"Wonderful ladders climbing into the Northwest sky"

That is the comment that Travel and Leisure Magazine, specializing in tourism, with an editorial office in the US, evaluated about the wonders of terraced fields in Vietnam.

That is the comment that Travel and Leisure Magazine, specializing in tourism, with an editorial office in the US, evaluated about the wonders of terraced fields in Vietnam.

September and October every year is the most ideal time to admire the beauty of the Northwest terraced fields.

Over thousands of years, the hands and minds of ethnic groups in the Northwest have created the famous terraced rice wonder.

Fall is also the time when rice begins to bloom in the Northwest. Terraced fields in the ripe rice season make this land seem to be dressed in a flexible, gentle yellow outfit. Green rice gradually turns shiny yellow, creeping into each mountainside and hillside like impressive works of art, with majestic and captivating beauty.

In September, rice is turning from green to yellow, signaling that the full harvest season is coming for ethnic people in the Northwest.

Terraced fields are a form of farming with longstanding characteristics of the highland people in Northwest Vietnam. Because in high mountainous areas, flat land is scarce for farming, people choose patches of land on the slopes of the mountains to form tiers, then channel water from the high mountains to create terraced fields for rice cultivation.

Green and ripe rice fields seen from the window of a house of the H'Mong people in Yen Bai.

Legendary history of the Northwest region says that, many centuries ago, ethnic groups such as Mong, Dao, La Chi... migrated to the Northwest region to explore and settle. But at that time, the four major valleys of the Northwest region, Muong Thanh (Dien Bien), Muong Lo (Yen Bai), Muong Than (Lai Chau), and Muong Tac (Son La), had indigenous ethnic groups: Thai and La. Ha... live.

Large terraced plots in La Pan Tan (Yen Bai).

Therefore, newcomers must choose mountain ranges such as Khau Pha (Mu Cang Chai - Yen Bai), Hoang Lien Son (Sa Pa - Lao Cai) and Tay Con Linh (Hoang Su Phi - Ha Giang), places with altitude from 1,000-1,600m above sea level to build the village. They grow corn and upland rice on the mountain slopes to get food.

The fields were initially located along the foot of the mountain, then stretched out to create ladders reaching up to the blue sky.

The authors' simple house creates a magnificent landscape of terraced fields in the Northwest.

H'Mong woman in La Pan Tan (Yen Bai) leisurely sits on the phone after visiting rice fields.

Initially, terraced fields were only formed at the foot of the mountain so that growers could proactively source spring water for irrigation. Later, when the demand for food increased, farmers gradually cleared the terraced fields higher and higher towards the top of the mountain, forming the magnificent terraced fields like today.

Mountain slopes with moderate slopes, little gravel and stream water sources are chosen for terraced fields.

The mountains chosen for farming have moderate slopes, have water sources from streams, have the ability to create level ground, and have few rocks. The clearing of terraced fields is carried out in the spring, from January to May to get water in time for farming.

The terraced fields have a narrow width, running across the mountainside.

The terraced fields have a narrow width with only a few harrow lines. The upper field is about more than 1 meter apart from the lower field. Farmers clear high land to compensate for low land. Field edges are notched in a way that is not connected seamlessly (the first plot is cut, the last plot is cut) to receive water into the field and limit soil loss during floods.

This woman is one of the "barefoot artists" who create the wonders of Northwest terraced fields.

The owners and "barefoot artists" who create beautiful and rich terraced fields in the Northwest mountains, looking like giant sculptures, are ethnic minorities in the mountains. here are as high as Dao, H'Mong, Ha Nhi, Giay...

The Northwest has majestic mountains that seem to soften with the curves of terraced fields.

Terraced fields in Ta Van, Lao Chai, Ta Phin, Muong Khuong, Bac Ha, Si Ma Cai, Bat Xat, Y Ty (Lao Cai), terraced fields in Mu Cang Chai (Yen Bai); Terraced fields stretching along winding mountain slopes in Lai Chau, Dien Bien... have long captivated tourists.

September-October every year is the best time to see the Northwest terraced fields.

Travel and Leisure magazine described: "With wonderful landscapes that look like a ladder climbing into the sky, terraced fields have become one of the tourist attractions of the Northwest region of Vietnam." Male".

In mid-September 2023, the tourism industry of Ho Chi Minh City and 8 expanded Northwest provinces (including Ha Giang, Phu Tho, Dien Bien, Hoa Binh, Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Son La and Yen Bai) came together. announced 2 new tourism products, including: Returning to the heritage of terraced fields with the story "The brocade weaver in the Northwest sky" and going up the Da River to the region of memories with the story "The soul keeper of the Northwest" These are the latest joint development activities that have been implemented by localities in the past 3 years.

Hanoi 1496 view

Update day : 25/09/2023