On March 18, as many as 70 coaches and athletes from Hanoi, Hoa Binh, Thanh Hoa, Vinh Phuc and Nghe An commenced a two-day bicycle race over the road, which stretches 166 kilometre through the four mountainous districts of Quan Ba, Yen Minh, Dong Van and Meo Vac.
A day earlier, an award ceremony for the competition “Happiness road, past and present” was held as part of activities to mark the road’s establishment.
The competition, which ran from March to August 2014, aimed to popularise and educate the youth about the road’s history, promoting patriotic tradition, revolutionary heroism and solidarity in the national construction and protection.
On this occasion, the organising board of the road’s 50 th anniversary also announced the Prime Minister’s decision to present merits of State recognition to 14 former youth volunteers who lost their lives during the construction.
Earlier, two exhibitions—“Happiness road, now and then” and a document-based exhibit—were organised to honour the 2,500 young volunteers who helped construct the road connecting Ha Giang City and the four mountainous districts.
The road, which was named by President Ho Chi Minh, 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.
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.