Y Ty

At the far western edge of Bát Xát, in Lào Cai, clouds are not something to watch from a distance. They are something to walk through. In Y Tý, villages, terraced fields and mountain paths all melt into the cold air of the high border country.

Y Tý is a highland and border commune in the Bát Xát area, in Lào Cai province. Two roads climb to it from Bản Vược. One goes by way of Mường Hum and runs about 50 kilometers. The other goes by way of Trịnh Tường and runs about 52. Both roads twist through steep, broken country. Early in the morning, cloud often hangs thick over the road, and after every bend the hills open out as if no one had ever looked at them before.

The first place to know in Y Tý is the village of Choản Thèn. It is one of the old villages of the commune, and it took shape about 300 years ago. Its people are all Hà Nhì Đen. The Hà Nhì are one of Vietnam's ethnic groups, and they live in the high mountains of the north. In 2021 the People's Committee of Lào Cai province officially recognized Choản Thèn as a tourist site. To walk into the village is to walk into a living culture, not an open-air museum.

The heart of the Y Tý landscape is the terraced fields of the Thề Pả valley. Together they cover more than 233 hectares. They lie mostly in the villages of Lao Chải and Choản Thèn. Sín Chải has terraces too. One more village, Phìn Chải, lies in the Ngải Thầu area. In October 2015 the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism ranked the Thề Pả terraces a national scenic site. Each plot is the work of many generations of highland farmers, and not only a view to photograph.

The best time to see them is said to be from late August to early September, when the rice in Thề Pả turns gold. This is also the only rice harvest of the year for the Hmong and Hà Nhì families who farm here. A family's whole year is gathered into that one crop.

Hà Nhì Đen culture in Y Tý stands out for how much of it is still kept. In Choản Thèn that means traditional houses, basketry, brocade embroidery, liquor making, clothing and food. It also means folk songs, folk dances, festivals and village games.

One festival belongs to the whole Hà Nhì community. The Khô Già Già is a festival to pray for a good harvest. In 2014 the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recognized it as national intangible cultural heritage. It is held in many Hà Nhì villages in Y Tý and A Lù. It is also held in A Mú Sung and in other communes of Bát Xát. The sound of gongs and the khèn carries through the cold border air, calling the harvest home.

Four trekking routes cross the mountainside here. One runs from Mò Phú Chải down to Lao Chải. Another leads from Choản Thèn to the Thiên Sinh waterfall. Others climb from the commune to the peaks of Cú Nhù San and Lảo Thẩn. Lảo Thẩn stands about 2,860 meters high, and people call it the roof of Y Tý. At the end of 2024 it was ranked a provincial scenic site.

Early in the morning at Thề Pả, cloud rises from the valley and spreads across the fields. Only the strips of ripe gold rice stand up out of the white.