Tan Trao offers historical lessons, moments of tranquility

12:55' 01/06/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – In three months Vietnam will celebrate its 67th anniversary of independence. A trip to the former revolutionary base Tan Trao in Tuyen Quang Province will provide visitors with not only historical details about National Day, which is on September 2, but also moments of peace and relaxation. The existing giant banyan in Tan Trao. There is no doubt that Tan Trao is one of the most recommended highlights for seekers of historical and natural attractions when they visit Tuyen Quang, which is located some 165 kilometers from Hanoi. The resistance base before the August 1945 Revolution, an area of 125 square kilometers, is now home to 175 sites of interest. Local travel guides say it takes three to four weeks to visit all the historical sites situated in open and forest areas in Yen Son and Son Duong districts, about 50 kilometers from the town center of Tuyen Quang Province. However, a tour of one day or less is enough to visit all the main sites and to get general information. The main sites include a small cottage where President Ho Chi Minh lived from June to August 1945 before he returned to Hanoi. The local guides will take visitors through a bridge over a small stream and up the 79 stairs to the Lan La Lua cottage, describing where the late President lived and worked, and show some of his belongings. The tour itinerary also takes in a big banyan tree, which is said to have stood there for some 500 years. Under the shade of this tree, General Vo Nguyen Giap read the first order for liberation armed forces to depart for Hanoi in August 1945. At one time there was a bigger banyan tree standing by the existing tree, but heavy rains and strong winds uprooted it in 1994. Not far from the banyan tree is Dinh Tan Trao, a wooden, palm leaf-roofed communal house where, in August 16 and 17, 1945, the National Conference delegates met and decided to launch a general revolution to seize power from the French colonialists. The general uprising led to the Declaration of Independence of Vietnam on September 2 of the same year. Dinh Tan Trao is the location where 10 major policies were voted and a provisional government of Vietnam, presided over by Ho Chi Minh, was established, and the Hong Thai Communal House where delegates from different parts of the country stayed when they attended the National Conference, is a site that visitors should not miss. The photographs and documents on display at the museum in Tan Trao provide a general understanding of the revolutionary base in the past and present, as well as the simple life of the pre-eminent President Ho Chi Minh. Besides historical sites of interest, Tan Trao is a favored destination for those looking for tranquility as this area is nestled in a valley at the foot of the Re Pass, surrounded by high mountains and thick forests. A tree-lined road leads to this former resistance base, which was formerly called Kim Long but was renamed Tan Trao after it was liberated in March 1945 and became the provisional capital of Vietnamese liberation forces against the colonial regime. (Source: SGT)