1. Where is Khau Vai love market held?
Held on a hill in Khau Vai village, Khau Vai commune, Meo Vac town, Ha Giang, Khau Vai Love Market is one of the oldest markets in the locality with more than 100 years of establishment and development. Unlike Meo Vac Market, which usually opens on Sunday every week, Khau Vai Love Market only holds one day a year.
More honorably, Khau Vai Love Market was also honored to be recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage, becoming a magnet that attracts the attention of many people when coming to the northernmost location of the Organization. country. Furthermore, the existence of this special market also contributes to highlighting the liveliness and bustle, while fully preserving the unique culture of people's lives here.
2. What types of means of transport can you use to get to Khau Vai love market?
Khau Vai love market is held in Khau Vai village, about 200km from Ha Giang city center. Therefore, you will spend a lot of time traveling to participate in this special market.
The two most popular types of vehicles are motorbikes and cars. You can travel according to the following route: Ha Giang City - Tam Son - Yen Minh - Sung La and Pho Bang intersection - Sa Phin intersection - Lung Cu - Lung Cu flagpole - Dong Van ancient town - Ma pass Pi Leng โ Meo Vac.
3. When is the Khau Vai love affair usually held?
Normally, festivals in the Northeast highlands are often held in the spring. This is the time when the harvest has ended and people also become more leisurely. Therefore, they often organize festivals, mainly to pray for good luck and good weather for the upcoming new year. And of course, so is Khau Vai Love Market. Therefore, ethnic minorities living around Meo Vac district in particular and Dong Van karst plateau in general often have verses that say:
โWait until the end of flax season
Waiting for you through peach season
Crossing Ma Pi Leng peak
I went to Khau Vai love market"
As usual, every day on the 27th day of the third lunar month, people gather together for the Khau Vai Love Market. This tradition has existed for more than 100 years since the first days the market was organized, which was in 1919.
Previously, Khau Vai love market was only held on one day, the 27th day of the third lunar month. But today, aiming to promote local culture, Khau Vai love market has been extended for 2 more days, that is, held within 3 days, suitable for everyone to visit and experience during the trip. Journey to discover Ha Giang.
4. Go back in time and learn about the origins of Khau Vai Love Market
In high mountain places, there will never be a shortage of mythical stories. And of course, Khau Vai Love Market also has its own story, which is about the legend of Mr. Ba - a Nung man and Ut - a Giay girl.
Their love story was also full of hardships and hardships as they only dared to date in the rocky and rampart area of โโKhau Vai commune. They were forbidden due to the strict notions of their clan. When the couple's love was discovered, both faced fierce opposition.
There was no other way, Mr. Ba had to lead Ms. Ut up the slopes of Khau Vai mountain to resolutely protect this love affair. That unintentionally highlighted even more the fierce conflict between the two families. The couple could not bear to see the tragic scene happening to their loved ones, so they had to wipe away their tears and parted ways. At that time, the two made an appointment every year, and on the exact day they broke up, they would come back to find each other at Khau Vai mountain. The day the young couple broke up every year was the 27th day of the third lunar month.
After the two passed away, people in the area together established the temple Ong temple and Ba temple and since 1919, they have organized this special love market on the 27th day of the third lunar month, as if to continue the love market. The love story is still unfinished.
5. Special things at Khau Vai Love Market
Khau Vai love market - Where husbands meet old friends, wives meet old people but no one is jealous
As usual, Khau Vai Love Market gradually becomes a place where people come together after a year, or maybe many years, of being apart. Before 1991, the people who came to the market were mainly people who had difficult relationships and had no way to get together, possibly due to religious constraints, etc. Now, when everyone has their own fate, on this day, they come here to confide and tell each other about each other's personal lives. This is also an opportunity for them to review the feelings of the past years and the nostalgia caused by the separation. Coming here, they will sit down and tell many stories about the joys and sorrows in life, whispering together under the witness of mountain rocks.
A special feature of Khau Vai love market is that there are many couples who come to the market together, but when they arrive, they both turn in different directions. The wife meets an old person, the husband meets an old person to talk about things. Yet there was no jealousy or blame at all. They both have respect for each other and their ex. Because according to them, it is sacred, a duty and responsibility towards the spiritual life of their partner. However, everything can only take place during the market day, after that day, the 'heart door' must be closed, and there is no right to miss or regret anything.
If in the past, people coming to the market were only ethnic people living around Meo Vac district, then from 1992 onwards, more surrounding people came to Khau Vai, even people from Cao Bang, Bac Kan, and Tuyen. Quang also came. The people who come are mainly couples of the Tay, Nung, Giay ethnic groups from the communes of Nam Ban, Tat Nga, Niem Son, Lung Pu, Son Vi, Thuong Phung or communes of Bao Lac and Cao Bang districts.
Unique activities at Khau Vai Love Market
Khau Vai love market is divided into two parts, including the Ceremony part and the Festival part.
During the Ceremony part, people will together offer offerings to Ong Temple and Ba Temple as reminders of their roots. They are the people who reclaimed land and built Khau Vai village. During the ceremony, the village elder will take on the role of master of ceremonies, offering incense to ask for permission to open the festival.
During the Festival, people will participate in special activities such as nightingale fighting, cultural exchanges, art performances and other interesting folk games. In this part, groups of men and women from five to seven people will gather together to sing, passionately and passionately. The Giay and Nung people sing Coi, and the Tay people sing Sli luan, which is a love affair with songs revolving around the themes of nostalgia and love.
Khau Vai love market is truly a special market when there, it seems that buying and selling is not so important. There, they exchanged feelings, sent each other sincere blessings, and at the same time, it was an opportunity for young men and women to have the opportunity to meet and get to know each other. Who knows, if you go alone, you can't predict when you come back with a couple. During your journey to explore Ha Giang, if you have the opportunity, you must definitely visit this special market once.