Shopping in Sapa

Sapa shopping is characterized by the ever-present and persistent local women and girls trying to offload all manner of supposedly traditional handicrafts. Sapa is the best  places to visit in vietnam.

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The range of merchandise available in Sapa covers handicrafts from a large number of different hill tribes who trek surprisingly long distances to sell their products here.

Shopping in Sapa is a great experience. Get the best deals, learn about the best places to shop in Sapa Vietnam from our guide below; then stop for some finger food, or relax in one of the Sapa Restaurants. Com to Sapa in autumn is the best time to visit vietnam 

Sapa Shopping Guide

The different brightly colored and highly decorative fabrics and garment from the different hilltribes are popular purchases. Liquor is the hot item in Bac Ha. The list we have collected below should give you a place to start looking for that special something. We haven’t created a list since the central market (of both Sapa and Bac Ha) are really the only places you are likely to find anything you might be looking for.

Clothing

Locally available clothing includes shirts made from Sapa fabric sold by the ethnic minority women, cheap t-shirts in the market, and more up-market cotton and linen shirts with elements of tribal weaving. There are also some good quality knock off jackets in the market.

Jewellery

There are several stalls in the upper part of the market selling silver jewellery, as well as a few shops on Cau May. Many of the H’mong women also sell the bangles from their wrists and the decorative combs in their hair.

Weaving

H’mong and Red Dzao women sell beautifully stitched items on the street side, ranging from small pouches to bags and bed covers. There are also some beautiful textile shops on Cau May with a range of cushion and bed covers.

Hiking Gear

Forgot your rain jacket? Need a day pack for a hike? Want a warm fleece jacket or some solid hiking boots? Hiking equipment is available in numerous stores around the market. It may or may not be genuine, but much of the gear available is high quality.

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Ngoc Vung Island still keeps its wild and peaceful beauty

Ngoc Vung Island (also called Ngoc Island) measures approximately about 45 square kilometers. It is located between 2 small rock islands of Van Don District, Quang Ninh Provinces. They are Hon Net and Phuong Hoang Island. According to the legend, the name Ngoc Vung Island has come from the fact that this area has many rare species of pearl mussel.

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Ngoc Vung island is also called Ngoc Island

Nowadays, growing pearl mussel is the most developed activity here. Besides, fishers also feed some kinds of seafood like shrimp, fish, squid, etc.  The amount of freshwater here is much enough for growing rice. Thanks to the subsistence farming of the locals, this place still keeps its beauty instinctively.

Growing pearl mussels is the most developed activity here

Ngoc Vung beach is located at the south of the island. It’s the most attractive place with quiet seashore and green lines of casuarina.

Ngoc Vung Island is located between Hon Net and Phuong Hoang Island

There aren’t very many people living in this small town. It also has few motels so this place is more suitable for discovering rather than relaxing. Around Ngoc Vung Island, you can enjoy the beauty of Van Xuan Mountain, Cong Yen old pier, Mac and Nguyen dynasty Ancient Citadels, etc. The only public transportation on these one ways along the beach is auto rickshaw.

A quiet seashore

Seafood here is quite cheap and tasty. There are very few food shops so you might order the meal at local’s house.

Cheap and tasty seafood

To come to this Island, tourists can rent the ship or buy the ticket at some piers including Ha Long, Ben Do, and Cai Rong.  It takes about 2 hours to arrive to Ngoc Vung Island.

Wild and peaceful scene of the seashore

Ngoc Vung has no internet connection or phone signal. There’s only the moon, the waves, the sky full of stars and the sound of frogs at night. Enjoying this wild and peaceful scene is the best way to forget the your busy and tired life.

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Ha Long Bay – An beautiful painting of nature

Two times recognized by UNESCO as the World Heritage Site, and came top New 7 Wonders of Nature that might be all enough to let us know how awesome Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay is. Indeed, its outstanding aesthetic importance and exceptional natural beauty makes this Wonder a great pride of the whole nation.

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Ha Long Bay is situated in the Gulf of Tonkin, covering an area of over 43,000 hectares with 1,696 islands and islets that all have formed a magnificent seascape of limestone pillars. In fact, Ha Long’s exceptional beauty is created by the perfect blend of immense water, variety shaped limestone islands and very bright sky, making a very best work of art. Ha Long’s sea seems always the same years to years. It’s so smooth, blue and still all the time.

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Ha Long Bay – A Priceless Treasure of Vietnam

Amazingly, the very own beauty of Ha Long Bay, somehow, changes by seasons. If green buds of plants burst on limestone islands in spring, giving the sea a fresh look, summer’s sparkling sunlight reflecting on the calm sea surface seems to brighten up every corner of the Bay. But in autumn, the clear moonlight brilliantly shines on limestone islands that look like gleaming pearls on the sea. As winter comes with heavy frost, Ha Long possesses a mysterious but so glamorous look.

Mysterious beauty of Ha Long Bay on a winter day

In a nutshell, the beauty of Ha Long, definitely, can’t be fully expressed by words. With a large number of untouched limestone islands and islets rising from the sea, Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay really presents an unbelievable seascape given by Mother Nature, coming together with invaluable geomorphologic and biodiversity values. That’s everything we can say about it!!! The only way to exactly know how awesome it looks is that just come and see by your own eyes!!!

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Phu Lang Pottery Village, Bac Ninh

Phu Lang has become a brand name like Bat Trang in terms of pottery and ceramics products. 

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However, thanks to its distance from the urban centre, much of the pristine scenery as well as traditional production have moved forward for centuries without being over-commercialized. Through times, there are only a few families left who continued their tradition. The yard is packed with firewood and clay. Indoors, there are a large collection of pottery wares, from flower vases to tea pots. Bat Trang is special by its simplicity: from the decorative style to the natural brown color of clay. Villagers are very friendly: they will take you in and give you a quick tour to see how their every activities unfold.

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Viem Xa Village_ the original birthplace of Quan Ho folk singing

Travelers coming to Bac Ninh might hear local people tell them that if they do not visit Viem Xa Village, they miss half of Bac Ninh. 

The village is not just a rural residential area located in Yen Phong, Bac Ninh, but most importantly, it is the original birthplace of Quan Ho folk singing, one of the most fascinating cultural activities that has allured numerous generations of Vietnamese people for a thousand years. No one knows exactly when Quan Ho was invented, but it has become an indispensable part of daily lives of local residents.

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Annual festival held in Viem Xa village to celebrate traditions

Most researchers agree that Viem Xa village has been established for more than 2,000 years with various historical relics that have been conserved until today. One of them is Cung Temple including Cung Shrine and Tien Well (Fairy Well) that is situated at the front of the village and right on the foot of Kim Son Mountain. However, the most attractive and famous relics at Viem Xa Village is Vua Ba Temple where Duc Vua Ba, the creator of Quan Ho, is worshipped. This is actually not a charming place with giant structure, but still a cultural center of the village where numerous traditional activities of not only Viem Xa but also the whole Quan Ho’ area around are organized.

Vua Ba Temple hosts festive activities

On February 6th and 7th annually (Lunar Calendar), local residents at Viem Xa Village excitedly hold a special festival at Vua Ba Temple. The event is meant to worship and recall the merit of Duc Vua Ba as well as to create an interesting and joyful time for local people before difficult year ahead. An easy-recognizable point is that all activities at this festival are related to Quan Ho such as singing Quan Ho competition, Quan Ho performance or rites to creator of this singing genre. It can be said that Duc Vua Ba Temple festival is the biggest and most uproarious event dedicated to Quan Ho in Vietnam.

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Hue Festival is a very big international cultural occasion

Hue Festival is a very big international cultural occasion, held biannual in Hue City in the purpose of honoring the priceless historical and cultural values of Hue – the former capital city of Vietnam under the Nguyen Dynasty.

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 Hue Festival Grand Opening Ceremony in 2014

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Usually, Hue Festival season occurs for a week in April, May or even June. It firstly took place in 1992 with the name of Vietnamese – French Festival, then, officially has called as “Hue Festival” since 2000. Until now, it has always seen as one of biggest cultural festivals in Vietnam coming with lots of community-based activities as well as traditional events that are formally organized both outside and inside the city of Hue. They are including Nam Giao Worshiping Ceremony, Sea Festival, Ao Dai Festival, Truyen Lo Ceremony, Kite Competition, and a lot of other interesting things.

Nam Giao Worshiping Ceremony – Hue Festival

Right from the beginning of this special occasion, visitors are all likely to enjoy a really grand and gorgeous opening ceremony with excellent performances, delivered by several Vietnamese and international art groups.

During Hue Festival, there are always a wide range of great traditional activities, cultural events, and art performances taking place at every corner of the city, reflecting the cultural diversity of Hue City and the whole nation as well. More impressively, the festival is also a great cultural destination, gathering thousands of artists from so many countries all around the world such as France, UK, the US, Brazil, … that make it much more interesting.

Colorful performance in Hue Festival

Additionally, as participating in the festival, visitors also have the chance to explore Vietnam’s unique traditional values through many great activities like Art Exhibitions, Ao Dai Grand Show, Hue Poetry Festival, the Week of historical films, etc. Especially, Nguyen Dynasty’s ancient sceneries are also perfectly imitated, providing a detailed insight about feudal are of Vietnam. Also, we can’t fail to mention to variety typical events such as Nam Giao, Xa Tac Offering Ritual, Hue’s Royal Refined Music, … which attract to many tourists from all over the world.

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Danang International Firework Competition, Vietnam

Officially started since 2008, Danang International Firework Competition or also known as Danang Firework Festival has been held annually at the end of April in the coastal province of Danang – Vietnam.

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A great moment of Danang International Firework Competition

Every year, there are always 3 or 4 international teams together with the host of Danang taking part in the competition that absolutely brings out great colorful firework parties for the audience. That’s also much more awesome as those firework shows perfectly blended into Han river’s glorious scenery and starry night sky of Danang, which now has been considered as one of the most tourist attractions in Vietnam.

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As a competition, all participants of Danang International Firework Competition have to compete against as well as try the best to deliver remarkable performances with different themes so as to really impress and satisfy the audience. For eight year organized in Vietnam, the competition has increasingly grabbed the attention and participation of not only Vietnamese people but also international friends from all over the world coming to enjoy these colorful parties.

Breathtaking scenery of Han river during Danang International Firework Competition

Additionally, there are also lots of recreational activities coming with the festival, including art performance, water games, fireworks photo exhibition and so on. They are also seen as a great plus that makes Danang International Firework Competition, of course, much more interesting and attractive for anyone taking part in this so special occasion.

Plus, located right next to group of three heritages of the world that has been recognized by UNESCO, consisting of Hoi An ancient town, My Son Sanctuary, and Hue Citadel, Danang International Fireworks Competition is exactly an ideal stop for visitors in the journey across famous destinations in the central of Vietnam.

From now on, the Danang International Firework Competition just comes every two years.

Most recently, Danang International Firework Competition 2015 did attract 5 teams, representing 5 continents that are the US, Australia, South Africa, Poland, and the host of Vietnam. This year, the competition grabbed the attention of more than hundred thousands of people coming to Danang during the festival. After 2015, Danang Firework Festival will become a bi-yearly event, giving more time for the organizers to have much better preparation.

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