Venerable giants shading the community

In Tả Kố Khừ village, when mentioning Pờ Dần Xinh, cadres, party members, and local residents all hold him in special respect. With more than 30 years of dedication to his work, including 20 years serving as Chairman of the People’s Committee and then Secretary of the commune Party Committee, he always stayed close to the people, working alongside the party committee and authority to build solidarity, maintain peace in the borderlands, and step-by-step improve local livelihoods. The precious legacy he left behind after years of service is not just the visible results today, but the profound trust of the villagers. Therefore, even though he has retired, his voice still carries immense weight, and his actions continue to be emulated by the villagers.

For the veteran party member Pờ Dần Xinh, retirement does not mean completely stepping away from all duties. For generations, to the Hà Nhì ethnic people in this remote border region, reputation is not built on words alone, but on a lifetime of exemplary living and community responsibility. Thus, upon returning to daily life, he continues to work diligently in production, developing his family’s economic model. He is also willing to share his accumulated experiences so that villagers can selectively adapt them to their own household models. Furthermore, whenever the village has collective tasks, when the locality deploys a new policy, or when issues arise requiring consensus, he patiently visits each house to converse and analyze with the residents to foster agreement.

By the porch of the spacious stilt house located within the homestay area built by his family, Pờ Dần Xinh slowly pours hot tea for his guests. After a moment of contemplation, the veteran cadre shares his core philosophy:

“For a State cadre, there is a retirement age, but a party member’s responsibility must be determined as a lifelong duty. As a father and uncle going before them, I tell myself I have a responsibility to work with the village People to eradicate hunger and reduce poverty. Our people are very practical; when they see an exemplary party member whose words match their actions, they will wholeheartedly follow.”

Earthen walls preserving the soul of Hà Nhì people

While Pờ Dần Xinh is trusted and loved by the villagers for his devotion to collective village affairs, in A Pa Chải, Lỳ Xuyến Phù quietly contributes in his own unique way. For many years, he has been deeply passionate about preserving traditional cultural values. To him, every earthen house, every custom, and every folk song or dance melody of the Hà Nhì people carries stories of their roots and ethnic identity.

Witnessing traditional earthen homes gradually growing cold and abandoned, Lỳ Xuyến Phù walked dozens of kilometers to gather thatch grass and collected malleable clay to restore the first trình tường (rammed-earth) house in the village. Upon completing the rammed-earth home, he transformed it into a unique community tourism space. Today, his family’s homestay has become an exciting destination, a space steeped in the cultural identity of the Hà Nhì people, where visitors can experience the daily life, culture, and customs of the ethnic community right in the westernmost region of the Fatherland.

Parting the curtain beside the small window of the cool earthen house, Lỳ Xuyến Phù opens up about his purpose in doing tourism: “I rebuilt this house not for display, but to generate income and develop tourism. I had to take the lead first; only when it proves effective will the villagers believe and follow suit to open up a path out of poverty together. When tourists come here, they fall in love with the earthen house and immerse themselves in Hà Nhì dances and songs, bringing extra income to our village. From that practical benefit, our children will naturally feel proud, prompting an awareness to preserve and carry forward our ancestors’ legacy.”

From the rammed-earth house rebuilt out of love for his ethnic culture, Lỳ Xuyến Phù is contributing to ensuring that the values of the Hà Nhì people continue to thrive in modern life. His ultimate aspiration is to inspire the younger generation to increasingly love and feel proud of their traditional culture, continuing their ancestors’ path of preservation while widely promoting these beauties to a large number of domestic and international tourists.

A peaceful anchor in the frontier lands

In every Hà Nhì village at the westernmost tip of the Fatherland, village elders, lineage heads, and reputable individuals always stay close and bound to the community. In collective village affairs, they are the ones who step up to deliberate, mobilize, and pioneer implementation so that the villagers can trust and follow. From developing production and boldly applying new methods to encouraging their children to focus on their studies, they consistently use their own exemplary behavior to build trust and consensus within the community.

Living in the borderlands of the Fatherland, these reputable individuals consistently act as the core nucleus in building a tight-knit great solidarity bloc within residential areas. From disseminating information on the Law on National Borders and mobilizing the people to protect borderlines and landmarks, to reminding the community to heighten vigilance against distorting or illegally inciting rhetoric, everything is carried out with utmost dedication and responsibility toward the community. Consequently, they become a vital bridge between party committees, authorities, and the People, contributing to firmly maintaining security and order and constructing an increasingly stable and sustainably developing border region.

Đỗ Thùy Giang, Vice Chairman of the Sín Thầu commune People’s Committee, shared: “The contingent of village elders, lineage heads, and reputable individuals in the commune always promotes their roles excellently within the community. This is the core force in assembling the great solidarity bloc and acts as a bridge between the Party, government, and the people. They actively participate in propagating and mobilizing the community to effectively implement the Party’s guidelines and the State’s policies and laws, while proactively developing the socio-economy and building an increasingly better life.”

Season after season, the “venerable giants” at the foot of Khoang La San mountain remain deeply rooted, stretching toward the sky of the westernmost region. The village elders, lineage heads, and reputable individuals here have become firm anchors within the community. Through this, the lifestyle, customs, and numerous fine values of the Hà Nhì ethnic people continue to be preserved, handed down across generations, and widely promoted.