As part of the Vietnam Fine Arts University's policy of sending students on assignments for their degree, artists Lương Xuân Đoàn, Nguyễn Xuân Tiệp and Phạm Lực traveled to Vietnam's northern border to document the Sino-Vietnamese war. Based in Bát Xát District, Lào Cai Province, these artists lived with Vietnamese border defence forces. Their sketches and paintings documented ethnic minorites of Vietnam's northern regions and the destrcution suffered to towns in Lào Cai Province.