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From Meo Vac town, travel about 15 km further along Highway 4C, part of the Dong Van – Meo Vac – Yen Minh route. On the days of the Monkey and the Tiger, you will find the Lung Phin market in Lung Phin commune, Meo Vac district, Ha Giang province.
This is a major festival for more than 16 ethnic groups living in the rocky highlands and one of the unique "backward" markets in the far north of Vietnam. It's called a "backward" market because it's held regularly every six days; if it's held on the Day of the Tiger this week, it will be held on the Day of the Monkey next week. The market is held throughout the day, from around 4-5 am until 3-4 pm.
Along the winding mountain roads, ethnic people in their brightly colored traditional clothing flock to the market, celebrating as if they were going to a festival.
As usual, from the early morning mist, people from all the villages and hamlets carry their goods to the market in time for the opening ceremony. A unique feature of the Lung Phin market is that the goods brought to the market are sometimes just a chicken, a dozen eggs, or simply a few bundles of sugarcane and some vegetables from the home garden. This simplicity and rustic charm of the highland market create a delightful experience for tourists. Specialty items such as mint honey, Lung Phin snow tea, free-range chicken, and brocade fabrics are the most popular purchases by tourists.
Bring the chicken along to the market.
However, the young men and women from the remote villages go to the market not only to buy and sell but also to have fun and find a partner. Therefore, everyone wears beautiful clothes, as if going to a festival. Young women in their finest dresses come to the market to enjoy themselves. The H'Mong village girls are radiant in their floral flared skirts, the Red Dao girls sparkle with silver jewelry... a whole forest of colorful flowers shimmers and displays their beauty. Children also wear new dresses, accompanying their grandmothers and mothers to the market to buy treats.
For men in the highlands, the market is also a place where they can meet and drink alcohol around a pot of thang co (a traditional stew) every week. The thang co never runs out in the pot, just as the wine never runs out in the bottle, served with a bowl of salt and freshly pickled chili peppers that make your tongue tingle. It's rich and flavorful, a perfect accompaniment. Old friends eat thang co together, raising their glasses of strong wine, inquiring about family matters, and wishing each other good health. Young men and women, drunk around the thang co table, sing songs and play flutes, searching for their lifelong partners. And curious tourists muster up the courage to try a piece of thang co to experience its captivating flavor.
Young men, intoxicated by wine and overwhelmed by love, often sing, “I call you with the sound of my flute / Why are you so engrossed in singing? / You don’t hear my flute… / A bowl of wine at the market / I drink until I’m truly drunk / I love you, help me onto my horse / I love you, follow me back to the village / I love you, come with me.” The singing of those intoxicated by wine and love is smooth and tender. And young women, once they’ve found someone they like, raise their glasses and say, “My hands know how to hold a needle and sew clothes; if you don’t have feelings for me, then so be it; if you do, then come home, and we’ll spend a day together. My hands know how to spin linen; if you don’t have feelings for me, then so be it; if you do, then come home, and we’ll spend a night together…”
The road back to the remote village.
After each market day, everyone was reluctant to leave. They would arrange to meet again at the next market day. Loads of rice and bundles of vegetables were slung over their backs as they paddled through mountains and crossed streams on their way home.
A visit to Lung Phin market to experience the unique cultural aspects of the highland people's markets reveals just how simple yet deeply meaningful their lives are.
