Ly Son: Garlic, wind grave and Spiritual self

Through the many changes of history, of life, the life of people on Ly Son Island has now changed dramatically. During a business trip here, we recorded the excitement not only of the people, but also the change in the prosperity of the island as haunting in front of the East Sea gateway of Quang Ngai.

Statue of Hoang Sa Squadron on Ly Son Island

On this nation’s pre-island island, there are many families with many lifetimes clinging to the sea, the father and son connected to the sea with the most faithful belief. The exhibition house of the Hoang Hai Hoang Sa Team is located in the center of the district town. There, there are still many remaining artifacts of soldiers who used to cross the wind and wave to Hoang Sa and Truong Sa islands. Very intimate items are displayed solemnly in a glass case. Along with that, there are many documents confirming the realm of Vietnamese land at sea, like the picture of the sovereignty of Vietnam in Hoang Sa taken in 1930; the map "East India and the surrounding areas" x.á.c defines the Paracel Islands in Vietnamese territory, published in London (UK) in 1969 ...

The feeling of emotion increased when we arrived at An Vinh Communal House (Dong hamlet, An Vinh commune) - the place to hold the annual ceremony of the Hoang Sa soldiers’ troop in March of the lunar year, Amitabha and Hoang Sa soldier’s grave with The wind tombs of those who go on forever.

The article of the Hoang Sa warriors in the old village of An Vinh village

Not far from An Vinh communal house is the church of Pham Quang Anh, who was worshiped by Ly Son fishermen as a tutelary. The present church is under the care of Mr. Pham Quang Tinh, the 5th generation descendant. In the morning tea cup, Mr. Pham Quang Tinh and his brother Pham Quang Xa talked about history, about the ancestors’ possessions to be opened only once a year on the occasion of "spring sacrifice" of the clan with self-confidence. Indescribable.

Ly Son is the national island of the nation. Sea fishing has been a tradition since many years. People from this life to another life only stick to the sea because the sea is the source of life, bringing a piece of food to the people, the school fees for their children to go to school. However, the marine profession also takes away the losses and pain that cannot be compensated in kind. But the salty taste of the sea has seeped into each soil, people here should cling to the sea is a belief that is unmatched. Although the wind tombs in Ly Son continue to increase.

Ly Son is also famous for growing garlic and garlic Ly Son has become an indispensable gift every time visitors visit the island. This is one of the products that Ly Son "blessed" to build the brand.

Ly Son lonely garlic famous all over the country (Photo: Minh Hoang)

A man who met us on the edge of the sea cheerfully said, "Do you see our island beautiful? Is it worth being called a tourist paradise? ”. We nodded, he took a very good attitude. He said that the main job on the island is to go to the sea and do tourism. Travel stories we saw. What about going to the sea ?! He replied: "It is not an island! Here most of the people follow the maritime industry, there are people up to 4-5 years old, guys! The sea with us is one! ”. Then Mr. Must led us to the fishermen who lived a life with the sea.

The diving fishermen catch sea on the island

There are many stories of other fishermen sitting around us, which we cannot write down in this report. When the alcohol of the old fishermen is about to be excited, the East Sea will come to the dark clouds. No one told anyone, as fast as a squirrel, the old fishermen at the age of the cross had stomped on the water’s edge, the pile driver, the person pulling the rope to put the boat on the shore to avoid being hit by the waves. And then only in that short afternoon, the young people we witnessed the beginning of the island people, so that when we write these words, we keep going forever. of people in the wave. They are the lights on the sea of pepper, to guard the sea and the earth and the country for generations ...

Ly Son is different now

No one could expect the light of the national grid to return to the island so quickly since starting to pull underground cables from the mainland to the island. For decades, Ly Son people have never been able to. Without electricity, nothing could be done. Therefore, despite the extremely favorable natural conditions for this island land to develop sea tourism with countless facilities, but only because there is no electricity, people have to give up. For many years, Ly Son people could only look at the electricity on the mainland with endless craving.

Previously, every day, the island district people used the inadequate electricity for only 6 hours every night in the morning and night, and had to share to the islands in the same island district, when the people of An Vinh commune had lighting electricity, An Hai commune suffer from power outage. Electricity is obtained from di‌esel power stations. Particularly, people in An Binh island use electricity from an unstable solar battery system. For decades, more than 5,000 households with 22,000 people in this locality still suffer from severe electricity shortage. In the evening of Ly Son island land only a few years ago, it was still dark, could it be just a few electric bal‌ls glowing from gasoline-powered generators, but gasoline was becoming more and more expensive so people only knew how to use it? saving.

The national grid has reached Ly Son in the past few years, and the life in this island district has changed dramatically

After all, all tens of thousands of people in Ly Son island district and the people in the whole country were overjoyed because the national grid came to Ly Son. In everyone’s mind, a bright future is now more pronounced than ever in this sunny and windy island country. Two-storey, three-storey houses are built close up, cable TV is used by many households, there are schools for children on the island to class and many facilities are built to serve people’s lives. people.

We visited the ancient well of the Cham people built nearly ten centuries ago, the water is still clear and cool as ever, despite the traces of time making moss on the well.

The life of the residents here is no different from the mainland, there are also spacious restaurants, cafes and music shops that sell all kinds but most of them are garlic and seafood like abalone. , fish and shrimp, squid, a sun and her breast are two specialties of the island that are unmatched. Except for seafood, other types of goods have higher prices than the mainland because the distance from the sea is not too expensive.

Visitors to Ly Son increasingly crowded

Talking to us, Mrs. Pham Thi Huong, Vice Chairman of Ly Son Island People’s Committee said: “For many years the island’s electricity source has been very weak, so the economic development, especially the tourism industry of the island district have many difficult. When the national electricity grid returned to the island district, many other electricity-related industries were developed strongly. Local authorities are applying many preferential mechanisms to call for investors and people to promote internal resources to invest in the field of marine ecotourism and tourism so that Ly Son island district becomes a steaming destination. guide visitors in the future! ”.

It is known that Ly Son island district has been approved by the Government to plan the national tourist island. The long-awaited expectation of the people of garlic island is gradually realizing, then surely the life of the people on this island will change more positively.

Ly Son’s night is peaceful, only the sound of waves hitting the rock rapids, like the sound of the ancient sea. The island crouched in sleep after a day of welcoming guests. Far away, the light of the night squid boats gleamed like the fireflies fluttering in the middle of the night of the black sea.