Visitors to Ha Giang should not miss the markets of ethnic minorities here and Khau Vai love market is one of those special markets. A love market, which is an elegant famous market in Ha Giang, only activates once a year on March 27 of lunar calendar.

The market is located in Khau Vai village, Khau Vai commune, Ha Giang province, 180 km from Ha Giang town, at the end of the pass. Once a year, on March 27 of the lunar calendar, the men and women from all the villages meet and exchange with each other. Khau Vai love market has appeared for nearly a hundred years, also known as Phong Luu market. The market is derived from a romantic love story which is full of humanity. Today, Khau Vai love market has modified a lot but it still remains its own unique features.

Backpacking tourism to Ha Giang and explore the origin of Khau Vai love market  

On the highland, people tell each other about an old love story. At that time, Khau Vai was not as large as it is at present and only the Nung and Giay lived together. They lived separately in villages and had no interaction. Everything started to change when a man, who is a Nung guy, fell in love with Miss Ut, the Giay guy. Their new love blooms as beautiful as the flower of Khau Vai mountain forest. However, when parents of the couple know their story, they try to prevent it. Because of the habits and customs of ethnic people, the netizens in a particular group have to marry each other. The prevention of two families made the couple decide to flee to the mountain to live.

The circumstance got more serious when the conflict between the two families became the conflict between the two villages of the Nung and the Giay. From the mountain, the couple saw the bloodshed of the two villages. Their love raised the two villages’ hatred for each other. Despite the feeling of misery, they had to split up.

They promised to meet once a year on Khau Vai mountain, to confide and share secret things over the past year. They sat beside each other, sang songs until night and returned to their daily lives when the morning came. The last day of their lives, they stayed together, embraced each other and went to another world. The day they died was on March 27, which was also the day they decided to break up. After that, the villagers knew the story, due to the admiration, they built two temples, and opened the annual love market on March 27 on Khau Vai mountain.

Backpacking tourism to Ha Giang- experience in Khau Vai love market

Today, Ha Giang Khau Vai Love Market is a famous market because of its unique and strange things. From the afternoon of March 26, people put on their costumes bustling down to the market. From all the streets and on the high roads, laughter fills up every corner, making this place more lively. All are heading to the love market, towards the person they have loved, loved and will love.

People from far away villages come to the market from the previous afternoon, they sleep at their acquaintances near the market. Couples who find each other can stay and talk together all night 26 and all day March 27. They invite each other to drink wine, eat rice balls, rice balls, cakes (all food and drinks are made and brought from home to the market). Their feelings are completely pure and innocent. People who come to the love market may be single, have a lover, or have got married. This is also the place where men and women who loved each other but could not come together meet to recall memories. If one of the two has a groping, the other is considered offended; therefore, the relationship will be broken and they never see each other again.

It is also possible that husband and wife go to the market together, but then split up to find their ex-lovers. They are not jealous and forbidden, which is also a nice feature of the Khau Vai love market. Nowadays, girls are free to learn about and decide their own marriage without the objections of their parents. Therefore, Khau Vai love market is the place that makes the charm of many couples. On the afternoon of March 27, the market ended, the couple had to say goodbye and meet again at the next market time.

There are two parts of Khau Vai love market festival

Ceremony part

Presenting ceremonies to the temples, demonstrating the ethic of “When you eat a fruit, think of the man who planted the tree”, the local people are grateful for those who had exploited the land of Khau Vai along with honoring the pure fidelity of a couple’s love. The host is the village’s elder and the government representative.

Festival 

After the ceremony, the host of the ceremony announces the opening of traditionally cultural and sport activities that are performed together by young men and women.

Love market is like an inseparable beauty of Ha Giang, contributing to promoting this area to tourists all over the country.

In addition, Ha Giang tourists can come to the Meo Vac night market, while enjoying the famous traditional dishes of this place such as: pa pinh top, thang co, men men, smoked buffalo, corn wine, smoked pork,…. It is the intersection between the history and the modern along with the lingering of a legendary love story on Dong Van rocky plateau that created a strong attraction of the Khau Vai love market.