chau. The previous generation instructs the next generation, and the people of that street thus anchor a gentle, simple, and loving street despite the noise and bustle of the big, bustling road. You see, the small ecological street originates from the mindset of ecological people, so why not be filled with faith in an ecological city in the future?

Coming to Cay Xanh Street, in addition to the pride of the street that cannot be hidden in the eyes, you will surely hear about the wishes and aspirations of the street in the future. That is the hope for the feasibility of the project to build schools, apartment buildings, and new urban areas on the nursery land of Vinh City Green Park Joint Stock Company. The project was announced in 2011, carrying out clearance and compensation for graves on the land, but until now it has remained motionless. The people of the street are looking forward to it, they talk about the project with all their faith in the future of a new, spacious street, sparkling with hope for the presence of two schools that will fill the "gap" of schools in Hung Phuc Ward. Those two schools, if built, will help children on Cay Xanh Street in particular and residents of Hung Phuc Ward in general, escape the situation of "learning by others" and "learning by others" as they have been doing for so long. My friend, that hope is a symbol of love for the street! Love to the point of remembering things, therefore, the small street evokes so much excitement, holds the hearts of people near and far...

Phuoc Anh