City in Vietnam: Pleiku 'lucky to have you, life is still lovely'

There is a beauty of a highland city that only poetry and music can express. I have also had the opportunity to visit many cities, in my country and abroad. Each city has its own style, its own title, and welcomes visitors from afar in accordance with its own identity with its own slogans. Pleiku is no exception.

But why, when coming to Pleiku, do tourists have a strange feeling? It seems that this city is "cold" on the outside, but warm on the inside. Not aggressive, not offering attractive features, but Pleiku is like a gentle, quiet girl, gently taking tourists from one surprise to another. That is the way of a friendly city.

When talking about friendliness, people immediately think of enthusiastic greetings, showing off their beauty and reputation right at the city gate, but Pleiku is not like that. Right from the intersection into the city, we have a feeling that this place is more relaxed than tourists. The city drifts like floating clouds, like mist, the deeper we go into the city, the more we feel the mountains within the city. Pleiku is where the mountains reside right in the heart of the city, although the mountains here are not ostentatious, the mountains are hidden like the city itself.

I remember in 1977, the first time I went to Pleiku. Accompanying writer Thai Ba Loi, the two of us were assigned by the agency to do field work at an economic corps in this area.

On our way to Pleiku, we stopped at the small but quite beautiful wooden house of writer Trung Trung Dinh. Dinh had fought in Gia Lai. That was a very familiar area for him. He could speak the ethnic language because he had been in a Ba Na guerrilla unit that operated independently. Later, he wrote about that interesting story in his very famous novel, Lost in the Forest.

We went to Mr. Dinh's house but he was still in Da Nang and had not come up yet. The house was given to "Hue teacher couple" Mr. Le Nhuoc Thuy and Ms. Hue to stay, both to solve the problem of this couple not having a house to live in and also to ask them to look after the house. Although we stayed at Mr. Thuy's house, Loi and I just wandered around the city.

At that time, in the center of Pleiku, there was a rather large coffee shop, a morning gathering place for the "coffee residents" of this mountain city. The shop's name was Diep Kinh, perhaps the owner was of Chinese origin. The two of us drank coffee and made new friends. The residents of Pleiku were very gentle and easy to talk to, they were just like their city. When they knew we were artists, the coffee brothers were very happy. They invited the two of us to sit and drink together in the afternoon, the drinking shop was also near Diep Kinh.

Loi and I accepted immediately. In the afternoon, sitting in a windless drinking place, we could feel that this city is "winter all year round". It was a bit cold, we had to wear more clothes, but it was not the bitter cold of Hanoi, Pleiku city had a very pleasant cold. Maybe because there was no north wind here.

Having a drink with teachers and artists from Pleiku, I always heard them mention a poet who was our friend, poet Vu Huu Dinh. Dinh had spent time in Pleiku during the war. He did not stay long, but he wrote a poem that remains until now. That is the poem "Con mot chut gi de nho ".

Pleiku should thank Vu Huu Dinh, because not every city in this country receives such a good poem, such a lovely poem, and so immortal as Vu Huu Dinh's little poem.

It is true that Pleiku must start from " the high mountain town, the foggy mountain town/the green mountain town, the low sky, so sad ". A vague, quiet, humble look, but containing enough hidden beauty to attract visitors from afar.

" The strange guest goes up and down/ luckily with you, life is still lovely ". He goes up and down only because there is something that forces him to not ignore, to not be absent-minded, even though he cannot explain it yet. And "you" here is Pleiku, just like the following verse in the poem: " You are Pleiku, red cheeks, pink lips/ here the afternoon is winter all year round/ so your eyes are wet and your hair is wet/ your skin is soft like the clouds in the afternoon ".

"You" is the city, and the city is also "you", the poem is both misty and clear, like Pleiku in the afternoon and Pleiku bathed in the bright sunlight.

To me, along with Vu Huu Dinh’s poem, Pleiku is the city of poetry. Not every city that produces many famous poets can be called a city of poetry. The beauty of poetry is always a hidden beauty, and Pleiku has exactly that beauty.

Vu Huu Dinh's poem Pleiku has been imprinted in the hearts and memories of many people. Especially when the poem was set to music by the talented musician Pham Duy. Pham Duy kept the poem almost intact, including the title. Vu Huu Dinh, when he was close to me, said that he was very satisfied with this song. Music has brought poetry to another level, as quiet as poetry, but more soaring than poetry.

Because Pleiku is a "quiet" city, perhaps the "quiet" one among the cities in Central Vietnam. The noise caused by vehicles is one thing, and being quiet is another. Not too welcoming, but Pleiku welcomes visitors with a certain joy, which Vu Huu Dinh immediately recognized: " So your eyes are wet and your hair is wet/ your skin is soft like the clouds in the afternoon".

Emotional, right?

Now in the world there is a movement to build smart cities. That is necessary. But the world still knows, like a mathematical law of imperfection, what else is beyond intelligence. And that is the premise for the idea of "emotional cities" to be born. I remember the music by Pham Duy to the poem "Con mot chut gi de nho" by Vu Huu Dinh. I remember the paintings by the late veteran artist Nguyen The Vinh depicting Banar Gia Lai girls pounding rice or doing simple daily labor. Both music, poetry and paintings about Pleiku-Gia Lai, those works are full of emotions.

Just thinking about Pleiku makes us feel nostalgic. That is the feeling that a city gives to people. It is like the faint scent of wild flowers that leads us to vague but profound images. It is like the ancient pine trees - the simple but warm-smelling host - when welcoming guests to his home. The small streets in Pleiku have rows of ancient pine trees.

That is the pride of this highland city. The city "here in the afternoon all year round in winter" keeps whispering to us about the source of emotions, that we need so much in our lives? I think, just that much emotion, that much affection of Pleiku is enough for us to live a life full of cherishing and respect for this life.

Pleiku is a city, the political - economic, cultural - social center of Gia Lai province (northern Central Highlands), with a natural area of over 26 hectares; population of about 260,000 people, including 36 ethnic groups living, of which ethnic minorities are about 32,000 people, accounting for 12.2%, most of whom are Jrai and Ba Na ethnic groups living in concentrated areas. Pleiku city has advantages in soil and weather favorable for the development of industrial crops such as rubber, coffee, pepper, and diverse forest products. Ecotourism potentials from natural landscapes brought by the specific terrain of the Central Highlands such as Bien Ho forest park, Plei Op cultural village; historical relics of Hoi Phu martyrs' memorial temple, Pleiku prison...

Thai Thanh (synthesis)

Thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/thanh-pho-o-viet-nam-pleiku-may-ma-co-em-doi-con-de-thuong-185240806173617492.htm