Amid the White Clouds of Tủa Chùa, a Young Woman Lights Up Her Passion for Vietnam’s Shan Snow Tea

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Next to her basket of freshly picked tea leaves, a chilled Number 1 bottle covered in morning dew has become Linh’s familiar companion on early tea-picking trips into the mountains.

She opens the cap, the soft “click” echoing in the silence. After one refreshing sip, Linh feels fully awake, energized, and ready to begin a new day of work with excitement.

In a land where life is still full of hardship, Linh chose to stay. With her own hands, she plants hope and turns the dream of “bringing Vietnamese tea to the world” into reality.

Nguyen My Linh received the "Enduring Passion" award organized by Tien Phong newspaper with the support of Number 1

Her story is not just about starting a business. It is the journey of someone who stays passionate, dares to move forward, and dares to conquer challenges — the very spirit of Number 1: persistent, energetic, and never giving up.

Starting a Business Before Graduation: When Vietnamese Energy Burns Bright in the Mountain Clouds

Growing up with her father’s deep love for Shan snow tea, Linh spent her childhood surrounded by the gentle fragrance of tea leaves in the sun and the sound of streams running around the village.

“Back then, my friends stayed in Hanoi to look for jobs, but I chose to return home,” Linh laughs, remembering 2018, when she had not yet received her diploma from the Vietnam National University of Agriculture.

On the bus heading back to Tủa Chùa, she sat quietly, looking through the fogged window. Clouds covered the mountains. Surrounded by uncertainty, she held tightly onto her Number 1 bottle. The cool feeling in her hand gave her strength and reminded her to believe in herself.

She opened the bottle, took a long sip. The strong flavor spread quickly, bringing clarity and energy. “In that moment, I thought, if I don’t start now, I never will,” Linh recalls.

“I only had the knowledge I learned, a little savings, and… my parents’ land-use certificate mortgaged at the bank. But I knew that if I didn’t begin, the Shan snow tea trees of my hometown would disappear,” she says.

It was not just about losing a plant — it was about losing the memories and soul of an entire land.

Amidst the clouds and mountains of Tua Chua, Linh began a "reckless" journey to bring Vietnamese energy to every Shan Tuyet tea tree with the strength and confidence fueled by Number 1.

“I didn’t want to see 100-year-old trees cut down. They are like old friends of the village, part of the cultural roots of the Mông people here,” Linh says, her eyes filled with determination.

In 2018, the tea region of Tủa Chùa was almost forgotten. Traders forced low prices. People cut down their tea trees.

At that moment, a young Kinh woman choosing to “start over” in a Mông community known for its separation from the outside world was a challenge not only in economics, but also in trust.

Dare to Dream, Dare to Conquer: Energy, Passion, and the Strength to Never Give Up

In Tủa Chùa, over 80% of residents are Mông people. To convince them to grow clean tea, Linh walked dozens of kilometers each day, stayed overnight in the village, ate roasted corn with the locals, picked tea together, and listened to their stories.

“At first, people didn’t trust me. But when they saw I stayed, worked with them, and shared everything, they opened up. That’s when I realized: trust can change an entire land,” Linh says.

In the beginning, she and the villagers picked, dried, and recorded each batch of tea, noting every level of moisture and every change in flavor. At night, the small workshop’s lights glowed yellow through the wooden door as the young woman worked tirelessly in the heat of fresh tea.

There were nights when Linh felt she might collapse from exhaustion. Her mind was overwhelmed with raw materials, processing techniques, and worries about debt. At those moments, she reached not for her phone, but for a chilled bottle of Number 1 on the table.

Linh in the middle of Tua Chua tea factory, where a young girl ignited her dream of making clean tea. Each batch of tea is the crystallization of faith, passion and unwavering energy from Number 1.

Whenever she was tired, Number 1 was always her loyal companion — giving her clarity, energy, and the reminder that as long as she believed in herself, she was strong enough to continue.

“Starting a business is like climbing a mountain — the higher you climb, the more tired you get. But if you stop, you’ll never see the sunrise,” Linh says. For her, that sunrise is the belief that today’s effort brings tomorrow’s hope.

Tea-picking days begin at 4:30 a.m. The mountain road is wet with mist, and her motorbike vibrates through the darkness.

“I always bring Number 1,” Linh says. “Just one sip gives me energy, wakes me up, and lights the fire of passion inside again.”

Her strength to keep going comes not only from passion but also from the persistent energy boosted by Number 1 — the fuel that helps her stay upright even when the road is long and steep.

Step by step, her hard work paid off.

In 2019, she launched the Diệp Thanh Trà brand — ancient Shan snow tea from Tủa Chùa — with three products certified OCOP 3-star.

In 2025, her Diệp Thanh Trà Shan Snow Green Tea became the first product from Điện Biên Province to be recognized as a National Outstanding Rural Industrial Product by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

From a few hectares at the start, after six years her raw material area expanded to nearly 200 hectares, linking more than 1,000 households and creating jobs for hundreds of local workers.

Her Shan snow tea products are now sold nationwide and exported to China and Singapore, with export files being prepared for the U.S. and Australia.

Her journey has also been honored with the “Persistent Passion” Award by the Vietnam Young Talent Support Fund — a recognition for young people who stay dedicated and contribute to their community.

When Passion Is Not Just for Yourself: Becoming the Number 1 Version of Millions of Young Vietnamese

For Linh, success is not measured by revenue, but by the smiles of local farmers and the bright eyes of children who can now go to school.

“The happiest thing is seeing people stop cutting down tea trees,” she says. “Now, tea trees are trees of hope.”

Today, she continues to expand raw material areas, invest in organic products, and develop eco-farm tourism.

With passion and desire to conquer, Linh is writing her journey to become her own version of "Number 1", strong, persistent and full of energy to conquer her dreams.

Her dream is to make Tủa Chùa Shan snow tea a national brand — carrying the Vietnamese spirit to the world.

Her journey reminds people of Đen, the Number 1 brand ambassador, who spent 15 years living for music, quietly and persistently chasing his passion despite many challenges.

Both Linh and Đen represent the Number 1 spirit: dare to dream, dare to conquer, and never stop moving forward.

Whether in a lab, a factory, the stone highlands of Tủa Chùa, or on a big stage, that fire keeps burning. Because the Number 1 spirit is not just in an energy drink — it is in the will and aspiration of Vietnamese people, who always move ahead to become the Number 1 version of themselves.

And among the white clouds of Tủa Chùa, the young woman still holds her Number 1 bottle beside her tea basket — a symbol of Vietnamese spirit: full of energy, full of passion, and always moving forward to chase her dreams.

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