Bac Ha Market - Sapa

Bac Ha Market

Every Sunday, Bac Ha hosts the biggest fair near the mountainous highlands and the Chinese border. It is the largest and most colourful market in the area and attracts throngs of villagers from the surrounding hill tribes. Some walk several hours for the weekly opportunity to trade and barter food, animals, clothes and household goods. 80km from Sapa, Bac Ha Market is not only the place for buying and selling, but also a place for cultural and sentiment exchanging. On the market days, right from the early morning, all paths and mountain roads are full of people and horses pouring to the market. People usually sit in groups around a soup pan ("thang co") eating and chatting.

Many different ethnic groups such as Flower H'mong, Phu La, Black Dao, Tay and Nung minorities gather to buy and sell local products that cannot be found elsewhere. The market was very crowded, local products for sale or barter are carried on horseback. Besides the usual items like pigs, cows, chickens, and ducks, Bac Ha Market sold dogs. As dogs were available as cuts of meat, they were also available live, right next to the live pigs, chickens, and other livestock. There was a brisk trade at the market for everything from hand-embroidered skirts to all manner of 4-legged animals. The "fresh" meat section is not for the faint of heart and might steer more than a few visitors in the direction of strict vegetarianism.

Though tourists were not in short supply, they were not the focus. Most locals paid little attention to them, rather choosing to focus on their business and the short Sunday-sized window of opportunity. Rounding the corner and pungent fumes of alcohol accosted your senses of smell, from corn whiskey – the speciality in Bac Ha. The potent moonshine is decanted by vendors from large white plastic jugs to used bottled water containers. If you doubt the ability of a vendor's hooch to peel paint or light your senses on fire, you can try a shot for free.

If you are an adventurous gastronomies, you can try “Thắng Cố” (Blood poridge, a popular dish of H’Mong and others local people. Most of the Flower H’Mong minority here so the market dress of colourful custumes of H’Mong people.

From Sapa town, on the early morning Sunday you can take a bus to go Bac Ha Market before you get back to Lao Cai and get your train back to Hanoi. Or maybe you should go to Bac Ha on Saturday morning to Bac Ha town and have a chance to visit Coc Ly market as well.

Things you should buy here:

Homemade products such as brocades, febrics, crafts, or silver Jewery...

Other news:
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Coc Ly Market
Can Cau Market
Pha Long Market
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Pha Long Market - Sapa

 Pha Long Market

Located: It belongs to Pha Long commue, Muong Khuong District. Pha Long mean big market. This is centre exchange culture and goods of people in commues Pha Long, Din Chin, Ta Ngai Cho, Ta Gia Khau of Muong Khuong District. It is opened on Saturday.

On the very early Saturday, from every paths, roads, mountain you can see people from villages come to market, they go with their group, couple or even single with their goods behind their back or even they use horses to carry goods go to market… they wear their nice clothes with colourful umbrellas which make a romantic and beautiful picture.

Pha Long market is beautiful because of people and goods, they sell their products inside the camps on both side of road. It is very clowded people from ethnic minorites H’mong, Lolo, Tay, Nung, Dzay… They meet, sell their products and talk to each other, the noise make market more pretty and more  vibrant.

The horses carry goods will be tied in one place maybe it comes up to hundreds. Buffalos, cows, pigs, chicken is brought to market to sell. They sell Coins, rices, soybeen and other goods you can not count all.

The famous product here is "Séng Cù" rice which is aromatic and delicious, one of the thing can not be lack here that is chilly and chicken-boned sugarcane.

The most attractive area is brocade area, go to Pha Long market, many people would like to choose a most beautiful dress so they choose very carefully, they try on and check, very clowded and noisy places. The food area has a lovely smell from buffalo meat, horse meat,  beef with smell of coin-wine of H’mong people, the Coc Ngu wine of Pa Di people is made from good coins in the border area. Besides, porks from black pig are very aromatic and delicious here.

The most wonderful time to visit Pha Long market is after Tet on 3^rd to 6^th Lunar month, the Gau Tao festival means Climbing Festival people come from surround area, even from Bac Ha town, Sapa town, Mu Cang Chai in Yen Bai province or even people from China gather festival. To start festival , a Shaman will pray around 2 bamboos which decorated with wine, meats. After that,  inside round old people will sing a song to praise ancestors, tell story; outside round young people will sing to each other, dance with trumpet… Festival will be vibrant with other games such as raise horse, birds flighting, play hard… until sun goes down people will join to group around kitchen and sing whole night.

The colourful clothes from many ethnic group combine with green of forest  is impression of people come to Pha Long market. Go to market as a traditional and custom of people in the north of Vietnam.

(Sourced by: www.myvietnamtravel.net)