Exhibition portrays happiness road in Ha Giang

Ma Pi Leng pass

An exhibition “Happiness road, now and then” celebrating the 50th anniversary of the road’s construction opened in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang in Vietnam on March 10.

On display are 113 photos, 72 artefacts and 11 merit certificates honouring 2,500 young volunteers who helped build the 160-kilometre road connecting downtown Ha Giang and Dong Van and Meo Vac districts.

The road leads to Ma Pi Leng pass in the globally recognised karst plateau Dong Van where volunteers roped themselves to the rock cliffs during the dangerous 11-month building process that led to the death of 11 workers.

The volunteers came from the northern provinces of Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Lang Son, Thai Nguyen, Tuyen Quang, Ha Giang, Hai Duong and Nam Dinh in 1959 and spent six years building the road.

The event, which runs to the end of this month, also presented an occasion to introduce the history of the road and natural beauty of Ha Giang to visitors at home and abroad.