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The Khau Vai Love Market has existed for over 100 years. It is the most unique market in Ha Giang. The market is not a place for trading agricultural products or necessities, but rather a place for folk cultural and religious activities; it only meets for one day each year. As a tradition, the market is held annually on the 27th day of the 3rd lunar month.
Currently, due to the combination with cultural and artistic activities and the promotion of local culture, the market usually lasts about 3 days, with the main market day still taking place on March 27th, and the activities ensure respect for and promotion of traditional values.
The Legend of the Love Market
The legend of the love market originates from the story of Ba and Ut. Ba, a Nung man from Khau Vai, was handsome, a talented singer and flute player, but poor. Ut was beautiful, the daughter of a Giay tribal chief. The two fell in love, but Ut's family disapproved because Ba was poor and belonged to a different ethnic group, with different customs and traditions; a Nung man could not marry a Giay woman.
The young man and woman eloped and went to live in a cave in Khau Vai mountain. The girl's family and clan, armed with flintlock guns and bows and arrows, went to the boy's house to scold him for breaking tradition by taking the girl into the forest. The boy's family, in turn, brought sticks, guns, and knives to curse the girl's family. From the cave, they watched the clash between the two families unfold. Out of love for their fathers, mothers, and the people of their two villages, who had become enemies because of their love, the young man and woman parted ways and returned to their villages, vowing to be husband and wife in their next life. The day they parted was March 27th, a day the locals used to hold their market.
When the young couple parted ways, they swore an oath by cutting their fingers in blood: even though they couldn't marry, every year on March 27th they would go to Khau Vai to sing to each other, sharing the secrets they had kept in their hearts during the year they were apart. They would confide in each other, singing all night and into the next, before returning to their daily lives. On their last day, they would reunite. They would find the tree in the forest and sit beside the stone where they had sworn their oath, embracing each other tightly as they entered eternity. They passed away on March 27th – the very day they had decided to part ways. The villagers erected two shrines, "the Lady's Shrine" and "the Gentleman's Shrine," at the very spot where they died to commemorate their love story.
