Mu Cang Chai terraced fields show off their colors in the autumn sun.
Masterpieces from nature and human hands
Following National Highway 32 from Hanoi to Yen Bai, through Tu Le commune (Van Chan district) and starting with Khau Pha pass - one of the "Four Great Passes" of the North to Mu Cang Chai with a distance of about 300km, terraced fields begin to appear in Cao Pha valley (Cao Pha commune, Mu Cang Chai district). Passing the pass, before reaching the town, through the communes of Pung Luong, La Pan Tan, Che Cu Nha, the terraces are changing color from green to yellow, and there are also reddish-brown tones of harvested fields, creating extremely impressive colorful pictures of nature and people.
Mu Cang Chai is a district in the west of Yen Bai province, located at the foot of Hoang Lien Son mountain range, at an altitude of over 1,000m above sea level. The mountainous terrain is high and rugged due to strong fragmentation, the average slope of the whole district is 40o, in some places up to 70o. Terraced fields are a way for people to adapt to nature in steep mountainous terrain to create flat fields favorable for wet rice cultivation. From afar, the fields on the hillsides and mountains look like steps. Coming closer, you can see that these "steps" are meters high, winding endlessly, as if reaching the sky, through which you can see the admirable perseverance and patience of people.
The terraced fields, high and low, overlap each other, creating a majestic and romantic landscape, breathtakingly beautiful and overwhelming, especially during the rice harvest season. During the right rice harvest season, the “stairs” in Mu Cang Chai are not only beautiful with their colors, but also come alive with the farmers’ harvesting activities. The unique terrain, climate and hydrological features here cause the rice to ripen unevenly, so the rice ripening and harvesting time lasts for weeks, even months, making the landscape even more vibrant.
Mu Cang Chai terraced fields are not only a document of the production methods of the ethnic minorities here (the Mong people account for 90%) but also contain a long-standing indigenous culture; a unique heritage, a masterpiece created by nature and human hands over hundreds of years. Mu Cang Chai terraced fields were ranked as a National Monument by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2007, concentrated in the communes of La Pan Tan, Che Cu Nha and De Xu Phinh, with an area of about 330 hectares out of a total of 2,200 hectares in the whole district. In 2019, Mu Cang Chai terraced fields were ranked as a Special National Monument.
In 2018, the famous British magazine Telegraph announced the 12 most beautiful terraced fields in the world; in which, Mu Cang Chai terraced fields were one of two representatives of Vietnam to make the list.
Highlights of the ripe rice festival
In recent years, Mu Cang Chai has become a “hot” destination for tourism in the North. Mu Cang Chai is a vast paradise for nature lovers, backpackers, photographers and those who love taking photos. Realizing this, local authorities and tourism managers have researched and invested to make Mu Cang Chai in the ripe rice season a unique brand.
The first is the Paragliding Festival, first held in 2012 at Khau Pha Pass (Cao Pha Commune), next to the Cao Pha Valley covered with ripe rice. This activity has become an annual event, attracting hundreds of domestic and international paragliders to participate. This paragliding spot is considered one of the 5 most beautiful paragliding spots in the world. The image of "flying over the golden season" has become familiar in Mu Cang Chai. To organize good conditions for paragliding, Mu Cang Chai district has invested in building viewing huts for guests, gathering points for pilots, and parking places, serving food.
Since 2015, every September, right in the rice harvest season, Mu Cang Chai has held the Festival to explore the special national landscape of Mu Cang Chai terraced fields to introduce and promote the tangible and intangible cultural values and unique tourism products of Yen Bai province. The festival has many interesting activities such as the night of ethnic art performances, the Mong flute festival, the Mu Cang Chai terraced fields photo exhibition and the Mong ethnic cultural identity; the highland specialty market space; the experience of farming with the people on the terraced fields... In addition, there are many folk games such as goat fighting, throwing con, jumping bamboo, throwing pao, pushing sticks, shooting crossbows... Activities imbued with folk colors and indigenous culture help visitors immerse themselves in the festival atmosphere and the golden season of Mu Cang Chai without wanting to leave...
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