The Travels of Luong Quang Thang
Thang provides us with a variety of photos taken throughout the country.
All photos are copyright by Luong Quang Thang; all rights reserved. Click this link for information about Luong Quang Thang and his Tour Company.
Children of the Hill Tribe shows a Black H'Mong girl from TaVan village, about 7 km from Sapa. All the people in TaVan are Christian.
Girls return from the mountains with bags of wild grass on their backs. The wild grass is used to make pillows and blankets.
This group of young girls is enjoying popsicles. They are of the minority tribe San Chi, as distinguished by their dress.
The H'Mong people represent one of the largest minority cultures among the 54 minorities in Vietnam. They are a very colorful and interesting people. The H'Mong tribes reside in a number of locations throughout Vietnam, and each group remains a unique tribe based on their different color and style of clothing. Once you become familiar with the style of dress, it is easy to distinguish which tribe and which geographical region the H'Mong come from.
The Flower H'Mong can be found in the area of Bac Ha. This photo shows the Flower H'Mong at the Bac Ha Sunday market.
These men are of the Black H'Mong This is the market on the way from Dong Van to Quan Ba. This region was the last residence of the H'Mong King, who died in 1946.
This man is smoking tobacco. The market time is a time for the men to drink heavily. Some even sleep outdoors overnight right in the market after their drinking binge.
This young Black H'Mong is returning from working in the fields with his father, and shows the strong characteristics of his ethnic group. Thang indicates that this is a "tired but happy" look.
We call this a Dzao "money girl." She is about 23 years old. The Dzao people live mainly in Tam Doung and Dong Van, located in the far north areas of Vietnam.
This traditional Dzao woman wears a lot of silver in bracelets, necklaces, and broaches to show her wealth, and is therefore called a "money girl."
This Nung lady sells tobacco at the market.
This White H'Mong woman walked about 10 km from her village to sell chillies at the market. In traditional colorful hill tribe dress, the White H'Mong come to the market to show off their clothes, meet with friends, and drink heavily.
This group of Bana people, from a hill region between Saigon and Boun Me Thuat. Thang describes this scene as follows: "They look like original American [Indians.] They dance around the fire and scream like animals."
This is a Red Dzao lady. Because she is from a rich and powerful family, she has a right to wear the big hat. The Red Dzal Tribe lives in the mountain regions in northern Vietnam. In each area, they dress a bit differently, but all use red color to decorate their clothing (and thus the Tribal name Red Dzao). Also, the Red Dzao have a habit of shaving their hair and eyebrows. For them, that is beauty.
This is another Red Dzao lady. Because she is a commoner with little money, she only has a cloth on her head.
Another minority group are the La Hu, who live mainly in Muong Te, close to the Laos boarder in Lai Chau Province. Here is a La Hu Village, and a close-up of a La Hu lady.
Copyright 1999, 2000, Luong Quang Thang. All rights reserved.
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