Mu Cang Chai
Yen Bai Province
Mu Cang Chai is a rural district in Yen Bai Province, North West Region of Vietnam, located more than 300 km from Hanoi. To reach Mu Cang Chai, you have to go through the Khau Pha Pass (Heavenly Horns Pass), one of the four largest passes in Vietnam.
The terraced fields of the three communes of La Pan Tan, Che Cu Nha and Ze Xu Phinh have been listed as national landscapes since 2007. Not only that, Mu Cang Chai was also voted among the top 10 most beautiful rice terraces in the world.
Like the fingerprints of the sky, the rice terraces of Mu Cang Chai are a creative artistic and architectural work of the skillful hands of the H’mong people living on this land.
A real moment out of time awaits you facing the rice fields of Mu Cang Chaï, where the splendid nature and the warmth of the H’mong ethnic group will transport you to another world.
The best time to visit Mu Cang Chai
Thanks to its pleasant and cool climate, you can visit Mu Cang Chai at any time of the year. But unlike the lowland areas, the weather in the mountainous region is rather unpredictable, very unstable and changes continuously throughout the day. If it rains at night, it’s foggy in the morning, and then sunny during the day.
The period between September and October is undoubtedly the ideal season to capture the resplendent beauty of the regions to the northwest where sparkling rice terraces reign supreme. During the autumn harvest, a rural painting unfolds before your eyes combining the clarity of the sky and the adorable splendor of the undulating rice fields, embroidered by small wooden pavilions on the mountainside.
- between April and May, the rice is transplanted and the rice fields appear like giant mirrors or like verdant terraces, depending on whether you come at the beginning or at the end of the season (the green of the plants mingle with the blue of the past monsoon rains).
- Between September and October, the rice terraces of Mu Cang Chai are covered in bright yellow with the blue color of the chasms of the sky like “Stairway to Heaven”.
What to see, what to do…?
The Mu Cang Chai region is populated by the H’mong ethnic group who have preserved an ancestral way of life. They wear traditional clothes, speak their own language and live in complete autonomy. Mu Cang Chai is not just rice terraces. Indeed, corn is grown in the rocky mountains. As for flax, it is used for the manufacture of clothes. Each year, when the first drops of rain arrive, the villagers work the land to prepare for the next rice harvest.
Shaped for centuries, this mode of cultivation is the pride of its designers and the delight of photographers. A “photographers’ route” was also born and is now used by photography lovers, but also by amateurs.
Top 10 things to do in Mu Cang Chai:
- Discover the sumptuous rice terraces of the villages of La Pan Tan, Che Cu Nha and Ze Xu Phinh, in particular the famous “plateau”!
- Relax at the hot spring of the Thai ethnic group in Tu Le.
- Paragliding from Khau Pha Pass.
- Hike and/or trek through unfamiliar trails.
- See the horseshoe field at Sang Nhu village.
- Discovery of the H’mong culture and crafts and sleep with locals.
- Adventure on an off-road track to the best waterfalls in Mu Cang Chai.
- Visit the village of Lim Mong and that of Lim Thai (a Thai village).
- Discovery of a bamboo forest.
- Taste the culinary specialties of the region such as “Com” (young sticky rice).
