The name Bac Ha comes from the Tay word "Pạc kha", meaning "one hundred bundles of gianh". Legend has it that, in the old days, there were a lot of bees on the Mother and Child Mountain (a symbolic mountain of Bac Ha). In order to go through, people had to burn large bundles of families to chase away bees. The name Pạc kha was born in such a simple way. During the French colonial period, the French recorded Pạc kha with the Latin alphabet of Pakha. Later, the Vietnamese re-read Bac Ha and became the official name of this land.



Other places in Bac Ha are derived from the Quan Hoa transliteration. Like the name Ban Pho, Ban means sell or half, street means slope. Ban Pho means lying halfway up a slope, so the Mong village here is named Ban Pho, which is a village lying halfway up the slope. Now when mentioning Ban Pho, people immediately think of a village famous for its famous corn wine making profession.

About 2km from the center of Bac Ha district is Ta Chai commune. Ta Chai means big village. Previously, this area was densely populated, it was the largest village here. Therefore, people took this outstanding feature to name the village. Nowadays, every time you mention this place, you will never forget the Tày people's radiant dances, classical dances or the Tay festival to be held on January 15 of the lunar calendar every year.

And when coming to Bac Ha, visitors can not ignore the Flower Valley located in the commune of Cai Giang Pho. The name Giai Giang Pho did not come out of nowhere, it means Sunrise Mountain. "Thai Giang" in Chinese means "sun". This land is wide, quite flat, and the surroundings are open, so it is always the place to receive the most sunlight. Also because of those factors, during the French colonial period, the French chose Thai Giang Pho as a helipad, so later on, Bac Ha people also called it with another name, Airport village.

Along the exclusive road to Si Ma Cai district, visitors will pass through Ta Van Chu commune - a small "peninsula" right next to your district. A name is no exception, according to the Chinese Ta Van Chu meaning "vast valley". Such translation is probably still not the full meaning of this phrase because "van" means winding, winding. It is easy to understand the name because the road to here is the winding slopes successively like a soft silk strip winding around the valley. Every time the fog falls, it is extremely poetic.



Le forest in Ta Van Chu attracts tourists

Bac Ha has many places that few people know, names that everyone hears also feel special like Ban Lien, Hoang Thu Pho, ..... See you in Bac Ha to learn about their interesting meanings. Bac Ha is rustic and simple, but everything about this place always makes anyone who comes to miss it.

Ban Lien is beautiful with terraced fields.

Ly Phuong Chi