Lao Chai Hamlet

In Lao Chai Village, you can breathe pure air, see terrace farms and streams, meet and learn about several H'mong families, and tour three large villages with over 100 Black H'mong households. The locals are kind. In this community, you will feel at ease in any of the welcoming residents' homes. You can communicate with them and learn about their culture and traditions.

The Black H'mong tribes in Lao Chai Village:

The H'mong village in Lao Chai is one of many distributed throughout Sapa's beautiful valleys, making up a large portion of the town's ethnic minority population. The Black H'mong are a distinct ethnic group within the greater H'mong ethnic group, so named because practically all of their traditional clothing is dyed a deep indigo color. The Black H'mong's uniquely vibrant fabrics have become a favorite element at souvenir shops and marketplaces around Vietnam, with green, blue, and purple accented with splashes of red.

The Black H'mong tribes have a strong sense of tradition, with men and women marrying as early as their mid-teens. It's not uncommon to meet a 25-year-old H'mong person who already has a handful of children, which is all the more remarkable given that many H'mong tribes have few traditional sources of income. Instead, most people live off the land and rely on revenue from selling textiles in local markets to supplement their income. Black H'mong families only need money to buy livestock or household items; the majority (if not all) of their food comes from their crops and animals.

The Giay tribes in Lao Chai Village:

Because the Giay ethnic group accounts for barely 2% of Sapa's population, learning more about this interesting community that arrived in Vietnam from China only two centuries ago can be difficult. The bulk of the Giay people of Vietnam live in the country's northern provinces, where stilted houses (traditional homes) are still popular. However, Giay dwellings in the sunny and fertile Lao Chai village have been redesigned to be adapted to living conditions and location, with a modest interior and dirt floor. 

Unlike the H'mong populations with whom they share a border, the Giay dress simply, with splashy, brilliant colors but less decoration than H'mong fabrics. A variety of Giay cultural features feel uniquely Chinese as a result of their geographic ties, with the group's clothes and cuisine inheriting flavors from Vietnam's northern kin. The Giay in Lao Chai supplement their income and health by keeping cattle and tending to countless rice terraces and mountain farms, much like the H'mong.