Performed by: Nam Nguyen | October 18, 2024
(Fatherland) - Xa Phin village in Ha Giang province is located halfway up the Tay Con Linh mountain range. The year-round cool weather and high humidity are favorable conditions for green moss to cover the roofs.
Xa Phin village, Phuong Tien commune, Vi Xuyen district, Ha Giang province is located at the foot of the Tay Con Linh mountain range. The whole village currently has more than 50 households of Dao ethnic people living there for a long time.
Surrounded by high mountains, Xa Phin village is covered in fog all year round with high humidity, creating layers of green moss on the roofs of the houses thatched with palm leaves.
The stilt houses are roofed from tens of thousands of wide-spreading palm leaves. After many years of exposure to the sun and rain, the roofs are covered with green moss.
Moss covering the roofs all year round has become familiar to the people here. In the summer, the moss will dry and turn yellow due to the sunlight. In the winter, high humidity is the ideal condition for moss to grow well.
The older the stilt house is, the thicker the moss grows, but a thatched roof must be about ten years old to grow green moss.
Dao people's roofs are often thatched with many layers of palm leaves, each roof is made from 8,000 - 10,000 palm leaves.
Moss covers the roof all year round, in the summer the moss turns yellow due to sunlight. In the winter, low temperature and high humidity are ideal conditions for moss to grow green again.
Mr. Dang Van Hiep - a resident of Xa Phin village confided: "It took more than 10 years to get this moss roof. The thicker the moss layer, the older the house is. Many houses in my village were built 30 years ago."
“For houses that have been thatched for less than 10 years, most of the moss has not yet grown strongly and has not covered the entire roof. Moss here grows naturally due to high humidity in the air, especially in winter when the village is almost always covered in fog and water vapor. They do not affect the daily life of the people. In the summer, moss also helps the house to be cooler, in the winter it is warmer, and prevents frost,” Mr. Hiep added.
Tourists can come to Xa Phin on two main occasions of the year: when the rice season turns the terraced fields golden and when peach blossoms bloom on every road in the village in spring.
Realizing the abundant potential for tourism development from available resources, some households have started to build and develop homestay services to serve tourists staying in the village. “When the rice is ripe, many tourists come to the village and stay overnight. Along with the unique features of the local culture, it helps tourists have many different experiences. Therefore, although it has just been put into operation, the facility is always full on weekends” - Mr. Tuong Van Thanh - owner of Xa Phin homestay shared.
Putting aside his work, Mr. Le Phu and his friends from Hanoi came to Ha Giang and chose Xa Phin village as their stopover. Mr. Phu shared that although he had been to Ha Giang many times, this was the first time he had known Xa Phin moss village and was amazed by the beauty of this place: “There are many places with thatched roofs, but it is rare to have moss covering the roofs all year round. Moreover, most of the old houses here are preserved by the locals, still intact with their wild and ancient features.”
Up to now, Xa Phin has been preserving its pristine, ancient beauty and the unique culture of the Dao ethnic group, exploiting tourism resources to help improve the quality of life of the people.
Source: https://toquoc.vn/len-tay-con-linh-ngam-ve-dep-nguyen-so-cua-nhung-mai-nha-reu-xanh-giua-lung-chung-nui-20241017152035206.htm
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