Ta Phin Stone Plateau

Gray slabs of stone rise to sharp points, leaning into one another all the way to the horizon. The sight looks a little like the Đồng Văn Karst Plateau in the old Hà Giang province, now part of Tuyên Quang. But here no tour buses crowd the road, no restaurants line it and no fences hold anyone back. There is only stone, Hmong families and sky.

This is the Tả Phìn stone plateau, in the Tủa Chùa area of Điện Biên Province. It stands about 1,400 meters above the sea.

One thing needs clearing up first, because the name can cause a mix-up. Tả Phìn is the name of two places. One is a commune near Sa Pa, in Lào Cai Province, known for its Red Dao village and its brocade. The other is a commune in the Tủa Chùa area of Điện Biên, where this story takes place. They are two different places in two different provinces, hundreds of kilometers apart.

About 70 percent of the Tủa Chùa area is limestone mountain. That is the highest share in all of Điện Biên Province. The field of rock at Tả Phìn alone stretches about 4 kilometers along the road that links the communes. The slabs are called đá tai mèo, which means cat's ear rock. They took shape over millions of years. Acidic rainwater dissolved the limestone along its cracks and wore it away, leaving sharp columns of stone standing upright.

In a landscape made entirely of stone, the Hmong chose to make their home. There are more than 570 households here, with more than 3,300 people. And they are not newcomers.

The Hmong of Tả Phìn do not fight the stone. They live with the stone, on the stone and by the stone. Their houses are built of stacked stone without mortar, and they stand firm through the years. Vegetables grow in narrow strips of earth between the slabs. Paths are paved with natural stone. It is one of the most remarkable examples of the Hmong adapting to their surroundings in northwest Vietnam.

The rugged ground is also why Hmong culture here has stayed more whole than in many other places. Traditional dress, embroidery, seasonal festivals and a way of seeing the world have all been kept. This is not because the people are fully cut off from the outside. The land has helped hold on to an older rhythm of life, slower and longer lasting.

Stone houses sit among the huge slabs. A woman sits embroidering at her door. Children climb the rocks as if they were natural stairs. The wind slips through the cracks and makes a sound that belongs to this place alone. What surprises most at Tả Phìn is the people themselves: the houses they built and the way they farm land that many believe cannot be lived on.

Not far from Tả Phìn lies the Chiếu Tính field, the largest terraced rice field in the Tủa Chùa area. In the best season the sky is clear and the rice ripens gold. The contrast between a sea of whitish-gray stone and golden terraces is among the loveliest sights in northwest Vietnam.

The upright sea of cat's ear rock has stood here for millions of years. The quiet stone houses of the Hmong sit among it, and the wind keeps slipping through every crack.