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| Ta Van is located in Vietnam in the northern province of Lao Cai, about 5 kilometres from Sapa, at an altitude of 1, 816 meters. This province borders the province of Yunnan in south-west China, and the indigenous people here share many cultural features with their Chinese neighbours. Also located in the valley of Muong Hoa, Ta van is a village of Giay people, who look more like the traditional Viet living the Red delta. This village is normally a combination in the visit to Lao chai village on the trek to Muong Hoa valley. It is also a popular stop for those who would like to experience an overnight home stay with a family of Giay people here, sharing dinner with them as a member of their family. Ta Van is a small village set within a picturesque valley not far from the northern Vietnamese mountain resort of Sa Pa. The area is renowned for its colourful ethnic minorities, and Ta Van is home to two such groups. A stay with one of the farmer families here will give you a close-up experience of the life-style and culture typical of the area. Trekking in the surrounding area is most satisfying |
| Source: www.traveltosapa.com |
Showing posts with label Sapa Photos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sapa Photos. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Ta Van Village
Ham Rong Mountain
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| Characteristics: Ham Rong Mountain is an attractive tourist area in the center of Sapa Town Legend has it that in the distance past, all animals lived together in a chaotic environment. One day, Jade Emperor gave an order that every species of animal had to find for them an area to live. Having heard the order, they scrambled for a place to reside. The three brothers of dragon who were living in a large lake hurriedly ran to the east but could not find any place; they then ran to the west. The two older brothers ran fast and came to the destination first. The youngest brother ran slowly and strayed into the crowds of lions, tigers and big cats. Fearing that these animals would attack it, the dragon opened its mouth to defense itself. At that time, the order of Jade Emperor was no longer available, so the three dragons petrified. The two older dragons, which were waiting for their brother, face Lao Cai City, and the youngest one raising its head and opening mouth faces the Hoang Lien Mountain Range. So the mountain is named Ham Rong (Jaw of Dragon). Visitors to Ham Rong have chances to climb up the San May (Cloud Yard) to enjoy the panorama of Sapa Townlet, visit the orchid gardens with beautiful and colorful flowers |
| Source: www.traveltosapa.com |
Muong Khuong Market
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Big market with a wide range of ethnic groups: Hmong, Dao, Nung, and merchants from other ethnic groups who come all the way from China to sell their products. Several Pa Zi women sell traditional incense made from the bark and resin of scented trees. Muong Khuong market takes place on Sundays and is located in a small border town, which is frequented by Flower Hmong, Tu Di, Tay and Giay ethnic minorities. They come from surrounding villages to buy and sell local products such as food and material for agriculture and fabric. Opening: 6 am of Sunday Closed time: 1 am The district is looking to develop into an eco-friendly destination Muong Khuong district is planning to remodel itself into a centre of community-based eco-tourism in northwest Lao Cai Province in its current period of development (2005-10), said the chairman of the district people committee Nong Van Hung at a recent tourism conference. The district, which has 13 markets and seven handicraft villages, has chosen tourism as the driving force that can better the lives of its population of 51,000 who s current capital per head is VND3.5 million (US$209). Muong Khuong District is about a 10-hour train ride from the capital and then approximately 50km east from Lao Cai centre. The district is then accessible by motorbike or bus from Lao Cai City, Vietnam. The locality is home to 14 ethnic groups including HMong (the largest group who account for 43 per cent of the population), Nung, Dao, Pa Di and Phu La. The mix in ethnicity lends the area a colorful character, visible in the market and the wares each group has to offer. "The market is one of the main tourist attractions which sees a lot of visitors, especially as the district also serves as a link to other famous sites like Sa Pa Town, Bac Ha (Bac Ha tour)and Si Ma Cai districts in the province and the border gate with Yunnan, China," said Hung. "The agriculture-based district will target community-based eco-tourism in a sustainable manner that will help develop future social-economic projects over the course of the next few years," he said, adding that the district is expected to open more border gates for increasing tourism traffic from China. Vibrant market Muong Khuong District is well-known to travellers for its many markets lining National Road 4D. It gives visitors a chance to glimpse into the life and traditions, not to mention goods on sale, of the HMong, Nung and Dao. "We want to transform tourism in Lao Cai Province into a powerful industry and Muong Khuong District is just one of the tourist destinations we want to focus on and improve upon. Currently, we are upgrading the infrastructure and landscapes in the district to make it more attractive to tourists," said vice director of Lao Cai Province s Culture, Sport and Tourism Department, Le Duc Luan. Challenges ahead During the conference, travel agents highlighted the problems tourists faced and how they needed to be rectified as it was important to ensure that travelers did not leave with bad impressions of the area. "We are fully aware that Lao Cai is famous for its sites, especially Sa Pa Town and Bac Ha District and how tourists are drawn to the area s weekly markets and lifestyles of the different ethnicities. However, we are afraid that an overload of tourist traffic could prevent visitors from travelling throughout the province," said Dang Thi Tho, head of the Hanoi branch of Phoenix Voyage Travel Company. "What we have learned from our 10 years of offering tours in the province is that authorities need to open more sites so that visitors have more options to avail of when they visit Lao Cai. Our customers, mostly from France, would visit Sa Pa and Bac Ha but never considered prolonging their stay in the province because nothing attractive was on offer there," Tho added. Tran Thi Huyen Thanh, director of Wild Lotus company, said: "I have seen just how beautiful Muong Khuong District s natural landscape is. That is its advantage but it needs to tap into it and explore creative ways to promote it so that the area becomes an ideal destination for travellers to Lao Cai Province." However, the 34-year-old director said that the District needed to revamp the markets to make them easier to access and browse through in a carefree manner. He said locals needed to be made aware of norms of social etiquette in their dealings with tourists. "At the moment, many locals do not even smile or turn their heads if tourists want to take photographs with them. Instead it is common for them to ask for a little money if they are asked to pose for photographs or they trail tourists, and harass them into buying their wares. This chaotic atmosphere needs to change," said Thanh. The district opened a lodge in centre of Cao Son Village, where visitors could stay overnight and then go on a trek the following day throughout forests and markets in or near Cao Son, Lung Khau Nhin, Pha Long, Ta Gia Khau, Ban Lau, Ban Xen and Lung Vai. Many spoke of their pleasure visiting brocade weaving sites and maize wine villages in Ta Chu Phung and Di Thang. Perhaps more such lodgings need to be opened. New plans In the current 2005-10 five-year plan for tourism development in the district, authorities in Lao Cai hope to complete work on a road that will link Muong Khuong and Si Ma Cai districts to Ha Giang next year. This should facilitate tourism in the area as it will give travellers opportunities to explore in a convenient manner. The road will also turn Muong Khuong District into a centre of tourism and provide a viable trade route from Hekou, Ma Guan and Yunnan in China to Bac Ha, Si Ma Cai districts in Lao Cai and Ha Giang provinces |
| Source: www.traveltosapa.com |
Bac Ha Market
Cao Son Market
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| Departing early from Lao Cai or Sa Pa for about 130 km, you will enjoy beautiful scenery and visit Lung Khau Nhin and Muong Khuong markets. We then take a dirt road which leads up into the mountains through Pine Tree forests and villages that surround the tiny markets. Flower H'mong, Tu Di, Tay and Giay ethnic minorities come to trade local products such as food, agricultural supplies and fabric. After exploring these markets your car will take you to Cao Son - the most stunning part of Lao Cai province. Here you will visit the most secluded, peaceful villages and have the opportunity to observe traditional practices such as distilling wine from corn and making bacon. You will be offered a special corn cake when you drop by local houses. You will be transferred to Sa Pa or Lao Cai at your request |
| Source: www.traveltosapa.com |
Lao Cai History
| In the 19th century, the Lao Cai area served as fighting ground for various armed groups, among which the famous Black Pavilions and White Pavilions. These gangs of plunderers had taken refuge in the mountains of Vietnam after the Taiping rebellion in China. |
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| A little history In the 19th century, the Lao Cai area served as fighting ground for various armed groups, among which the famous Black Pavilions  and White Pavilions. These gangs of plunderers had taken refuge in the mountains of Vietnam after the Taiping rebellion in China. Their main purpose was to control the shipping trade on the Red River. Sea salt from Vietnam, opium from the Yunnan province, new rice, fabrics,  manufactured goods were to be their primary objectives. Between 1850 and 1886, the town of Lao Cai was taken, destroyed and fortified several times by different groups.On March 30th, 1886, Colonel de Maussion and his troops arrived in Lao Cai. Their objective was to pacify the area in order to create a stable border with China and to open a trade route to China via the Yunnan province. The French wanted to be the first to reach Yunnan before the British managed to open a trade route starting from Burma. At the time, the French thought that Burma would be a new eldorado, especially because of its luxury silks and ore reserves. As of the 1910s, Lao Cai made it possible to control the opium trade, from which the colony derived the best part of its resources. For this purpose, the Foreign Legion set up military posts in Bat Xat, Muong Khuong  and Bac Hà and militias were created in the villages. Until 1945, then again from 1947 to 1950, the town was administered by a French resident.Traditionally, the shipping trade on the Red River has always been done by sampans capable of carrying up to 12 to 15 tons of goods, which sailed from Hanoi to Lao Cai in 35 days. In 1898, China granted  the French government the right to build the Yunnan railway. The first works started in 1901 and the railway track reached Lao Cai in April 1906. The overall cost of the project was 78 million gold francs for 384 kilometres. The railway line cost the lives of 12.000 Chinese and Vietnamese workers and 80 Europeans.In 1913, the road from Lao Cai to Cha Pa was but a mule track, only practicable on foot or on horseback. Today’s paved road was not marked out until 1924. As of 1925, the connection was established between the road and railway networks. At 9:00 p.m., the traveller could board the train in Hanoi and got off nine hours later in Lao Cai, after which a two hours’ drive took him to Cha Pa. The trip back was just as easy: leaving Cha Pa at 5 :00 p.m. one was back in Lao Cai at 7 :00 p.m., in time for a meal at the Hôtel de la Gare before boarding the night train at 8:30 p.m. |
| Source: www.traveltosapa.com |
Culture Ethnies
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The population of the Lào Cai province is a mosaic of ethnic groups. An incredible variety of peoples, some of them unique to Vietnam, are found on a relatively small area. In fact, visitors can meet 24 ethnic groups, each with its own language, culture and traditions. This cultural wealth is explained by the diversity of landscapes and of land available for farming. History also offers clues as to why the highlands in the Lào Cai province served as a refuge for certain ethnic groups during political unrest like the Taiping rebellion in 19th-century China. The seven most numerous ethnic groups in the Lào Cai province account for over 90% of the whole population. The following groups are found: the Kinh (the true Vietnamese) 35%, the Hmong 22%, the Tay 14%, the Dao (Mien) 13%, the Thai 9%, the Nung 4.5% and the Giay 4.3%. The other ethnic groups: the Phula, Hani, Latis, Tu Di, Pin Tao, Tu Lao, Pa Di, Sapho, Lolo and the Xa Mang are sometimes represented only by a few villages and a few hundred individuals. |
| Source: www.traveltosapa.com |
H'Mong Ethnic Minority
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History: The Black Hmong immigrated from China approximately 300 years ago. Language: The spoken language belongs to the Hmong - Dao language family. The Hmong writing was romanized in 1961 but is not widely used today. Costume: The Black Hmong women are famous for making cloth from hemp and dying it a deep indigo blue. They wear long blouses decorated with batik flowers over short trousers, and wrap long scarves around their legs. They wrap their long hair around their head and wear a blue turban. The men wear long jackets with shirts and a long waist coat embroidered at the collar, and a small hat. Today some Hmong wear Viet or western clothes. Social organisation: Hmong women are respected in their community as being equal with Hmong men. Husbands and wives are very affectionate and do many of their tasks together like going to the market, working on the field and visiting relatives. In this way, they help each other to develop a strong community life.  Marriage: For the Black Hmong it is important that a girl knows how to embroider and work well in the field. These skills are more important than her beauty. Boys and girls are allowed to get to know each other before they get married. They go to the love market where they eat and sing songs together. After this time, the boy can propose marriage and if the girl agrees, she goes to live in his house. She is put in a small room and visited by the boy’s mother and sisters who give her food to persuade her to accept the marriage. The boy must give the bride s family silver coins, pigs, chicken and rice wine for the wedding ceremony. The bride has some time to decide if she accepts the marriage - even after living with her husband for a few days, she can choose to break their agreement. If the boy doesn’t have a dowry to give to the girl’s family, he lives in her house until he is able to marry her. Funeral: When there is a death in the family, the deceased’s children fire a gun to let everyone in the area know. People in the village come to deceased s house with anything they have - chicken, rice, a small pig or rice wine - to help the family. Everybody sings and eats until the deceased is wrapped in a mat and carried to a grave by one group, while a coffin, which has been kept in a cave somewhere near the grave, is carried by another. Both groups have to run very fast to meet at the grave to make the deceased forget the way home. If the deceased’s family is not able to supervise the funeral rituals, they can wait for a few years before organising a special one called ma kho. They invite people in the village to a place by the grave for the funeral for a celebration, at which they sing and dance. Beliefs: Many places are reserved for worshipping in a Hmong house – there s a place for ancestors, for the house spirit, for the kitchen spirit, even the door spirit. There are different rituals which forbid people to walk into the Hmong house or their villages. For example, a green tree branch on the front door indicates that entrance is forbidden. Artistic activities: The Black Hmong are very good at making agricultural tools, wooden furniture, musical instruments and jewelry. They are also famous for their handicraft and embroidery. They generally only make such items to meet their own needs, but other minorities in the area buy their produce because of its high quality. Since the advent of tourism in Sapa, many Hmong women make decorated cloth to sell on the town s main streets. Festivals: Like the other minorities, the Black Hmong have lots of different festivals during the year. They ensure that there is always time for community activities, which play an important role in their life. One of the most important festivals is the New Year, which they celebrate for an entire month. It happens about one month earlier than Vietnamese Tet. During this time, boys play flutes and girls play an instrument made from two leaves. They all spend time together playing traditional games. The Blue Hmong minority The Blue Hmong share the same origin as the Black Hmong. Most of their rites and rituals are the same - only their clothes are different. The Blue Hmong women wear long skirts over long trousers, with a blue bib worn over the top. |
| Source: www.traveltosapa.com |
Tay Ethnic Minority
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History: The Tay are the earliest known minority in Vietnam, who are thought to have arrived from inland South East Asia about 500 BC. They settled in valleys in the north west part of Sapa. Language: Tay language belongs to the Tay - Thai language group. Their alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet devised in 1960, similar to the Viet alphabet. Costume: The traditional dress is made from indigo dyed cotton. It is usually plain, with little embroidery or other decoration. The women wear a simple shirt with silver buttons down the front teamed with black trousers. Both sexes wear colorful head scarves. Nowadays the Tay are often seen wearing Viet and western clothes. Social organisation: The Tay social system used to resemble a feudal society. One man in each village owned the land, forest and rivers. He ruled over the people living on that land. This regime appeared very early and ended in 19th century. Tay now live in villages of mixed ethnic groups, enter into mixed marriages and leave their traditional settlements to work in other areas. They have adopted other elements of Kinh culture and of the Tai speaking people, are considered the most integrated into main stream Vietnamese culture. Birth: While pregnant and even after giving birth, the mother and father have to avoid many different things in order for both mother and child to be healthy, for the child to grow up quickly and strongly and to avoid evil spirits. When the new born is three days old, there is a ritual in honor of the midwife. One month after the birth, there is a celebration and party to name the baby. Marriage: Young Tay men and women are free to love, but the decision to become husband and wife rests with their parents. The boy s parents need to know the potential bride s fortune so they can compare it to their son s. To do this, they consult an astrologer who judges how well matched they are. If the signs look favorable, the marriage can take place. After the wedding, the wife stays with her parents until she is pregnant. She will only go to live at her husband’s house in the late stages of pregnancy. Funeral: The funeral rituals are quite similar to Vietnamese. The funeral brings deceased s spirit to the world of the after life. Three years later, there is a ritual to bring the spirit to the ancestors and to end the mourning period. There is an annual day in honor of the deceased. Beliefs: The Tay worship ancestors, the house spirit, kitchen spirit and the midwife. Housing: The Tay live in houses built on stilts originally designed to protect them from wild animals. Nowadays, they use the first floor for storage and cooking. When building a new house, the owner has to choose the right place very carefully. Many factors are considered, including his age and horoscope. On the day that he and his family move to the new house, the head of the family must start a fire and keep it burning all night. Food: The Tay used to eat sticky rice most of the time, but now eat regular rice. For festival occasions, they make many kinds of cakes such as square rice cake (banh chung - symbol of the earth), round rice cake (banh day - symbol of the sky) for the New Year Festival and pounded young sticky rice that is roasted (com) for the Mid Autumn Festival. Production activities: The Tay use traditional wet rice cultivation. The rice is grown on the hills with very little water, which is well utilised using irrigation methods like digging canals and laying water pipes. They produce high quantities of food by practicing such intensive cultivation methods. |
| Source: traveltosapa.com |
Red Dao Ethnic Minority
Xa pho Ethnic Minority
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History: The Giay immigrated from China 200 years ago. They are strongly influenced by Chinese culture. Language: The Giay people speak a language of Tay - Thai group. They do not have their own writing. Costume: Like the Tay minority, the Giay women dress in simple clothes. They wear a five panel blouse split at the sides and buttoned on the right with dark indigo trousers. The blouses are different colors depending on the age - old women usually wear the darker shades. Women wrap their hair around their head and fix it in place with red threads. Giay, like other minorities, have adopted elements of Viet and Western clothing. Social organisation: Before the Revolution of August, 1945, the Giay society was divided into different classes. The upper class was composed of administration officials who owned the land. They paid soldiers and housekeepers to take care of weddings and funerals. Farmers working on their land had to pay taxes as well as doing the hard labour. Birth: Pregnant women have to avoid many things - wood is not burned from the top to the bottom to avoid difficulties when giving birth, and they are not allowed to attend funerals or visit a place for worshiping for fear of losing their spirit. When it is time to give birth the pregnant woman makes offerings to the Mother spirit. When the baby is one month old, they make offerings to the ancestors. At the same time they give the child a name and establish his or her horoscope, which will be used later when it is time to choose a partner for the marriage, and the right time to be put in a coffin when he or she dies. Marriage: The procedure for marriage is based strongly on Chinese traditions. A go-between is very important as they help propose the marriage to a potential bride. Once this has happened, the groom s family gives the bride a necklace and a bracelet to show their intentions - a kind of engagement. For the wedding, the groom s family must offer the bride s family food and money, and give close relatives a chicken, a duck and a silver coin. Once married, the bride is carried to her new house on the groom s back, as if she walks her spirit will find its way back to her parents. Funeral: Giay people believe that if a funeral is well organized, the dead will go happily to heaven with their ancestors. If not, the dead will be forced to live in hell or become animals. In a rich family, the funeral can last from five to seven days with extra rituals such as running along the river to lead the spirit on a procession. The children must mourn their parent s death for one year. Beliefs: The Giay altar is located in the middle of the house. There are three incense bowls set from the left to the right to worship the Kitchen God, Heaven and Earth, and the family ancestor. If the master of the house is a son-in-law who wants to worship his real parents, he must set up a fourth incense bowl to the far left. If a family has no altar for the Mother spirit, they set a fifth incense bowl to the right. Some families set up a small alter beside the big one to worship their parents-in-law. | |
| Source: www.traveltosapa.com |
Sapa History
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The Sa Pa plateau was identified in 1901 during the first topographic plotting of the area. A military post was built in 1903. In 1906 the first westerner to settle in Cha Pa, named Mr. Miéville, worked with the department of agriculture. The number of French permanent civilian residents was never very high, only twenty odd people in 1942, plus a small colony of English-speaking protestants of unknown origin.  Originally, Cha Pa was created for medical purposes: the bracing climate of Cha Pa was beneficial to westerners exhausted by a long stay in Vietnam, especially «people with chlorosis, post-infectious anaemia, previous history of malaria, and a whole array of neurotics: people with neurasthenia, phobia, overworked people or hypochondriac women». Certain diseases, such as «chronic bronchitis with associated emphysema or asthma and certain skin diseases» could  also be cured. The military sanatorium, completed in 1913, was built on the hill on which the municipal cistern and its pumping station now stand.As of 1914, the main purpose of the civil authorities was to create in Tonkin a veritable summer capital in the mountains. In the summer of 1914, the offices of all the local services were moved from Hanoi to Cha Pa. The works had started in 1912, the tourist office was created in 1917 and in 1925, there were already 80 kilometres of footpaths offering a great variety of hiking trips. The forestry service planted evergreens, some of which are still standing today. In 1922 the building of the most sumptuous hotel in the station, the Résidence du Tonkin started on «governor’s hill».  In 1909, thanks to Miéville, the « Sapa Hotel » was inaugurated to the east of the station on the road to Lao Cai, while the «Fan Si Pan» hotel was only built in 1924. The « Métropole », a luxury hotel with 50 rooms and ten suites sited at the foot of the Ham Rong on the bank of the lake, was inaugurated in 1932. The «Hôtel du Centre», a more modest establishment, was built in1937. The first villas were built in 1918 by the Hong Hai Coal Board and by the Haïphong cement factory (at the place where the Victoria Hotel now stands). A hundred or so other villas  were built between 1920 and 1940 on neighbouring land given for free, some specimens of which can still be seen. In the lower area are located the private villas, administrative buildings and hotels. In the higher area, one finds the big military sanatorium and the governor ‘s summer palace. The church was built in 1934, followed by a protestant temple sitting on the hill overlooking the road to Cat Cat. By the end of the 1930s, Cha Pa had reached its peak and over a thousand colonials went there to rest and have fun. Until the mid-40s, Cha Pa was to remain the fashionable mountain resort of the Hanoi colonial society.In order to meet the increasing demand for food, the local authorities created agricultural stations. The aim of these stations was to feed the summer visitors and « put an end to the typical problem of hotels where bread is wanting because a party of six had the unfortunate idea of turning up without sending a telegram two days earlier ». Vietnamese people launched into agricultural production, providing the town with « all sorts of foods »... The Taphin estate produced pork, chicken, vegetables, fresh fruit, jam, milk, potatoes, cheese and… wine. Trade was flourishing in the hands of Chinese people and Vietnamese from the delta area.   The growth of Cha Pa was an incentive to modernisation and between 1924 and 1927 the public authorities had it equipped with running water, a sewage system and an electricity network supplied by a power station built on the Cat Cat waterfall, whose renovated buildings are still in operation, as well as a telegraph and telephone network. In 1942, untypically for such a small place, a complete town plan of Sa Pa was drawn, which included over 400 plots of building land. In February 1947, the Viet Minh attacked Cha Pa and destroyed the military installations and part of the hotels (among which the Métropole) as well as villas. In March, the Foreign Legion occupied Cha Pa again until October 1949 when the French troops left the region for good. In March 1952, the French headquarters ordered the air force to bomb the town. The Governor’s Palace, the sanatorium complex, public buildings and most of the villas were destroyed. The Vietnamese population fled the ruined town and did not return until the early sixties. Not until the early 1990s did Sa Pa start developing again. |
| Source: www.traveltosapa.com |
History of the Taphin Monastery
History of the TA PHIN monasteryAt the end of 1941, twelve nuns belonging to a congregation of devout Reformed Cistercians, « whose only purpose was prayer and penitence», were thrown out of the monastery of Our Lady of the Angels in Hakodaté (Japan). Eight of them as well as the prior wished to stay in Asia. On January 8th, 1942, the French ambassador in Japan wrote to the bishop of Hung-Hoa, Mgr. Vandaele, and solicited that they be welcomed on «missionary ground».On February 13th, 1942, for the token rent of one piastre per year, the Superior Resident granted a long-term lease over « the estate of the old fruit-growing station of Ta Phing (44 hectares of buildings and lands), uncultivated or fallow land ». On June 11th, 1942, the sisters arrived at Lao Kay railway station and were installed in a wooden building «in poor condition», «each had only the clothes she was wearing, and 200 yens». On June 19th, the French Resident in Lao Kay gave them « 8 milk cows, 9 calves, 2 oxen, 2 heifers, 1 bull, and farming implements » The aim was to start « large-scale raising of pigs and chickens» and to « usefully complement the dairy products, milk, butter and cheese produced by the Chapa station in insufficient quantity for the number of summer visitors both civil and military ». The sisters also « set about to grow black wheat, oats, barley, buckwheat… » and develop « fruit trees, potatoes, vegetables and vineyards ». As of September 1942, the sisters were producing peach, apple and other fruit jams and had difficulties satisfying « the numerous orders for butter and cheese of the Port Salut type coming from Hanoi ». As of August 1942, legionnaires were supervising the Annamite workers digging a platform on which  the new monastery was to be built. The foundation stone was lain on October 8th, 1942 in the presence of the Superior Resident, and a parchment was deposited in a cavity made in the south-east corner-stone of «Our Lady of Peace Monastery».In fact, only the first phase of the work was to be completed, and the rest of the convent, which was supposed to welcome « a hundred sisters, lay sisters and novices » was never built. Nor were the planned guest quarters and chaplaincy. Only the farmhouse buildings were ever built. During the 1947 unrest, the sisters hurriedly fled to Hanoi and the monastery was burned down. |
| Source: www.traveltosapa.com |
Handicrafts in Sapa
Handicrafts in Sapa Until the 1980s, most of the mountain populations in Vietnam used to  produce nearly all their everyday life objects. Clothes, basketwork, metal and wooden objects, jewellery, pottery, etc. were made locally according to techniques that were often specific to an area or an ethnic group. These objects are still made today for family use and occasionally offered for sale.    Fibres: hemp, cotton and silk dyed with natural dyes : The Tày grow cotton, spin it, weave it, and dye it to make the traditional blankets for the wedding dowries. The Hmong grow hemp and use its strong fibres to make their clothes, which they dye with indigo. In certain villages, people raise silkworms to make the beautiful silk thread they use to embroider their clothes. The Dao (Mien) women and the Hmong make veritable pictures with their incredibly precise embroideries. Lots of traditional fabrics can be found in the Sa Pa and Bac Hà ethnic markets. Most of the patterns embroidered by the Hmong and the Dao or woven by the Tay and the Thai carry a meaning. They often symbolise a baby, a tree, a bird, a snail, the moon, etc. Basketwork: from forest to kitchen :Rattan and bamboo are the raw materials used for basketwork. Each ethnic group and each area has its own techniques and own  patterns. The Tays’  are square-shaped, often decorated with floral patterns, while the Dao’s (Mien) and the Lao’s are raised designs with colour strokes.For their domestic use, the Nung and the Tay make very fine baskets for sorting rice or legumes. In order to protect them, they store them over the wood fire where the smoke makes them more resistant. The Vietnamese shoulder piece is the most popular carrying device in the lowlands, while the back-basket is found everywhere in the mountains. Wood, steel and silver: traditional skills, still unrecognized :Thanks to the wide diversity of wood species and to the carpenters and joiners’ know-how, the houses,  furniture and all the wooden objects are still made locally. One of the most famous wood species in the Lao Cai area is peumou (Fokienia Hodginsii), a species of slow-growing cypress whose wood is rot-proof. Chinese buyers have been paying a heavy price for it for over a century. Using reclaimed materials, blacksmiths used to make ploughshares, knives and trivets. Despite the competition of industrial products, the high-quality knives and pruning knives made by the Hmong are still much sought-after by farmers from all ethnic groups. Silver jewelery is still made by numerous ethnic groups. The Hmong from Sa Pa and the Dao are renowned for their necklaces consisting of several silver circles put together – the weight of the jewel is also a wealth and status symbol as silver metal used to be one of the main ways of hoarding wealth. The Tày from Van Bàn make beautiful silver bangles. Depending on the area and on the subgroups they belong to, the Hmong and the Dao are distinguished by the shape of their earrings. Incense :Virtually all ethnic groups produce their own particular sort of incense. The Tày from Van Ban (Van Bàn), use powdered cinnamon bark to make a brown incense with a warm, sweet fragrance. The Pa Zi from Muong Khuong make pale green incense out of powdered wild leaves, whose fragrance is greener and a little sharp. The Hmong from Bac Hà gather tree bark to make ochre-coloured incense with a powerful scent. |
| Source: www.traveltosapa.com |
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Sapa Shopping
 You can find throughout Sapa Shopping series of souvenir shops where they show all local people"s products: handicrafts, silvers, wooden things. All products are made by the people in this region.It is also interesting to go down to the villages and buy souvenirs from the local minority people. It is important that you should buy things from the adults (especially from women) in their houses in stead of buying outside and from children. By this way, you will encourage the people to sell things in their villages and motivate the children come back to schools.
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| Source: : www.traveltosapa.com |
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