Meo Vac Market

Before five in the morning, figures are already moving along the steep roads around Mèo Vạc commune. They come down from far villages, and many set out on foot in the dark, with their goods in baskets on their backs. This is an ordinary Sunday at the Mèo Vạc Market, one of the largest highland markets on the plateau.

Since July 1, 2025, the commune of Mèo Vạc has belonged to Tuyên Quang province, under a decision to reorganize administrative units. Before that, the place was part of Hà Giang province. The market had been held here for generations.

Vietnam's national tourism database describes the market as a place to trade goods, meet friends and share the warmth of kinship. It calls the market a living museum of the daily life of the peoples of this region. That is no flowery phrase. It is a fair way to understand the role of a highland market.

The market lies inside the Đồng Văn Karst Plateau, which UNESCO recognizes as a Global Geopark. A UNESCO Global Geopark is an area with landscapes of international geological importance, managed for protection, education and sustainable development. UNESCO says 17 ethnic groups live here, among them the Hmong, Lô Lô, Dao and Tày, each with its own language, customs, crafts and festivals. The market is one of the places where that variety shows most clearly.

A visitor walking in passes through several layers, one after another.

The first layer is farm produce and daily goods. There are seasonal vegetables, dried bamboo shoots, ginger, rice, dong leaves, farm tools and household wares. These are the necessities of village life, not goods laid out for tourists. The sellers are highland people who come down after a week of work in their fields and gardens.

The second layer is cloth and clothing, and it is the most striking sight in the market. There are traditional skirts and blouses, linen, silver jewelry and embroidered scarves of every color. The costumes of the Hmong, Giáy, Dao and Lô Lô make a palette all their own. The Tuyên Quang newspaper notes that market day is also a time for people to dress well and see those they know.

The third layer is food, where the smell of cooking smoke and rising steam mingle in the cool morning. There are thắng cố, mèn mén, sticky rice, cakes, hot phở and corn liquor. A steaming bowl of thắng cố, a cup of strong corn liquor and a few words of talk at the start of the market day: this is how highland people meet in the middle of the market.

The fourth layer is livestock. One section sells the yellow cattle of the karst plateau, the prized breed of the region. People also lead pigs, goats, dogs and chickens down to the market on cords. A woman carries a whole pig on her back, walking quietly through the crowd. It is a very real scene.

As the sun climbs and the market thins out, groups of people take the steep roads home to their villages, baskets on their backs full of what they bought. The colors of their skirts and blouses slowly disappear behind the cliffs of stone.