Recently, the name Lo Lo Chai has again attracted public attention with the plan to pave stone with village road patterns, creating mixed debates. One side believes that this is a necessary step to elevate the destination and create a unique identity in tourism development. But on the contrary, many opinions worry that "decorating" living spaces may distort the original cultural values.
Looking from reality, the stone paving project is designed quite methodically: using natural stone, combined with traditional costume motifs of the Lo Lo people, and at the same time associated with renovating the drainage system and treating the environment.
Bringing cultural motifs to the road surface sounds attractive. The question is whether it will change the cultural values of this place or not? Culture lives in people, in daily life, in the daily rhythm of the community. When traditional patterns are "industrialized" and repeated in a large public space, they are at risk of becoming formalistic, even "commercialized".
A question needs to be asked: Do tourists come to Lo Lo Chai because of the patterns on the road surface, or because of the authentic feeling of a highland village?
The answer is very easy: That is the second part. This also raises the issue: Infrastructure intervention needs to be extremely cautious. Beautifying does not mean distorting the essence. More importantly, local people must be the center of all decisions. If they feel proud, see their identity respected and vivid, then that is true success. Conversely, if they are just "outsiders" in a tourism development project, then no matter how beautiful the project is, it is difficult to be sustainable.
Another point to note is the risk of "uniforming" tourist attractions. When everywhere tries to create "highlights", in the end they are the same. Lo Lo Chai has its own advantages: its northernmost location, unique Lo Lo culture, and pristine village space. This is the most precious asset, irreplaceable by any layer of patterned stone.
Therefore, when the road surface paving option will use motifs inspired by the costume patterns of the Lo Lo people in the locality, materials including Thanh Hoa blue stone, combined with basalt stone and Sinh Lung stone mined in Sinh Lung commune are chosen, it should also be a "unique characteristic" of Lo Lo Chai.
Sustainable tourism is not about making the destination "better" according to visual standards, but about keeping it "more true" to its inherent nature and creating attraction by its uniqueness and distinctiveness. This is also what makes up the "name" of Lo Lo Chai, not to be lost by any change.
