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Every Saturday and Sunday, from dawn until sunset, the town of Sapa bustles with the unique market of the Northwest mountainous region. The sounds of greetings, laughter, and the melodious sounds of flutes and pipes blend with the aroma of local specialties, creating a lively and vibrant atmosphere. Visitors come here not only to shop for unique souvenirs but also to experience the local culture and immerse themselves in the rhythm of life of the people.
From the early morning, the Hmong and Dao ethnic groups have been setting up their goods and food items here.
Hoang Gia, a young man currently living and working in Sapa, said: "Every weekend, the locals here hold a small market. Although small in scale, it still has a very unique character. The H'Mong and Dao people bring products such as indigo-dyed linen fabrics, bags, hats, skirts, and shirts with 100% unique hand-embroidered patterns to sell at the market."
Strolling through the market, visitors feel as if they have entered another world, a place that preserves the traditional cultural values of ethnic minorities. Each market session is a vibrant, colorful picture with stalls selling all kinds of characteristic products of the Northwest mountainous region such as brocade fabrics, souvenirs, corn wine, forest honey... Especially, visitors will have the opportunity to enjoy delicious local specialties prepared by the locals themselves, such as thang co (a traditional stew), sturgeon hot pot, and sticky rice cooked in bamboo tubes...
Famous specialties of the misty land of Sapa.
According to Hoang Gia, these markets also offer temperate-climate vegetables that are not found in the lowlands, such as mustard greens, Chinese cabbage, chayote, fern shoots, bamboo shoots, and shiitake mushrooms. Dishes like honey cakes, sticky rice cakes, and black sticky rice cakes are also widely available at very cheap prices. Besides fresh produce, locals also sell a variety of specialties for tourists to buy as souvenirs, such as smoked buffalo meat, smoked pork, and sausages... all bearing the distinctive mark of the Northwest mountains.
These markets also offer vegetables characteristic of temperate regions that are not found in the lowlands.
In particular, the Sapa market is also a place that preserves the valuable traditional remedies of the Red Dao people. With their long-standing experience in making medicine, they offer tourists various types of tea that promote good sleep, and herbal baths that relax and reduce stress.
"The atmosphere at the market is very lively, with people actively exchanging and buying goods. Besides the usual items, at the end of the year they often bring out pots of orchids grown at home to sell during the Lunar New Year. There's a whole garden of flowers with all kinds for customers to choose from. Not only that, they also carry the most beautiful orchid pots from their gardens on their backs to sell around the market," Hoang Gia said.
Whatever we have in the garden, we'll just bring it out and sell it...
Visitors to Sapa not only relax and visit famous tourist attractions but also have the opportunity to experience local culture through activities such as beeswax painting on fabric, traditional embroidery, weaving, indigo dyeing, or participating in cultural festivals such as the Gau Tao Festival, New Rice Festival, Going Down to the Fields Festival, Roong Pooc Festival, etc.
Babies on their mothers' backs at the early morning market.
"What particularly impressed me about the Sapa market was that most of the goods were made and sold by the locals themselves. They might not use cash but instead exchange the goods directly with each other. This is something rarely seen in a normal market," Hoang Gia expressed.
