HISTORY
Sa Pa is a frontier town and capital of Sa Pa District in Lào Cai Province in northwest Vietnam. It was first inhabited by people we know nothing about. They left in the entire valley hundreds of petroglyphs, mostly composed of lines, which experts think date from the 15th century and represent local cadastres. Then came the highland minorities of the Hmong and Yao. The town is one of the main market ones in the area, where several ethnic minority groups such as Hmong, Dao (Yao), Giáy, Pho Lu, and Tay live. groups, as well as by smaller numbers of Tày and Giay. These are the four main minority groups still present in Sa Pa district today. The Kinh (lowland Vietnamese) never originally colonised this highest of Việt Nam’s valleys, which lies in the shadow of Phan-Xi-Pǎng (Fansipan, 3143 m), the highest peak in the country.
The Catholic church in Sa Pa, built in stone in 1930
It was only when the French debarked in highland Tonkin in the late 1880s that Sa Pa, or Chapa (from Chinese Xa Pa, the "sandy place"), as the French called it, began to appear on the national map. In the following decade, the future site of Sa Pa town started to see military parties as well as missionaries from the Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris (MEP) visit. The French military marched from the Red River Delta into the northern mountainous regions as part of Tonkin's ‘pacification’. In 1894-96 the border between China and Tonkin was formally agreed upon and the Sa Pa area, just to the south of this frontier, was placed under French authority. From 1891 the entire Lào Cai region, including Sa Pa, came under direct colonial military administration so as to curtail banditry and political resistance on the sensitive northern frontier.
The first permanent French civilian resident arrived in Sa Pa in 1909. With its attractive continental climate, health authorities believed the site had potential. By 1912 a military sanatorium for ailing officers had been erected along with a fully fledged military garrison. Then, from the 1920s onwards, several wealthy professionals with enough financial capital also had a number of private villas built in the vicinity.
At the end of the Second World War a long period of hostilities began in Tonkin that was to last until 1954. In the process, nearly all of the 200 or so colonial buildings in or around Sa Pa were destroyed, either by Việt Minh sympathisers in the late 1940s, or, in the early 1950s by French air raids. The vast majority of the Viet population fled for their lives, and the former town entered a prolonged sleep.
In the early 1960s, thanks to the New Economic Zones migration scheme set up by the new Socialist regime, new inhabitants from the lowlands started to migrate to the region.
The short 1979 occupation of the northern border region by Chinese troops had little impact on Sa Pa town, but did force the Kinh (lowland Vietnamese) population out for a month.
In 1993 the last obstacle to Sa Pa's full rebirth as a prominent holiday destination was lifted as the decision was made to open the door fully to international tourism. Sa Pa was back on the tourist trail again, this time for a newly emerging local elite tourist crowd, as well as international tourists.
Sapa is now in full economic boom, mainly from the thousands of tourists who come every year to walk the hundreds of miles of trekking trails between and around the villages of Dao villages of Ta Van and Ta Phin.
In 2006, the Chairman of The People's Committee of Sapa Province was elected to The Communist Party Central Committee as the youngest ever member (born in 1973).
If you want a place of cultural authenticity
and natural tranquility, you have found the right place. Sapa is a
mountainous town in Northen Vietnam where you write poem, have your
cameras on for most of your time, cheer over a community wine pot, learn
to appreciate indigenous culture or just to escape Hanoi heat
and city noise. Being one of the most attractive tourism destinations
of the country, Sapa is a precious gift that Mother Nature dedicates to
Vietnam.
Sapa - fairy home of ethnic minorities
There is nowhere in Vietnam can tourists easily meet the local ethnic minorities like in Sapa. The district is the home of a great diversity of ethnic people, including five main groups of Hmong, Yao,
Tay, Zay and Xa Pho. They do not live in center area but in hamlets
scattering on the valleys throughout Sapa District. Actually, not until
the 20th century did a majority of the ethnic people changed to
sedentary lifestyle with intensive farming method on sloping terraces,
instead of slash-and-burn culture like in the past. Town of Sapa is
where ethnic minority people gather, trade or sell their farming
products such as rice, corn, fruits, as well as handicrafts and
souvenirs to tourists. There is one interesting fact about ethnic
minority people in Sapa that besides their dialects, many of them,
especially small children, can speak English pretty well with clear
pronunciation.
Spending time visiting ethnic minorities’ villages, observing their
daily’s activities or even living homestay, in order to understand more
about their culture is now the top priority of visitors, especially
international ones. A trip to Sapa would definitely more meaningful with
participatory activities, such as learning to make handicrafts or
helping the local with farm work! In case time does not allow, you can
always hire a local guide for your trekking routes. Chances are these
boys and girls will tell you lovely stories about their traditions,
their lives or even ask you to join their family activities.
Sapa- challenging for mountainous trekking
Sapa is voted to be the best trekking spot in Vietnam,
by both natives and foreigners. The whole district is dominated by The
Hoang Lien Son mountain range, which also includes Mt. Fan Si Pan- the
highest peak in Vietnam and the entire Indochina peninsula with the
height of 3143m. This mount is not only a tough challenge to trekking
enthusiasts but also an opportunity to witness the splendid mountainous
vista.
The scenery of the Sapa region represents a harmonious relationship
between the minority people and nature, which can be seen perceptibly in
the paddy fields carpeting the rolling lower slopes of the Hoang Lien
Mountains. It was the elements wearing away the underlying rock over
thousands of years that created this impressive physical landscape.
The geographical location of the area makes it a truly unique place for
a rich variety of plants, birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles and
insects, some of them can only be found in northwestern Vietnam.
Sapa- thunderstruck local food
Sapa’s specialties are another reason attracting more and more tourists
travelling to this town. A wide range of sub-tropical vegetables such
as white cauliflower, red beet, or chayote are planted here. There are
dishes that will be a must to enjoy for every visitor - boiled chayote
consumed with sesame or “lon cap nach”- pig carried under armpit, which
are home pigs but are raised in the field or forest.
The cool weather of the region makes barbecued meat and fish with
mushroom and vegetables the most preferred street foods in Sapa. People
grill corn, sweet potatoes, dumpling, bamboo-tube rice, or even eggs as
well. Nevertheless, tourists can try many other local foods like purple
sticky rice or “thang co”- horse meat right in Sapa market.
More surprisingly, Western restaurants, from Italian to French ones,
can also be found around the center of Sapa, at a very reasonable price.
How to get there ?
Visitors can choose to go to Sapa by train or car, but train is more advisable because of the long and bumpy road.
Train is the most popular way to get to Sapa
Most tourists arrive in Lao Cai, the province to which Sapa belongs, by train (read more about train from Hanoi to Sapa) and it is definitely an impressive ride. The train leaves Hanoi train station in
the evening and arrives in Lao Cai train station in early morning. From
Lao Cai train station to Sapa is another hour bus ride, which gives
your eyes a massage with the endless blue sky and colourful terraced
paddy field. The road is curved around the mountain and you will just go
from one surprise to another. The further you go, the closer you are to
the sky and to nature.
Sapa is definitely a place to remember. And maybe to return as well!
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