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Relive old memories at Countryside Museum
Thanh Minh 14:49, 2018/02/26
The pictures of the old northern villages have been exhibited in the Countryside Museum (Giao Thinh commune, Giao Thuy district, Nam Dinh province), to help relive the memories of old.
The Countryside Museum located in Binh Di village is a cultural project founded by teacher Ngo Thi Khieu. This is one of the rare privately-funded museums of rural culture in the country. The exhibition has reproduced the images of working life and the people’s ways of living in the northern delta from ancient times to the present. 


 
Born and raised in the countryside, Mrs. Khieu and her husband, Major General Hoang Kien, understand the adversities that peasants had to experience, so they really cherish life in the northern countryside. Therefore, when they saw the widgets that were attached to the lives of farmers gradually disappear, they decided to rebuild a "Countryside Museum" to preserve the old images of the rural North, a memento to the civilization of the Red River. 
Starting in early 2011, the first phase of the museum has been completed by the end of 2012 and will be officially opened by 2015. In 2014, Vietnam Record Organization awarded Mrs. Ngo Thi Khieu for founding the first countryside museum in Vietnam.
Featuring many simple artifacts with a resounding meaning to preserve national culture, the Countryside Museum has reproduced the housing patterns of Northern Delta residents, such as the poor and middle class farmers, and the landowner. Visitors will understand the difference between the lives of different classes of the old society and will also watch old tools like the mill, rice mortar, plow, and harrow.


 
In addition, the main building of the Museum offers an armada of artifacts related to the army, navy, rural culture, and agricultural tools on display. The second floor houses exhibits related to the rural culture of the Red River, including farm tools from about 100 years ago, along with collections of bronze, antiques, and ancient pottery, antique porcelains, and coins. The third floor of the building is a library with thousands of books and many old valuable newspapers and magazines.
The surrounds of the Museum are also planted with hundreds of trees, with many rare plants. Additionally, the museum area includes the Temple of President Ho Chi Minh, lakes, the lift net, and paddy fields. 
One particular thing is that hundreds of trees, many of which are endangered, were planted in the garden area surrounding the old houses, namely date-plum, artocarpus tonkinensis, Indian bayleaf, “danh-danh” flowering plant, C. nervosum kosterm, etc.
The Museum campus features a tunnel that the people of northern Vietnam used as a bomb shelter during the anti-American resistance war. The museum maintains some traditional crafts, such as weaving mats, traditional wine brewing, and rural gastronomy, such as rice tortillas. 
Ms. Khieu said that the Country Museum is not only a popular destination for local people, but also for domestic and foreign tourists. In recent years, the museum has welcomed 20,000-25,000 visitors each year.
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