Lai Chau - A Beautiful Mountainous Land In Northern Vietnam

A distant mountainous land, a streamy land, a pure cool high land... all is converged in one naturally simple land of beauty was named Lai Chau, a mountainous province in the northernVietnam with many captivating scenes.

Around 450 km far from Hanoi capital and situated at the altitude of 1,500m above sea level, comprising high mountains pure streams and rivers. Lai Chau shares the borderline with Yun Nan province (China) and located adjacent to the provinces Dien Bien, Son La, Lao Cai. Accordingly, it has a similar weather to Sapa (Lao Cai province), being cool and mostly foggy all the year round, making it a visionary land in between mountains. The annual average temperature is from 21oC – 23oC, with two seasons, hot-rainy and dry-cold seasons. 

Lai Chau is said to be the land of Ban flowers and Dao flowers, the unique one of jungles, which attract and inspire thousands of artists. Besides, the beauty of Lai Chau is structured by the high mountain ranges stretching from the Northwest to the southeast. It shares the Fansipan Mount – top of the Vietnam’s highest mountain range (Himalaya)- with Sapa (in Lao Cai). With the height of 3,143m, Fansipan is not only the highest in Vietnam but also in the Indochina peninsula, being considered “the roof of Indochina”. Some plateaus such as Sin Ho, Ta Phinh, Dao San, etc. are even higher than 1,500m, thus being covered in cloud, fog, and purely cool atmosphere all the time.
Apart from high mountains, Lai Chau is also rich in narrow valleys,beautiful rivers and springs in which Da river is the longest and largest river in the province. With the waterfalls flowing day by night, roaring along with white frothy waterfalls in the forests in which Tac Tinh is one of the most popular waterfalls with 50m altitude including 2 classes and frequently full of water flows, bringing a magnificient picture of natural beauty. Along Da river, visitors will see the roofs made of black stones, and mountains in clouds. The fanciful villages of ethnic minorities on the banks of the River are gathering in a picturesque scenery. For those fond of health-care elements, there are some hot and mineral water springs scattering in the province, for examples, Van Bo (in Phong Tho District), Na Dong, Na Don (Tam Duong), and some other hydroelectricity lakes.
Some caves as Binh Lu and Tien Son grottoes ect in the mountain ranges in the area still remain their original states. All  of those are truly beautiful with sparking brightness and varied shaped stalactites and stalagmites. Thanks to this gifted scenery, the area is called “Phong Nha Grotto of the Northwest”.

The natural landscape is the accommodation of more than 20 ethnic minorities. Most of them are Thai people (33.5%), H’mong people (23.6%), Dao (14.4%) and Viet or Kinh people (11.2%), Ha Nhi people (5.6%) and some others. And there are two groups, who only live in Lai Chau, that is, Mang and La Hu people.
The mentioned market is the most significant activity in life, which take place in the Thursday and Sunday morning. People from many tribes get together here in colorful clothes early in the foggy morning. Seen from above, the market looks like a flower with thousands of colors. The goods to be transacted are the local specialties, such as chickens, pork, honey, rice, tea, etc.
Festivals are one among the most activities of Lai Chau in particular and mountainous regions’ in general. The most popular one in Lai Chau is “Hoa Ban festival”, which reflects the cultural and spiritual life of Thai people.This is time for boys and girls to meet and get to know each other. This is not only the time for love but also for Thai people to pray for good crops, happiness, expressing their gratitude to ancestors. The festival is always full of songs and prays.
Another famous festival is “Han khuong festival”, which takes place in spring. This is an opportunity for boys and girls to get to know each other by singing and dancing. When the festival starts, young, beautiful and unmarried girls sing love songs on the stage. Then, the boys sing songs for response. At the same time, they can look for a person who can share their feelings and then come, sit together and talk. After that, they date, and wait for the next appointment. And can you guess? After the festival, many couples get married. For old people, that is the time for memories.

Lai Chau - a captivating and typical mountainous land, absorbing huge numbers of tourists widespread. If you are a person who interested in tourism and want to discover ethnic minority culture, you should really take a Lai Chau tour, because Lai Chau - a land of a "love-blossoming" will bring you many interesting things.

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