Lo Lo Chai - the Fairy Village in Ha Giang

At the foot of the Lung Cu flagpole, Ha Giang is a small, peaceful, picturesque village named Lo Lo Chai. Since it is easily combined with a Ha Giang trip, Lo Lo Chai tourism will not cost you much, yet still gives a sense of peace and new knowledge about a peaceful village of another Vietnamese ethnic minority.

Phuong Nguyen

November 08, 2022 | 06:41

When asked about Ha Giang tourism, most tourists will answer that the most famous destination for them is the Nho Que river and the terraced fields in Hoang Su Phi or Dong Van, Meo Vac.

However, few people know that, in the northernmost part of Vietnam, there is a small, enchanting village with an exceptional name - Lo Lo Chai village.

The rustic charms of this village is made possible by the traditions of the local ethnic minority groups, leaving in peace amongst the ancient mountains.

Photo: @np.hallie/ Instagram

A special place with a special name

Firstly, Lo Lo Chai has a very special geographical position. Lo Lo Chai is located at the foot of Dragon Mountain, Lung Cu commune, Dong Van district, Ha Giang.

Departing from Ha Giang city center, visitors have to go through 150km of pass road to Dong Van Karst Plateau. After that, continue to go a paved road, one side is the cat ear mountain range, and the other side is the cliff leading down to the deep valley.

Photo: @nammeobeo/ Instagram

The name comes from one of the local tribes, the Lo Lo. As it is the center of their cultural heritage, Lo Lo Chai represents the unique aspects of the Lo Lo people.

The extraordinary indigenous culture of the Lo Lo people

The residents of Lo Lo Chai still follows their ancient customs in their daily lives, from its distinct architecture, costumes, traditional festivals, or other elements of material and spiritual life.

Arriving in the village, the first scene that visitors can see will be the road with two sides of orange chrysanthemums growing closely, leading to houses with tiled roofs, surrounded by rows of stone fences and rammed earth walls. On the rafters, corn is dried in neat rows. In front of the door, there are peach trees and vegetables.

Besides, you can see images of Lo Lo Chai women and children in colorful dresses, walking on the village road. People here still maintain the habit of wearing traditional brocade costumes every day, not only during holidays and Tet.

Photo: @mcthuha/ Instagram

Their main occupation is still farming. They work to maintain a self-sufficient lifestyle, growing rice, potatoes, corn, and cassava for their daily meals. In addition, other occupations such as carpentry and sewing are also maintained by some families with a long tradition.

The traditional festivals such as the worshiping ceremony, the new rice festival, the new house celebration, and especially the folk dances are still preserved by people here.

These unique traditional features have given Lo Lo Chai a strange and peaceful beauty. Everything happens slowly, like when we enter the fairy world in real life.

Ha Giang's outstanding community cultural tourist attraction

In the past few years, since Dong Van Karst Plateau was recognized by UNESCO as a Global Geopark in 2010, Lo Lo Chai villagers have gradually been redirected more to the business of tourism services. This aims to promote the image of Lo Lo Chai to a large number of tourists and to create an additional source of income for the people.

The village has also been recognized as a Cultural Village and has been included in the program of the Traditional Cultural Village Conservation Project by the province.

Photo: Kim Kim/ Facebook

As shared on Ethnic Newspaper, Sinh Di Gai, a villager, began in 2014, his family was the first household in the village to develop the idea of building a homestay for tourists. This has become a stable source of income, averaging about VND80 million (US$3216,47) per year.

Seeing Gai's family succeed, many other households in the village have followed to serve about 1000 visitors to the village every month.

Coming to Lo Lo Chai, visitors will be warmly and sincerely welcomed. They will be invited to a cup of tea, rustic tobacco, sitting by a hot pot, or Thang Co with a cup of corn wine in the cold weather.

Photo: Thegioidisan

In addition to renting to wear traditional costumes, visitors can also buy them directly. The price is about a few million VND/set, there are sets of up to VND15 million (US$603,09) due to the sophisticated and elaborate weaving.

The most beautiful time to travel to Lo Lo Chai village is at the end of the year. The cool air and warm people will make you think you are at a charming, Christmas village.