When the commune secretary steps out of the meeting room
On weekends, Mr. Nguyen Duy Tu - Secretary of the Party Committee of Van Son commune, Phu Tho province - wears a shirt and goes by motorbike to Thung waterfall, Pang beach or villages located in the midst of clouds and mountains.
In front of the phone placed on the support, the 38-year-old official practiced speaking each sentence. There was a section that seemed simple, but he had to turn it back dozens of times.
During the day, he solved work in the commune, and in the evening, he reviewed images, learned to write scripts and create videos.
Sharing with PV, Mr. Tu said: "Everyone says that commune secretaries sit in air conditioning, typing documents, but who goes to work in communications. But if you don't go, don't work, how will people know how beautiful Van Son is to us?".
Van Son is located at an altitude of 800-1,200m, with primeval forests, waterfalls, caves and Muong villages that still preserve many traditional cultural features. The scenery is beautiful, but people's lives are still mainly based on agriculture and animal husbandry.
Receiving the assignment from July 2025, Mr. Tu is always concerned about why a land rich in potential is still not widely known. From May 2026, he started to hold a camera.
Dozens of videos are posted, each video attracting from tens of thousands to more than one million views. From those somewhat rustic frames, tourists come to Van Son more and more.
On weekends, Thung waterfall and Pang beach are crowded with visitors, and small roads in the village are congested due to a sudden increase in traffic.
Not far from Van Son, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Trung - Secretary of the Party Committee of Long Coc commune - also chose to tell the story of his hometown through social networks.
One day at 5 am, he stood on the tea hill waiting for the sea of clouds. A little later, the sun rose, the clouds dissipated, the most beautiful moment of Long Coc also passed.
The first videos had to be filmed many times because he still maintained the way an official spoke at the conference.
But I think people can still film videos and livestream selling tea, so the head of the locality has no reason to be afraid to appear," the commune Party Secretary said.
The "Amazing Long Coc" channel is gradually being formed. On it, there are not only tea hills and sea of clouds, but also the hands of tea pickers, meals at homestays, traditional dishes and stories of families doing tourism.
“We do not make channels just to have many views. The important thing is that after watching, people want to come to Long Coc, come and then use the service, buy products from people,” Mr. Trung shared.
Women cherishing their hometown products
In Na Sam commune, Lang Son province, Ms. Vuong Thi Thuong has many times looked at the rhododendron gardens laden with fruit, but growers are still worried because of unstable prices.
Ms. Thuong confided: "I used to be a teacher, switching to business was initially very unfamiliar.
But after many failures, fresh persimmons with low value, after 10-12 days of hanging in suitable conditions, become flexible, sweet products, which can be sold at prices many times higher, I feel happier than ever".
In April 2023, Toan Thuong Agricultural Cooperative was established, gathering more than 10 members and linking with persimmon growers.
That year, the cooperative processed about 10 tons of finished products, with a revenue of 2.5 billion VND and a profit of about 1.2 billion VND.
Ms. Thuong also put roses on e-commerce platforms and social networks; researched making tea from rose peel, wine from ripe fruit and cherished building farmstays.
What I want is not only to sell one more item, but to bring tourists to the border area, go under the rose gardens and understand the story behind Lang specialties," Ms. Thuong said.
Also in Na Sam, Ms. Lang Thi Tho chose mac mat - a spice that has followed the Tay people through many generations - to start her own journey.
From March 2023, after working hours, she tried every way to marinate meat. There were batches that did not meet the standards, she adjusted from the beginning, finding ways to preserve the aroma of mac mat while the product was still easy to preserve and transport.
By the end of 2024, her facility will produce more than 40kg of maggot pork per month, with a revenue of over 24 million VND.
In July 2026, when she became a young village head in Doan Ket village, from a small kitchen, she continued to aim for a series of herbal pig products, linking raw materials and creating livelihoods for local women.
