Travelling to the Northwest highlands of Vietnam, visitors are charmed not only by the sceneries and ardent traditional fermented drinks, but also by the enchanting beauty of highland girls.
The sight of beautiful young girls in their colorful clothes smiling decorously in the bright spring sun, and then quickly looking down, while swiftly reaping the golden rice on the terraced fields can speed up one’s heart beat while slowing his footsteps.
Eyebrows as delicate as sparrows’ wings
I met Lo van Nhay, an artist of tinh tau (a folk music instrument of the ethnic people), in the borderland of Phong Tho in the northwestern province Lai Chau on an afternoon, when he was tuning his tinh tau for a dance festival later that night. I happily followed this over-70-year-old artist, crossing Nam So River, part of the upper Da River, to reach his mountain village.
Standing in front of a large stilt house under the branches of orchid trees, he informed the host of our presence by strumming his tinh tau. I was stunned by the beauty of the girls rushing out to greet the visitors. Each of them owned a special beauty, both mysterious and charming, with their healthy figures, fair complexion and sweet voices like the singing of birds.
Mong Do beauty
I was captivated especially by their eyes, sparkling and deep like the shadows of the mountains at sunset, and decorated by the curved dark brows as delicate as forest birds’ wings in flight.
Thai girls in the Northwest have long been reputed for their orchid-like fair complexion, sweet voices and slender figures like the mountainous flame-grass. However, this was the first time I had the privilege to see so many of them. I was especially fortunate to see them at their rehearsal for the xoe dance festival night – the night for their distinct folk dance.
Looking at the bare-foot dancers moving in the harmonious rhythm of the tinh tau, I felt tipsy even before finishing the glass of San Lung wine, quite possibly due to the breath-taking beauty of the land and the people.
According to Vang Thi Hoi, an elderly dancer, Lai Chau used to be the highland capital of powerful landlords like Deo Van On and Deo Van Long, who selected many beautiful girls to be their dancers, one of whom was Vang Thi Hoi herself. Many pretty Thai girls today are the descendants of the beautiful dancers of yesterday.
The Thai minority group settle themselves along Da, Thao, Ma, and Gam rivers in the northwest provinces such as Son La, Dien Bien, Lai Chau, Lao Cai and Tuyen Quang.
Composed of the Black Thai (Tay Dam) and the White Thai (Tay Khao), the ethnic group sets up their villages in valleys and cultivates wet rice for food. Hence, Thai women play an important role in their family. It is from their hands that colorful brocades are produced and become well-known outside the national borders.
Beautiful flowers on the mountains
Another day, as I was wandering in the remote area of Lao Cai, I met A Mu Sung, a border soldier, at Lung Po, where the clear, green spring from Hoang Lien Son mountain range winds itself like a dragon before joining the alluvial opaque Red River. He told me, “You are not the only one who gets lost in the northwest highland. Many others also forget the time when they get here.”
Thai ethnic girls in a stream
Joining A Mu Sung, I found myself drifting through the villages of Dao, Mong and Ha Nhi people. It was the harvest season of pineapples. In the chilly air, the girls’ cheeks flushed like peach blossoms on their silky-smooth skin.
Spending a night at Nam Mit, a village of Ha Nhi people on the mountainside, I could hardly take my eyes off Vu Ca Chy, the beautiful Ha Nhi girl who was mending her lover’s shirt. Born to a poor family, this young maid possesses an exquisite beauty with a slim figure and a straight nose on her graceful face.
The Ha Nhi ethnic group lives in Lao Cai, Lai Chau, and Dien Bien. Although sub-groups amongst them used to lead a nomadic life on high mountainsides, nowadays most Ha Nhi people make their home in thick clay-walled houses. They are conversant with cultivation and possess a special dyeing technique by which they make elegant indigo garments with green straps, using natural dyeing materials from forest trees.
There are several theories about their specific charm, such as the one that says they are the descendants of a tall, well-built race from the further North. Personally, I prefer the idea that their way of life in a mountainous environment gives them a healthy, strong and nicely built figure.
Each flower a special beauty of its own
The high mountains and thick forests of Northwest Vietnam still hide from us their numerous highland beauties.
When I first came to this territory, I secretly wished to find fairy lands teeming with beautiful young ladies. The more I traveled, the more I realized that beauties can be found everywhere and do not belong to any unique area or ethnic group. We can see beautiful girls in Phong Tho in Lai Chau; Chiem Hoa and Na Hang in Tuyen Quang; and Thanh Son in Phu Tho.
And it is also true that anywhere in the Northwest highlands we can be dazzled by the stunning beauty of a girl either from a Thai, Tay, Dao, Giay, Cao Lan, Pa Then, or Mong village. Like a wild flower in the forest or a free bird in the sky, each of them possesses her own gentle, charming beauty.
A girl from the Thai ethnic minority group
Mong Do women
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