On September 17, 2019, during the 1st Congress of Thanh Hoa Bamboo Association held at the Thanh Tam EcoPark, Mr Luong Viet Loi of Sam Son City, Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam was awarded the first ever certificate of "being = bamboo member of humanity". This event also earned the title World Bamboo Landmark. His achievement is incredible : his unique experience in 1993 of crossing the Pacific Ocean on a bamboo raft, as recorded in the book of Tim Severin, The China Voyage.
Ancient Chinese texts tell the story of Hsu Fu, a navigator and explorer sent by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, in 218 BC into the "Eastern Ocean" in search of life-prolonging drugs. Hsu Fu completed the voyage on a bamboo raft, which some believe took him to America and back.
Adventurer and author Tim Severin set out to prove that such a voyage really could have been made. On the beach at Sam Son, Vietnam, he oversaw the construction of a 60-foot (18.3 m) long, 15-foot (4.6 m) wide raft built of 220 bamboos and rattan cording, and driven by an 800 square foot (74 square metre), junk-rigged sail. After leaving Asia in May 1993, Severin and his crew faced monsoons, pirates, and typhoons before the rattan began rotting and the raft began falling apart in the mid-Pacific. After traveling 5,500 miles (8,850 km) in 105 days, they were forced to abandon the raft about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) short of their destination.
Although the Hsu Fu, as the craft was named, did not complete the trip, Severin believed the voyage had accomplished its purpose. In The China Voyage, published in 1994, he wrote that the expedition had proved that a bamboo raft of the second century BC could, indeed, have made a voyage across the Pacific, just as Hsu Fu's account recorded.
Mr. Loi still has a heroic spirit. Even though more than 25 years have passed, his memories about that adventure have never faded away. He is excited to share all the details about the bamboo boat, how he got recruited to join the team, how he got along with other team members while he was the only Vietnamese in the boat, how they did overcome strong storms in the Pacific Ocean. He was never paid for his efforts in building the boat or the travails of the travel. He has only one wish : that the local government of Sam Son city could offer him a small piece of land so that he could build a coffee shop with the miniature of the bamboo boat. His dream is to serve visitors from Vietnam and abroad and tell them his adventure so that people can understand more about Vietnamese people and culture. He is still waiting for the fulfillment of that dream.
The World Bamboo Organization, along with Mr. Le Van Tam of LASUCO and the Thanh Tam EcoPark, proudly recognized Mr. Loi with a small tribute; public recognition at the Bamboo Workshop in September, where he was an invited speaker and instructor. He made a wonderful presentation about his adventure with the bamboo boat to the other participants and also taught participants how to make some bamboo structures.
We congratulate Mr. Loi for his mastery and his bravery, and welcome him as being = bamboo member of humanity: Mr Luong Viet Loi!
Mr LƯƠNG VIẾT LỢI receiving his certificate from Mr. Le Van Tam of LASUCO/Thanh Tam EcoPark.
Mr LƯƠNG VIẾT LỢI of Sam Son City, Thanh Hoa Province, with the diagram of the bamboo boat.
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