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Bustling: Quan Lo wharf and river market reflects the increasing prosperity of the locals. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Phan Making it concrete: Nearly 1,500 wooden and bamboo bridges in Bac Lieu have been replaced by more sturdy concrete and steel bridges. — VNA/VNS Photo Pham Do Breeding grounds: Bac Lieu boasts seven bird reserves with hundreds of thousands of birds of all kinds nesting in the restored mangrove forests. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Hai

by Phan Trung Nghia

I was born on the banks of the Bac Lieu River. It smells and memories will remain forever in my heart.

Recorded as the canal of Bac Lieu, it remains a river in local folklore only. Elders remember when it was just a small waterway snaking from Hoa Binh in Vinh Loi through Cai Tram, Bac Lieu market and Vam Leo crossing to the mouth of the My Thanh River. Its other branch ran to Bay Sao to join the Hau River.

Today, the Bac Lieu canal is 30km long and is much larger than the river I remember.

In 1882, Lamothe Decajjej, the first French governor of the province, reported that the area between Bac Lieu and Ca Mau was covered with thick grasslands which remained green even during the dry season. He reported that during the rainy season the grass would grow to one metre.

In the rainy season it was best to move by small boat, zig-zagging along freshly cleared paths, limiting travel to one kilometre a day. The trip from Ca Mau to Soc Trang took six days, four days shorter than in the dry season.

The small canal named Bac Lieu was the only route linking Bac Lieu with the Hau and Tien rivers as well as the East Sea. Its importance cannot be underestimated, providing the only means for Chinese and Viet people to enter lands that before the 1880s had remained unexplored.

With the French invasion and its ensuing chaos, waves of poor farmers rushed out of their homes and villages looking for the promised new lands further in the south.

Many ended up in Bac Lieu, known for its hidden dangers and diseases. The Bac Lieu canal was at the end of the waterway and infested with crocodiles. People used to catch the giant creatures for sale in the market.

Folklore has it that at the meeting of the three rivers was a huge whirlpool. People travelling the river had to stop and pray before passing the whirlpool, offering of a pair of live ducks for safe passage.

A deserted region, Bac Lieu was open to anyone with a thirst for exploration. However, tigers, wild pigs, mosquitoes and leeches roamed the area, putting up a natural barrier.

To the south of Bac Lieu River were forests of ancient mam trees. They were so old and big it was impossible to fit your arms around them. The sea was near enough to hear its waves lapping against the shore. Early explorers used to set up their homes in the top of the mam trees to hide from tigers and other wild animals. Plentiful water nurtured a rich harvest of fish and other foods to feed from.

When the French established the province of Bac Lieu in 1882, the then governor Decajjej told the Governor of Cochinchina (South Viet Nam), "At present, Bac Lieu is nothing but in the future it will become the biggest city in Cochinchina after Sai Gon."

To develop the area he proposed a canal linking Bac Lieu and Ca Mau – using the soil dug up to build roads. His proposal was instantly accepted and work began which was to last 30 long years. A new 72km long river was created through the blood and sweat of the local people. It proved to be an excellent irrigation canal, releasing previously locked up water and opening up the land for cultivation.

With improved communications, people flocked from Tien Giang to Bac Lieu. The area quickly took off, bolstering taxes for the French. The project finished in 1915 along with the completion of branch canals of Quan Lo, Phung Hiep and others. The Bac Lieu River ran through the provincial capital and next to the present Highway 1A. It enabled traders to bring local goods to the markets in Sai Gon and other areas.

The town of Bac Lieu gradually came into being with people coming from almost everywhere.

From 1900 onwards, Bac Lieu’s prosperous development continued with the opening of a number of markets. Names like Tran Trinh Trach and Ba Ho became symbols of wealth and power.

The sound of the engine was soon heard, replacing the canoes that had plied the waterways for so long. Many elders still recall the sound of the once famous Le An ship on Bac Lieu River.

The Bac Lieu River and its waterways, with fish up to 10kg, has nurtured many generations including me. We have lived with this river, swimming in it, growing up with it. Whenever my mind becomes tired with the sound of the city, I rush back to my birthplace. Many of the people I grew up with have left, but the river I grew up with remains, reminding me of my origins. — VNS