After learning about the character from the reality show Gia đình Haha, we set off for Lao Cai to find Ban Lien. Crossing the winding and freezing roads in January, we were finally warmed by the kitchen in the home of Ms. Thong and Mr. Ha.

At first, we needed quite a bit of time to truly feel the character, as the real-life Ms. Thong was very different from her image on television. Perhaps expectations from an entertainment program made us surprised to find a simple Tay woman standing before us. She lives each day with agricultural tasks like farming, picking tea, herding buffalo, and harvesting bamboo shoots, viewing them as her own form of happiness.

What impressed us most was how she and her family maintain their indigenous culture through the small details of daily life. She helps guests who stay with her understand and respect her ethnic culture through specific symbols: such as chopsticks dyed with magenta leaves to a light pink color used only for honored guests, or indigo-dyed chopsticks used during days of family mourning. Notably, the colorful outfits hand-woven by the family members are worn as everyday clothes, even while working in the fields, creating a vibrant and beautiful scene amidst the vast mountains and forests.