Muong Than Rice Field

People of the northwest have an old spoken saying that ranks four great rice fields of the region. It goes like this. First Thanh. Second Lò. Third Than. Fourth Tấc. The Than in that line is Mường Than, in Lai Châu. So a single field has been counted among the famous rice granaries of the whole northwest.

The field lies in the commune of the same name, in Than Uyên, in Lai Châu province. It is one of the four large fields of the northwest, with more than 2,000 hectares of land planted in rice. The saying is not an official ranking. Still, it shows the place Mường Than has held in the memory and heart of the highland people for generations.

The landscape here is very different from the steep rice terraces of Mù Cang Chải or Sa Pa. The Mường Than field lies in a gently sloping valley. Than Uyên is a large valley closed in between two mountain ranges, with a dense network of rivers and streams, most of all the Nậm Mu. The paddies spread wide, with mountains, sky and villages far beyond. It is the scenery of a plain, set high in the mountains. Nobody climbs here, and the view simply unrolls.

The soil is rich, light and low in acid, and it suits wet rice very well. That is why Than Uyên became a rice granary long ago, well before anyone spoke of tourism.

The paddies of Mường Than are tied to a few local products. There is baby corn and Hoàng Long sweet potato. There is also Séng Cù rice and Tám rice, and each carries the taste of this valley's earth. Séng Cù rice from Than Uyên has a registered trademark. So rice bought here carries a true origin and is not ordinary market rice.

The field turns gold as autumn arrives, in late August and early September. In August, the commune also stirs with a yearly cycling race named Mùa vàng Tam Than. Riders glide past plots that are changing color, while local people go out to the fields to bring in the one rice harvest of the year. The whole valley seems to join in the festival.

Around the field, Thái villages sit at the foot of the mountains. The Thái are one of Vietnam's ethnic groups, and Lai Châu is one of the provinces where they mainly live. There is Thông Lâm Bản Chít, shaded by trees. The Khau Cọ pass winds across a mountainside. At the area called Đồn Pháp, a name that means French post, there are traces of the past. The village of Nậm Sáng stands beside the Nậm Mu. Each place has its own rhythm of life in the northwest.

An autumn morning at Mường Than begins with mist still resting on the paddies. The whole valley is a shining gold, all the way to the foot of the distant mountains. Above stand the dark green ranges of Phan Xi Păng and Púng Luông. Below, people call to one another as they head out to the fields. That is the beauty of a rice granary that has fed the highlands for generations, and that is still ripening to gold in the heart of the northwest.