229: There is a difference between authentic and underground

Four people, three motorcycles, stopped at the entrance of the rental shop.

As Saigon’s largest rental shop, it displayed its used cars for rent like a new car showroom.

All car brands were available here, but the vast majority were Japan-made.

There were also some European and American brands mixed in, such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, or Ford.

Li Qinghe and Zhang Meiqi discussed it and finally chose a Mitsubishi SUV.

The rent was 2.2 million vietnamese dong per day, which is 600 dragon country currency.

However, this car required a deposit of 50 million vietnamese dong, less than 14,000 dragon country currency.

Li Qinghe rented the car using Zhang Meiqi’s identity, and the three motorcycles were stored at the rental shop for the time being.

With a roar of the engine, Li Qinghe turned the steering wheel, and the SUV merged into the vast army of motorcycles on the road.

The Cu Chi Tunnels are located 70 kilometers from Saigon. Given Vietnam’s excellent road conditions, it still takes nearly 2 hours to get there.

Because the local soil is very hard, a special kind of clay, this place was originally a series of hidden cellars and defensive fortifications dug by Vietnamese militias to resist the French. Later, some of these cellars and fortifications were connected, forming a dozen kilometers of tunnel fortifications.

When the Vietnam War broke out later, the length of these tunnels expanded dramatically, increasing to a total length of 250 kilometers, which perfectly matched the country of Vietnam.

Li Qinghe navigated using his phone’s electronic map and drove for almost 2 hours to reach the Cu Chi Tunnels.

Before entering the scenic area, one could see a large number of relatively intact remnants of armed helicopters, fighter jets, transport planes, tanks, and other equipment displayed around the entrance.

These rusty, massive weapons were silently scattered in the surrounding woodland, as if testifying in person to the cruelty of war.

“Brother Qinghe, I heard from my dad and grandpa that the North Vietnam guerrillas used to launch attacks on Saigon from here…”

Zhang Meiqi looked around at the planes and tanks, then turned to Li Qinghe, recounting stories she had heard from her grandparents and parents.

Hearing what Zhang Meiqi said, Li Mingyue and Li Mingxing also added to the conversation.

As for why the previous generations told Zhang Meiqi and the others about these events but never brought them to see this place, there is a certain historical reason.

The Cu Chi Tunnels are actually divided into two parts: one called Ben Duoc Tunnels and the other called Ben Dinh Tunnels.

The Ben Duoc Tunnels were the headquarters of the 25th Division of the Vietnamese army, while the Ben Dinh Tunnels were the base from which the Vietnamese army launched attacks on Saigon.

The place Li Qinghe was driving to now was the Ben Duoc Tunnels, which are further from Saigon and more commercialized.

The Ben Dinh Tunnels are more primitive, retaining more traces of war, and closer to what the war was like at the time.

Zhang Meiqi also explained why their grandparents and parents rarely brought them to these places.

It was because most of the wealthy Chinese descendants in Saigon at that time were well-treated by the South Vietnam government.

From North Vietnam’s perspective, these wealthy Chinese descendants were beneficiaries of the reactionary regime.

When attacking targets in Saigon, they often infiltrated the Cholon area to attack Chinese descendants.

However, the Chinese descendants at that time were rich and powerful, so they wouldn’t just sit there and wait for North Vietnam agents to attack.

They spent a lot of money to deploy many South Vietnam troops to guard the Cholon area.

As a result, both sides suffered casualties, and a feud was formed.

This also led to the exodus of wealthy Chinese descendants from South Vietnam after North Vietnam completely occupied South Vietnam, and those who remained faced difficult lives under North Vietnam’s crackdown.

Therefore, for the Chinese descendants in the Saigon area, the North Vietnam government was not a good thing, and they naturally had little fondness for war relics like the Cu Chi Tunnels.

The new generation of Chinese descendants like Zhang Meiqi and her friends live in a much more relaxed environment compared to their grandparents and parents, and they don’t feel as strongly about that period of history.

More importantly, they came here mainly to accompany Li Qinghe to play with guns, and incidentally, they also wanted to experience the power of another type of gun—the kind that shoots bullets with a “biubiubiu” sound.

The car passed the wreckage of planes and tanks and parked in the parking lot of the Ben Duoc Tunnels scenic area.

Li Qinghe bought eight tickets: 35,000 vietnamese dong for admission and 90,000 vietnamese dong for the guide’s explanation, totaling 1 million vietnamese dong, which is over 270 dragon country currency.

The admission ticket was for entering the scenic area, and the other guide ticket was for a middle-aged guide waiting at the entrance.

There were about ten tourists in Li Qinghe’s group. Besides the three clearly East Asian-looking individuals, most of the others were of European, American, and Indian appearance.

The Indians in the group were all traveling with their families. From their attire, they appeared to be from the wealthy class, but from their skin tone, they were not top-tier white Brahmins. Vietnam has now become an important travel destination for wealthy Indians.

Therefore, the guide’s explanation was entirely in English. For Li Qinghe and Zhang Meiqi, this was no problem, but Li Mingyue and Li Mingxing needed to concentrate a bit.

Fortunately, the guide’s English level was passable; they could generally understand. If they didn’t understand something, they could just ask again in Vietnamese.

After gathering this group of individual tourists, the guide first led everyone to a screening room to watch a 20-minute documentary about the tunnel warfare.

The documentary recorded the daily life and combat scenes of the North Vietnam army hiding in the tunnels.

Numerous shell fragments were also displayed in the exhibition hall, and a lightbox next to them showed a miniature model of the tunnels, allowing people to understand the function of various spaces inside at a glance.

Ben Duoc Tunnels miniature model

Li Qinghe discovered that some areas indeed required the guide’s explanation.

For instance, the 250-kilometer length of the Ben Duoc Tunnels was not just a single plane but was three-dimensional, divided into three layers.

The deepest part could reach a depth of ten meters underground.

It consisted of tunnels less than 80 centimeters wide, forming a complex, three-layered structure.

The tunnels were fully equipped, including hospitals, meeting rooms, command centers, granaries, and military traps.

The greatest impact of the entire tunnel system was during the “Tet Offensive” launched by North Vietnam in 1968.

To undermine the prestige and morale of the American forces and the South Vietnam government, the North Vietnam army launched surprise attacks on major cities in South Vietnam.

In Saigon, troops were deployed from the Ben Dinh Tunnels, and this surprise attack successfully penetrated the urban area of Saigon.

The attacking forces successfully assaulted important targets such as the American Embassy in Saigon, Tan Son Nhat Air Base (then the command center for American forces and the South Vietnam government army), and the South Vietnam Presidential Palace.

While recounting this period of history, the guide’s tone clearly showed a strong sense of pride, while the American tourists in the group frowned and shook their heads.

For them, this part of history was rather unpleasant to hear, but who cared?

Anyway, for Li Qinghe and his friends, it was just a story to listen to, even if this story happened only a few decades ago.

After explaining this story, the guide walked everyone to the forest area of the scenic spot, which was specifically designed for tourists to experience the tunnels.

Walking down from a tunnel entrance blocked by a thatched hut, the narrow entrance made it a bit uncomfortable for someone of Li Qinghe’s height and build.

Narrow tunnel entrance

As he followed the other tourists into the winding tunnels, Li Qinghe felt a bit regretful, but there were many people behind him, so retreating was impossible.

Further ahead, they encountered even narrower tunnels where one could only proceed by bending over.

Given Li Qinghe’s height, he could only waddle like a duck inside. From time to time, he could hear the tall and somewhat stout European and American tourists ahead and behind him loudly shouting “fuck” and “Oh my god.”

Zhang Meiqi, Li Mingyue, and Li Mingxing were walking bent over in front of Li Qinghe, occasionally turning back to encourage their Brother Qinghe.

Fortunately, Li Qinghe was physically strong and didn’t find it too difficult to waddle for dozens of meters. When they finally saw the exit, everyone scrambled out, tumbling and crawling.

However, the European and American tourists who emerged were all shaking their heads, vowing never to go down into such a dreadful place again to experience it.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I believe everyone has experienced the difficulty of moving in the tunnels. Next, I will tell you about a special tunnel-clearing unit formed by the American army – the Tunnel Rats.”