"The world has many beautiful and very beautiful waterfalls. I chose to create Ban Gioc waterfall in the South because, in the border province of Cao Bang, there is Ban Gioc waterfall, the natural scenery there is beautiful, it is a place of solidarity and friendship between the two countries Vietnam - China. I want to send my ideas to educate my children and grandchildren, serve tourists who do not have the conditions to go to Cao Bang...", Mr. Pham Viet De shared the initiative of digging rocks to simulate the work "A glimpse of Ban Gioc waterfall" in the South. 40 years ago, the young man Pham Viet De went from Da Lat to Long Khanh (Dong Nai) to buy 1 hectare of land to garden and start a business. Due to lack of experience, the land Pham Viet De bought was full of rocks, boulders, the plants could not survive, the risk of bankruptcy loomed ahead. With his love for nature, his will to overcome difficulties, and his learning mindset, Pham Viet De decided to stick with this garden, and every day turned challenges into opportunities to make money... At a meeting with the Coordination Office of the National Target Program for Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas for the 2021-2030 period (abbreviated as National Target Program 1719) and related units (March 14), Minister of Ethnic Minorities and Religions Dao Ngoc Dung emphasized the need to clearly identify the difficulties, obstacles, and limitations in implementing National Target Program 1719 in the past, in order to have more direction, vision, and drastic actions in the coming period, with the spirit of "for the people". "The world has many beautiful and very beautiful waterfalls. I chose to create Ban Gioc waterfall in the South because, in the border province of Cao Bang, there is Ban Gioc waterfall, the natural landscape there is beautiful, it is a place of solidarity and friendship between the two countries Vietnam - China. I want to send "...to bring ideas to educate children and grandchildren, to serve tourists who do not have the opportunity to visit Cao Bang...", Mr. Pham Viet De shared the initiative to dig rocks to simulate the "A glimpse of Ban Gioc waterfall" project in the South. The ceremony of praying for peace and blessings is a folk activity closely associated with the Tay community in the northern mountainous region. The ceremony is held at the end of January and the beginning of February of the lunar calendar every year. This is an opportunity for people to gather and exchange, showing respect to gods and ancestors, expressing their pure wishes for a happy, peaceful, and prosperous life. The Politburo has just agreed to the policy of not disciplining party members who have a third child or more; exempting all tuition fees for students from preschool to high school in public schools nationwide. Experts assess that the above policies are in line with reality, contributing to promoting the replacement birth rate nationwide because one of the biggest barriers that makes many families afraid to have children today is financial pressure, especially in large cities where the cost of raising children is very high. From the beginning of March until now, in the eastern localities of Gia Lai province, there have been consecutive sugarcane fires. Nearly 15 hectares of more than 10 households in Kbang district and An Khe town during the harvest period were burned down by the fire. Continue to educate patriotism and revolutionary traditions for cadres, party members, and people about the great contributions of previous generations to the revolutionary cause of liberating the homeland of Binh Phuoc; Introducing the achievements of the Party Committee, government, army and people of Binh Phuoc, the Provincial Party Committee, People's Council, People's Committee, and Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Binh Phuoc province organized activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Liberation Day of Binh Phuoc province, March 23, 1975 - March 23, 2025. General news of the Ethnic and Development Newspaper. The morning news on March 14, there was the following notable information: Con and Banh Giay making contest. Mang Lang Church and the 17th century Quoc Ngu book. Preserving the cultural heritage of the Cong ethnic group. Along with other current news in ethnic minority and mountainous areas. On the afternoon of March 14, Lao Cai Provincial People's Committee coordinated with the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) to organize the event "Meeting 2025: Lao Cai - Center for connecting trade between Vietnam/ASEAN and the Southwest region of China". Attending the event were Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son; leaders of some central ministries and branches; leaders of VCCI, leaders of provinces in the Northern Midlands and Mountains; representatives of embassies, commercial counselors of some countries, international organizations, major domestic and foreign investors. Following National Highway 24 Quang Ngai - Kon Tum, we visited Ba To mountainous district (Quang Ngai) on an early March morning. Warm spring sunshine spread over the newly upgraded and spacious road. On both sides of the road, acacia nurseries were in the season of grafting and growing seedlings. Local people in the district were excitedly celebrating the 80th anniversary of Ba To Uprising (March 11, 1945 - March 11, 2025). Buon Don dipterocarp forest (Dak Lak) is a rich treasure trove of resources, especially rich in precious herbs. In the spring, when the first rains fall, the Ede and M'nong people go into the forest to pick "forest gifts" - precious mushrooms, flowers and medicinal plants. This is not only a source of food and medicine but also a long-standing cultural feature of the local community. On the afternoon of March 14, the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions of Ninh Thuan province held a ceremony to announce the retirement decision and the appointment decision of department-level leaders of the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions. Ms. Pi Nang Thi Hon, Director of the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions of Ninh Thuan province attended and chaired the ceremony to announce the decision. Speaking at the ceremony to announce the Prime Minister's decision to recognize Phu Quoc City as a class 1 urban area under Kien Giang province, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha requested research to develop Phu Quoc to become a "coastal urban area, a center of tourism, resorts and high-class, unique services". In particular, focusing on developing space towards the sea, forming international-class trade, service and tourism centers exploiting the advantages of the sea and islands...

Mr. Pham Viet De (right) and the work "A glimpse of Ban Gioc Waterfall" in Long Khanh City, Dong Nai Province

Hide from wife for fear of spending money

Choosing a far corner on Vong Tuong hill, a few dozen meters away from the complex of 7 waterfalls, which is a place for meditation, tea ceremony... Mr. Pham Viet De told about the process of making his work "A glimpse of Ban Gioc waterfall" in Long Khanh city (Dong Nai).

In 20 years of gardening, I have become close to, familiar with, and sometimes even able to talk to each rock in the garden, so I understand very well where to place each rock so that it can communicate with people when it enters the work.

The drawings, positioning, and perspectives are all designed on the computer and stored deep in my memory. Even when I was developing and executing the work, many relatives and friends came to see and asked what I was doing, but I only answered “working” and never revealed the purpose.

Because I know for sure that when I express my ideas, many people will jump in to give comments and edit them, which will distort or ruin my work.

Vong Canh Hill, wooden meditation corner, tea ceremony to admire Ban Gioc waterfall

After finishing the foundation with the electrical system, pump, motor, water pipes, the money saved for a long time was gone. I knew for sure that my wife would know, would ask and would object because of the "playful" style. So I invited both my wife and children to sit at this location to present and express my thoughts and wishes. Then I had to encourage my wife and children that the effort and investment would not be worth it, because I knew how to take advantage of the available rocks in the garden to have both land for production and materials for construction.

I also had to cut off a part of the land to sell for money to make this work "A Glimpse of Ban Gioc Waterfall".

"This profession requires a lot of effort...."

Coming from a well-connected family and being a nature lover, Mr. De uses natural materials to beautify nature with the principle of not destroying or affecting nature.

To get the old trees to grow properly on the rocks, he went everywhere to buy and shape them before transplanting them. "Many places sold the trees but waited a long time for me to transplant them, they called to ask for a price increase...", he said.

Or the sound of flowing water, I also have to learn, because the sound of a waterfall is different from the sound of a stream. Everything, though created, must not be different from nature. The "teacher" who is always by my side to teach me is the internet and AI technology - Artisan Pham Viet De said.

Many meditation and tea ceremony corners to watch the waterfall

Raw materials are the most important part. When you have little money but want to do big things, choosing the right materials contributes more than 70% to success. “I dug and transported over 3,000 cubic meters of boulders here by myself. If I hired workers, I wouldn’t have enough money to pay for this, let alone the cost of buying and transporting them,” he continued.

Many people ask me how I measured and built it to look exactly like nature. This is understandable because Ban Gioc waterfall is very large in nature. I simulated it, technically called creation, there will be some shortages and excesses, but the order is very similar to the overall image. I did not use the word construction but used the word "filling" to make it closer to the point of referring to the rocks stacked on top of each other without using any material to bind them together.

When working, there were some rocks with beautiful fronts, meeting the requirements. But the backs were too rough to be assembled with other rocks, so they had to be cut and split. “A farmer like me doesn’t know how to split rocks. Because of my passion, I tried to learn everywhere. With an excavator, I dug, lifted, split, transported, and assembled rocks. I could handle any broken tires or broken engines. The elders say, “A hobby requires a lot of effort,” Mr. De said happily.

Do to educate future generations

Every day, people come to visit; sometimes there are groups from schools, tourist tours, farmers' associations, students from architecture and fine arts schools coming to visit and learn from experience. Some places propose to cooperate in opening schools, tourist attractions, etc.

Mr. De confided: I did this project out of my love for nature, and also to educate my children and grandchildren, not to give up when facing difficulties, and to be steadfast in their choices. To do that, in addition to good health, one must have a true love for nature along with a very strong mind (idea).

Nearly 70 years old, the family wants to use this space for meditation, tea ceremony, sightseeing, and retirement, serving those who want to know Ban Gioc waterfall but have not had the opportunity to go there. Occasionally, when someone asks for advice or to carry out a natural landscape project, we cooperate. Thanks to choosing a separate path from the beginning, taking natural landscape as the goal, contractors and construction companies have come to cooperate, transferring many waterfall and vivid landscape projects to us. Because their skills are in artificial projects such as fake mountains and fake waterfalls.

"I want to leave behind a work to educate my children and grandchildren and serve those who do not have the opportunity to visit Ban Gioc waterfall in Cao Bang."

Many international groups come here to visit and comment “the house has beautiful natural waterfalls”, because they do not think this is a work of art created by humans. There are also many relatives and friends from abroad who come here to visit and comment “there are many famous beautiful waterfalls in the world, why not make Ban Gioc waterfall instead”.

This is what I thought and decided because: Ban Gioc Waterfall is not only a natural beauty but also a symbol of solidarity and friendship between the two countries of Vietnam and China, mountains connected to mountains, rivers connected to rivers, nothing can separate them.

I want to leave this work for future generations to educate my children and grandchildren about the love of nature, the environment, lessons about how to live, and how to preserve peaceful and friendly relations of which Ban Gioc waterfall is a symbol.

The beauty of ancient Thai village in the middle of Nghe An

Source: https://baodantoc.vn/chuyen-ve-nguoi-dan-ong-dam-me-quang-ba-ve-dep-que-huong-dao-da-tao-tac-thac-ban-gioc-o-mien-nam-bai-2-1741937676291.htm