Visiting Lo Lo Chai Village

10:16:10 AM | 8/5/2015

National Road 4C, the “Happiness Road” that leads to Dong Van Karst Geopark Plateau (Ha Giang province) invokes a full of range of exciting emotions before setting foot in the geopark. It must be an interesting experience if you are lucky enough to drop in on Lo Lo Chai Village, which is situated at the foot of Lung Cu flagpole. This is an outpost village in the northernmost territory of the country where pinkish cherry flowers and snow pear flowers blossom and unique upland market days and distinctive Lo Lo traditional culture are preserved.

On the other rocky mountainside is Lo Lo Chai Village with mossy clay-made, tile-roofed houses where tourist-grabbing ancient bronze drums are preserved. During the Ly Dynasty, General Ly Thuong Kiet assembled his army at a frontier village and hung a flag on the summit of Long Cu Mountain where a cornerstone was chosen to mark the fatherland territorial boundary. Later, Emperor Quang Trung - Nguyen Hue placed heralding drums and told villagers of Lo Lo Chai to keep them. The sounds of bronze drums were the fastest way of heralding villagers. The place the emperor put his bronze drums is the present-day Lung Cu military outpost. The drums rang whenever enemies infringed on the frontier boundary. Hence, the Lo Lo people in Lung Cu only play bronze drums during festivals. When they are not in use, they are kept in clean, airtight places or even buried underground. The face of drums is inlaid dragon patterns and symbols of the emperor.

Dong Van Karst Plateau has been known more widely and Lo Lo Chai Village is a tourist destination on this rock plateau. Villagers have developed homestay services to serve tourists. Most villagers live on farming on terraced fields and weaving. Lo Lo people in Lung Cu have now proficiently used bronze drums proven to originate from Dong Son bronze drum. In Lo Lo Chai, visitors will witness valuable historical and cultural artefacts backdated to the time of Hung Kings.

Thanh Nga