Across the Mường Thanh fields, rice plants are booting and heading, filling the air with sweet fragrance and signaling a bountiful, prosperous harvest. In the two central wards - Điện Biên Phủ and Mường Thanh - numerous infrastructure projects are under urgent construction and finishing touches, forging a new urban look. Along the border regions, Party committees, local authorities, armed forces, and ethnic communities remain highly vigilant, firmly safeguarding national territorial sovereignty.

These scenes reflect the new vitality blooming across the land that once etched the victory that “resounded across five continents and shook the globe.” If during wartime the spirit of Điện Biên Phủ was the will to fight and win, in peacetime that spirit is carried forward through self-reliance, resilience, the drive to rise, and the determination to build a prosperous and beautiful homeland.

As the nation as a whole and Điện Biên in particular enter a new era of development, speaking about traditional folk games and community cultural life, Vàng A Săng, Head of Hua Rốm village, could not hide his pride. Counting on his fingers as he named each person, Vàng A Săng shared: “Hua Rốm currently has 10 individuals with a thorough understanding of traditional culture, and 22 core cultural and athletic figures who regularly represent the village and commune in performances and competitions at commune, provincial, and national cultural festivals.”

According to Village Party Cell Secretary Vàng A Sình: “The Party cell consistently identifies maintaining and preserving traditional folk games as a vital mission to safeguard ethnic identity. From the Party organization to socio-political associations in the village, we regularly mobilize and create favorable conditions for villagers to practice and interact. With our villagers united and their spiritual lives increasingly enriched, we gain greater motivation to preserve these precious values.”

As dusk casts shadows over distant mountain ranges, the courtyard in front of the Hua Rốm village Cultural House comes alive with excitement. The elderly sit on the porch watching the younger generation spin tops (tù lu); pairs of young men and women toss colorful cloth balls (pao) in the late afternoon sun... All blend into a joyful picture of community life. Within that setting, the elderly reconnect with memories while the youth find joy in traditional folk games.

In Hua Rốm, traditional cultural values remain naturally present in everyday life. As long as spinning tops whirl steadily upon the ground and pao balls fly between skillful hands, the cultural identity of the local Mông people will continue to endure - resilient and intact, much like generations of forest trees standing firm against time on the heights of Hua Rốm...