(HBO) – Song Da, also called Bo River, or Den River (as known in Europe) has a total length of 910km, of which 543km flows in Vietnam through Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Son La, Hoa Binh and Phu Tho provinces. It is fortunate for the northwestern city of Hoa Binh to have the Da River winding through the city, witnessing its historical ups and downs.


Photo: The section of the Da River that flows through Hoa Binh city

Each person in Hoa Binh city has his/her own feelings about Da River depending on their memories about the river. To the best of my childhood recollection, Da River was so big, fierce and immense when the dam of the hydropower plant was yet to be built connecting the two river banks. 

Through the flow of history and culture, the river’s stature has grown as has its place in locals’ love. The river was once associated with the Doc Ngu uprising when the insurgent troops used to cross the river in boats to fight against French colonialists in the 19th century. It was also the place where local army and militia forced set on fire the French colonialists’ warships during the nine-year resistance war. The Hoa Binh hydropower plant, the biggest of its kind in Southeast Asia at the time it was built, was also located on the Da River.

The Da River in general and its section flowing through Hoa Binh city in particular has become a source of inspiration for many poems, music works, paintings and photos. The "Da River”, a collection of essays by writer Nguyen Tuan, has touched the soul of many people due to the river’s magnificent, fierce and romantic beauty. Late poet Quang Dung composed a poem on Da River in 1952. A friend of mine posted a picture of Da River in the flood season on Facebook, which captured the image of people flocking to the river to collect floating wood. This is an old but familiar image of the locals’ daily life.


Another friend of mine, who was born in Hoa Binh city and now lives in a southern city, uses a photo featuring a floating bridge across the Da river years ago as his avatar on Facebook. He once told me that only when he leaved Hoa Binh city, did he recognise that the city has a "special privilege” which is the Da river. That is the reason why every time he is about to leave the home city for the south, he asks his friends to go to a coffee shop on the river bank to watch the river at night. He said: "I have stood besides Seine river in France, Volga river in Russia, Mekong river in Laos and Cambodia and Zhujiang river in Guangzhou of China. Although I was excited, I did not feel the close bond as with the Da river”. He meant the river section crossing Hoa Binh where there is no development to develop tourism on the two banks.


On the right bank, since the street along the dyke was built, the life of households along the river in Phuong Lam and Dong Tien wards has changed, more bustling and ...more market-oriented. Although the road is yet to have an official name, almost all locals hope that the road is included into management agencies’ planning to develop tourism sustainably. As a result, not only Hoa Binh residents but also visitors to the city want to come to the area and watch the beauty of the river and enjoy the landscape and culture of Hoa Binh and the Da river.


Regardless of whether it will be named as a food street, a walking street, flower street, light street or after a famous person, the road along the Da river still makes its own imprint in the mind of local residents and visitors. Coming to the river at night, visitors can see the sparkling Uncle Ho’s statue on the Tuong mount, the imposing hydropower plant and the peaceful Hoa Binh pagoda.                                         
                                           

                                                                                      Bui Huy


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