Located 80 kilometers from Sapa, Bac Ha is known for its Sunday market, considered to be the biggest and most colorful in the mountainous highlands and Chinese border. In fact, it’s so famous that masses of residents from the other hill tribes will brave several hours of walk just to be able to attend the weekly festivity.

The Sunday market begins very early in the morning, wherein all streets and mountain pathways become congested with people and horses carrying goods going to the event. Different products such as food, animals, clothes, and household goods are being traded at the fair. Animals usually on trade are pigs, chicken, cows, ducks, dogs, and just about every other four-legged creature, which are sold either live or as meat. Clothes such as hand-embroidered skirts are some of the hot items at the market.

Many different ethnic groups such as the Flower H’mong, Phu La, Black Dao, Tay and Nung converge at Bac Ha Market either to sell or buy local goods that are hard or even impossible to find elsewhere. This is also why the Sunday market is especially famous because of its one-of-a-kind products. Aside from mainly shopping, people also go to there to eat and talk, usually in groups, and sit around a soup pan called “thang co.” Tourists are aplenty, but unusually, they are not the main stars in this event since the local residents are more focused on their businesses in this once-a-week gathering.

Corn whiskey is one Bac Ha specialty that is a bestseller at the Sunday market. They are placed in either jugs or used bottled water containers. Potential customers are given a shot for free to entice them to buy the local concoction. “Thang co” blood porridge is another interesting item at the fair, a popular dish of the H’mong and other local ethnic groups. The H’mong tribe in particular bring extra life to the Sunday festivities with their very colorful costumes.   

Bac Ha Market is actually more than a place for buying and selling goods. In fact more importantly, it is a time when family and friends can be together in a celebratory mood at least once a week, a beautiful merging of different yet connected cultures that makes Bac Ha truly a place to remember.