Located about 70 km from Lao Cai city, Bac Ha market is held every Sunday in the center of Bac Ha town. Although attracting a large number of tourists to visit, the fair still retains the original and rustic features of the Bac Ha white plateau. If you go to Bac Ha fair in winter, you will enjoy specialties that sometimes you don't have in other seasons.

First of all, there are medicinal plants that can only be grown in cold countries such as au tau, tam That, and dong quai. These are rare medicinal plants. Most of them are harvested in winter to ensure the best quality. So if you want to buy these medicinal plants, you should go to Bac Ha market in winter.

In addition, Bac Ha market is also famous for special dishes that are delicious when eaten in winter such as; Pho, Thang Co, corn wine….

After walking around the market, also tired, turn to a restaurant and treat yourself to a bowl of hot mixed pho or a steaming bowl of Thang Co. At the same time, ordering a glass of fragrant corn wine, sipping and chatting with honest people, you will surely feel like this place is like a paradise that you don't want to leave.

Thang Co always attracts tourists, especially you will have a better feeling on a cold day, because of the special flavor of the mountains. The spicy, aromatic taste of cardamom, cinnamon, shovel seeds, doi seeds ... the H'mong basil leaves have made simple ingredients an unforgettable dish, especially when enjoyed with loved ones during the holiday.

Dragon fruit is also one of the famous vegetables in Bac Ha. Called spinach because the stem has flowers of old vegetables, spinach has many types such as kohlrabi, cabbage, ...

The gong is often stir-fried with garlic, meat, or boiled rather than cooked. Soft fried gongs have a sweet taste at the top, a strong sweetness at the top mixed with a very strange light bitter taste. This is one of the gifts tourists should buy when traveling to Lao Cai in winter. The reason why the highland districts have new vegetables is because the weather here in the winter is very cold, which is the right condition for the vegetables to grow. The same vegetable but if you grow it in the lowlands, it will not succeed. Therefore, most tourists coming to Lao Cai in winter want to enjoy spinach once.

If you want to fully enjoy the specialties of Bac Ha, Bac Ha market is the place you should go first. Not only full of specialties, but this place also gives you many other interesting experiences, because Bac Ha market still retains the wildest, simplest and purest features.

Phan Phuong