The population of the Lào Cai province is a mosaic of ethnic groups.An incredible variety of peoples, some of them unique to Vietnam, arefound on a relatively small area.
In fact, visitors can meet 24 ethnic groups, each with its ownlanguage, culture and traditions. This cultural wealth is explained bythe diversity of landscapes and of land available for farming. Historyalso offers clues as to why the highlands in the Lào Cai province servedas a refuge for certain ethnic groups during political unrest like theTaiping rebellion in 19th-century China.
The seven most numerous ethnic groups in the Lào Cai province accountfor over 90% of the whole population. The following groups are found:the Kinh (the true Vietnamese) 35%, the Hmong 22%, the Tay 14%, the Dao(Mien) 13%, the Thai 9%, the Nung 4.5% and the Giay 4.3%. The otherethnic groups: the Phula, Hani, Latis, Tu Di, Pin Tao, Tu Lao, Pa Di,Sapho, Lolo and the Xa Mang are sometimes represented only by a fewvillages and a few hundred individuals.
The Hmong people
The main subgroups present in Vietnam are the White Hmong, the HmongLeng, Hmong Pua, Hmong Shi or Sheu and the black Hmong. In Sa Pa, theHmong Leng are the most numerous, some Hmong Sheu and Hmong Pe women –with their colorful skirts and double-breasted tops – come from theMuong Khuong district.
Today, the traditional agrarian economy is still based on familyfarms raising pigs, chickens, buffaloes and horses, on food crops (rice,corn, manioc) and cash crops (cardamom and vegetables).
The traditional social organization of the Hmong is based on theclan. Each clan is made of lineages, all the members of whichacknowledge a common founding male ancestor. In the Hmong household, upto four different generations may be gathered under the same roof. Thehousehold is the most important economic, political and ritual unit. Thevillages perched on the mountain slopes house several clans.
Easily recognizable by their costume, the Sa Pa Hmong Leng – who donot call themselves Black Hmongs – still wear hemp clothes dyed withnatural (black-blue) indigo. The women wear stiff indigo-blue turbansover their hair gathered into a bun. Nowadays, they hardly ever weartheir batik or embroidered pleated skirts, replaced with short indigopants. Only the collar, sleeves and belt are embroidered with geometricpatterns in silk.
The White Hmong women from the Bat Xat district wear long blackpants, fairly short-waisted double-breasted jackets, and cover theirhair with colourful head scarves.
The Hmong Pua, Hmong Pe and Hmong Sheu women from the Bac Ha districtwear similar batik skirts with an embroidered band. They aredistinguished by the decorative patterns and shape of their aprons.
The Dao people
The Dao, known as the Man or Yao in south-west China for centuries,also number a few tens of thousands in Laos, Thailand and Myanmar(formerly Burma).
Like the Hmong, the Dao build terraced paddy-fields irrigated by asophisticated system of canals around Sa Pa. They also have a reputationfor pig and horse breeding.
The different Dao groups from the Lao Cai province usually wear redheaddresses or red pieces of clothing. The Dao (Ké Mien) from the Taphinand Tavan villages (Sa Pa district) wear flat headdresses, totally red,hung with silver coins. The headdresses of the Dao (Ké Mien) from MuongHum district (north of Sa Pa) are cone-shaped and made of red flowerymaterial. The Bac Ha (Ké Moun) Dao enhance their turbans with red andpink wool or silk threads. The headdresses of the Dao (Iu Mien) from VanBan district – south of Sa Pa – are decorated with red and yellowpompoms, and hang low down their backs.
The Tay people
The Tày grow rice in paddy fields, preferably in the plains and inthe valleys. The villages consist of wooden or bamboo stilt houses andare often built in the immediate vicinity of a stream or a river. Thehousehold is the basic economic unit and tends to be a nuclear familylimited to close relatives.
The Tày, Giay, Numg and Thai women wear brightly-colored jackets, –pink, green, or blue – double-breasted, often with contrasting braid atthe collar. The tartan headscarf covers their hair gathered into a bun.Traditionally, each group used to have their own style of bun, held upwith long silver needles, but the custom is vanishing.
The Giay peopele
The Giay (pronounced”Zay”) are a relatively small minority group,with a population of around 40,000, living at high altitudes in Lao Cai,Lai Chau and Ha Giang provinces. Traditional Giay society is feudal,with a strict demarcation between the local aristocracy and the peasantclasses. All villagers work the communal lands, living in closely knitvillages of stilt houses. A few Giay women still wear the traditionalstyle of dress, distinguished by the highly colored, circular panel sewnaround the collar and a shirt-fastening on the right shoulder: the shirtitself is often of bright green, pink or blue. On formal occasions,women may also wear a chequered turban.