On a 10 degree Celsius morning in Sung La (Dong Van, Ha Giang), Sung A Ly (11 years old) carried his 8-month-old brother on his shoulder. The baby had round eyes and chapped cheeks, always rosy.
Sung A Ly is in 5th grade. After school, A Ly carries her younger brother on her back, holds a bunch of wildflowers and some self-woven buckwheat flower wreaths, and wanders around Pao’s gate. Every day, A Ly and her sister stand from early morning waiting for tourists to come buy flowers and take pictures.
The image of the A Ly sisters is not unfamiliar to tourists coming to Ha Giang, even becoming a "symbol" of this land. When the peach blossoms on both sides of the road have withered and the rice fields have not yet bloomed, the most beautiful things in Ha Giang at that time belong to the eyes and the chapped, rosy cheeks of the H'Mong children.
The cold weather is also the time when the “stone plateau” enters the peak tourist season. The cold air brings about impressive and magnificent changes in nature. Ha Giang at this time will welcome visitors with buckwheat fields and traditional dishes to warm up the journey of discovery.
The route to explore Ha Giang can follow many different routes, but no matter which route you choose, what you encounter most - and perhaps what you remember most about Ha Giang - is the image of ethnic people, especially the H'Mong people.
The H'mong people account for 31% of the population of the ethnic groups in Ha Giang. They live mainly in the northern districts such as Yen Minh, Quan Ba, Meo Vac, Dong Van and the western districts of Hoang Su Phi, Xin Man. Visiting and immersing yourself in the life of the H'mong people, you will see the tradition of cultivating rocky fields, growing rice, corn and other crops...; and also see their perseverance, enthusiasm and optimism in life.
Ha Giang makes people miss and look forward to it, half because of its beautiful scenery, half because of its peaceful, unspoiled pace of life. Without the hustle and bustle, the “stone plateau” takes visitors to a very different space. That is also the reason why every time a cold wind blows, many people rush to that remote highland, just to blend into the mist, to find the magical colors that are quietly changing.
