Glimpses of Muong Quang

(Baonghean) - Early winter, it feels like Muong Quang suddenly sinks into the thousand-year-old mystery of Thai villages. However, somewhere, we still see the happy sparks of prosperity. With the available strengths from local products, people are striving to escape poverty.

I found the afternoon very quiet as I walked on the saddle passes from Chau Hoan commune, Quy Chau district to Muong Quang area. The golden sunlight made the grassy hills sparkle with glitter. A kind of green and yellow candle with millions of flickering lights burned on the distant mountain range. A few groups of students wearing warm clothes, holding red and yellow umbrellas, ran diagonally up the mountain slopes.

Although the land is not too high compared to the border communes of Que Phong district such as Tri Le, Nam Nhoong, it is still a harsh and cold area. Every year, when winter comes, volunteer groups come to share the difficulties with the poor and students here. The warm coats and colorful umbrellas I saw along the road were mostly gifts from charity groups.

A corner of Quang Phong commune field.

Highlanders are used to calling the two communes of Quang Phong and Cam Muon (Que Phong) Muong Quang. I once asked the "bogeyman" Lang Van Ngo, who lives in Mong village, Cam Muon commune, and he told me about the history of the Muong.

That was several hundred years ago, a group of Thai people in the Kham Muon region (Laos) today came to establish Muong Quang. In the legend, the Thai community here calls the first person who brought his relatives to establish the Muong Mo Phan (hunter). Initially, they lived in mountain caves. When they had a lot of ivory, rhino horn and other rare things thanks to hunting and gathering naturally, Mo Phan brought them to Muong Ca Da to exchange for fabrics, lamp oil, pots and pans and hunting tools with Mr. Pho Vi Thong, a rich man in Muong Ca Da (Thanh Hoa today).

Later, Pho Vi Thong married his daughter to Mo Phan, from then on the two of them cut wood to build a house, hired people to reclaim land and establish a village. They were the first generation of the Hun Quang family, who later became a powerful force to govern Muong Quang. At first, there was only one village, later, the descendants of the Hun Quang and Lang families went to neighboring areas to reclaim land and create dozens of villages in the present-day Quang Phong and Cam Muon communes.

Tham Me Mon Mountain Cave

The stories about the history of Muong Quang are mostly just legends, collected by Mr. Lang Van Ngo into a small manuscript. He said he would save them for future generations. The veteran revolutionary who was a cadre of Nghe An Provincial Youth Union during the resistance war against the US was also one of the first generations of the first party cell in Quang Phong, Cam Muon, established in 1949. Since the Party was established, the history of the land has been fully recorded. Furthermore, most of the stories that remain are just legendary.

Immersed in the old story, we arrived at the rugged slope leading to Quyn village without realizing it. Following a street vendor from Kim Son town, this woman who was quite good at talking told us: Here, the villagers are growing the plant "nhan tran", a medicinal herb that is quite popular in the market. Not long ago, people did not pay much attention to this wild plant that grows in the forest and is mistakenly called "mint" by the local people. Only a few years ago, people picked it, dried it and sold it, unintentionally becoming a commodity. Seeing the great demand from the market, many families have brought the plant home to grow. The area has reached several hectares. An amount that can be called large for a medicinal herb.

On the slopes, Quyen women in traditional costumes go to the fields to pick the wormwood. They collect it into large bundles for the men to take their motorbikes down to the main road to buy it for a household. A portion is picked, dried and sold gradually. Mrs. Lo Thi Tam, an elderly woman, has almost completely given up her job of picking ginseng and lim mushrooms in the forest to return home to tend the wormwood garden and collect the goods to sell in the lowlands. Mrs. Tam said: Growing wormwood brings in the same income as going to the forest, but it is less strenuous, and she can help her husband, take care of her children, and raise pigs and chickens.

It was late afternoon, but the slope was still filled with laughter. A man with a warm smile said: Since planting the plant, people have gone to the forest less. Many households in the village have gardens of the plant, but it seems that the supply is still not enough for buyers. Even if the whole village planted the plant, it would still not be enough to sell. Recently, the local government has implemented a model of planting the plant to develop available resources in the area to find a way to reduce poverty for the villagers.

Telling the funny story to the Vice Chairman of Quang Phong Commune, Mr. Quang Van Thieng. After a moment of laughter, the young commune leader said: Nhan tran is a familiar native plant for many generations, but only recently have people known its economic value. Currently, the commune has implemented 2 models of growing this native medicinal plant in 2 villages, Tin Cang and Quyn. The total area of ​​the whole commune is about 6 hectares. These are just initial experiments, but have shown good results. Nhan tran in Quang Phong has good quality, so many people buy it for use and as gifts. In the future, it can be replicated in many other villages.

People of Chieng village, Quang Phong commune (Que Phong) make pickled bamboo shoots.

Another local product of Quang Phong area that is also known to many people is the wax potato. Waxy potato is similar to taro but has more starch and is more delicious. Locals call it "Phuong Dam" and it is sold quite a lot at markets in the district center. Currently, only a few households grow it on their farms. Among them, Mr. Luong Van Ngan's household in Pao 1 village sells dozens of tons to the market every year. If according to the market price, this household can earn hundreds of millions of dong each season just by selling wax potatoes.

“Those are just the most significant socio-economic highlights of our commune.” Mr. Quang Van Thieng mused: “There are still many villages with transportation difficulties. Nam Xai village, about 10km from the commune center, has a car road but it is often eroded. The worst part is when it rains, when villagers can hardly get to the commune center.”

Winter has begun, and the night seems to come faster. Muong Quang is immersed in the mystery of a land with a hundred years of history. At night, the asphalt road through Cao and Ca villages is less crowded than usual. This season, the agricultural residents in the Thai villages have finished harvesting their crops. At the family dinner table today, the cultural officer of Lang Van Tuan commune treats guests to a dish of duck. I suddenly remember the story of an elder when I visited this land a few years ago. Quang Phong, Muong Quang is the place where the famous Quy Chau duck breed was first raised. But then, for many reasons, the residents here could not maintain and develop this precious breed of waterfowl like they did with the plant "nhan tran" and "khoa wax"...

The regretful sigh of the old man from long ago I still seem to feel somewhere here...

Huu Vi - Ho Phuong