Remaining forever with time

Coming to the border land of Lao Cai, tourists not only enjoy the delicious specialties of the Northwest mountains, but also admire the unique architectural works imbued with time color.

Ancient palace on "White Plateau"

Ancient palace of Hoang A Tuong in Bac Ha town is more than 100 years old.

Having existed for more than 100 years, until now, the ancient palace of Hoang A Tuong (in Bac Ha town, Bac Ha district) is still kept quite intact. The work was built in 1914, completed in 1921 with typical Asian-European architectural style. This is the residence of the father and son of the Tay ethnic group, Hoang Yen Chao and Hoang A Tuong, but they ruled the land with 70% of the Mong ethnic group, so the people call it "The Meo King's Palace".

With unique continuous and closed rectangular construction layout, the work becomes tourist attraction, attracting a large number of tourists. The palace has been restored and embellished many times and still retains the majesty, magnificence, ancient, mossy, prominent features in the middle of Bac Ha town as proof of historical period of the "White Plateau".

Stone church - symbol of the land of fog

Sapa Stone Church is the destination not to be missed by tourists

Sa Pa stone church was designed and built by French architects in 1935. This is considered the only work that remains intact of the French people on Sa Pa land. The entire church is built of hewn stone, the connecting stone blocks are mixture of sand, lime and molasses. The church consists of 7 compartments, each space is 500 m wide, the bell tower is 20 m high, inside is a bell 1.5 m high and weighing half a ton. The attraction of this church is the architecture in the ancient Roman style, most clearly shown in the roof, bell tower, arch,... all have pyramid shape, giving the building gentle and elegant look.

Tourists coming here are very impressed by the image of the stone church appearing and disappearing in the fanciful fog.

Walled house - unique architecture of Ha Nhi people

Walled house of Ha Nhi people

Walled house of Ha Nhi ethnic people in Y Ty commune (Bat Xat district) is one of the unique architecture of the highland people that attracts tourists.

Since ancient times, Ha Nhi people in Y Ty had custom of making walled houses to live in. The houses are similar in form, structure, space, and layout, regardless of rich and poor in housing architecture. When choosing satisfactory land plot, the Ha Nhi people embark on the construction of the walled houses. Red earth is put into the mold, using pestle to compact it, layer after layer, creating solid wall. Ha Nhi people often go to the forest to gather grass and braid it into layers, covering each other to form roof with a thickness of up to 50 cm. Therefore, the walled houses are always cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

The houses with yellow earthen walls like the color of straw in the season, square and beautiful in the middle of the mountains and forests create unique architecture in the Y Ty highland. 

According to LCDT

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