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Sa Pa pronunciation
or Sapa (Westernized spelling) is a frontier town and district in the
Lào Cai province in northwest Vietnam. Sapa is one of the main market
towns in the area, where many ethnic minority groups such as H'mong, Dao
and Tay live.
Geography of Sapa
Sa Pa District is located in Lao Cai Province, north-west Vietnam, and
350 km north-west of Hanoi, close to the border with China. The Hoang
Lien Son range of mountains dominates the district, which is at the
eastern extremity of the Himalayas. This range includes Vietnam's
highest mountain, Fan si pan, at a height of 3142m above sea level. The
town of Sa Pa lies at an altitude of about 1600 m. The climate is
moderate and rainy in summer (May—August), and foggy and cold with
occasional snowfalls in winter.
Sa Pa is a quiet mountain town and home to a great diversity of ethnic
minority peoples. The total population of 36,000 consists mostly of
minority groups. Besides the Kinh (Viet) people (15%) there are mainly 5
ethnic groups in Sapa: Hmong 52%, Dao 25%, Tay 5%, Giay 2% and a small
number of Xa Pho. Approximately 7,000 live in Sapa, the other 36,000
being scattered in small communes throughout Sapa district.
In Sapa, most of the ethnic minority people work their land on sloping
terraces since the vast majority of the land is mountainous. Their
staple foods are rice and corn. Rice, by its very nature of being a
labour intensive crop, makes the daily fight for survival paramount. The
unique climate in Sapa has a major influence on the ethnic minorities
who live in Sapa. With sub-tropical summers, temperate winters and 160
days of mist annually, the influence on agricultural yields and health
related issues are significant.
The minority in Sapa can only yield one crop of rice annually, which
leads to food shortfalls in many communes at specific times. This
shortage of food contributes to malnutrition and other related health
problems. Sapa’s climatic conditions also contribute to many health
issues including coughs, colds, and bronchial and respiratory problems
that are commonplace throughout the community.
The geographical location of Sapa makes it a truly unique place for many
interesting plants and animals, allowing it to support many inhabitants.
Many very rare or even endemic species have been recorded in the region.
The scenery of the Sa Pa region in large part reflects the relationship
between the minority people and nature. This is seen especially in the
paddy fields carpeting the rolling lower slopes of the Hoang Lien
Mountains. Sapa’s impressive physical landscape which underlies this has
resulted from the work of the elements over thousands of years, wearing
away the underlying rock. On a clear day, the imposing peak of Fan Si
Pan comes into view. The last major peak in the Himalayan chain, Fan Si
Pan offers a real challenge to even the keenest walker, the opportunity
of astounding views, and a rare glance of some of the last remaining
primary rain forest in Sapa, Vietnam.
Geology, climate and human activity have combined to produce a range of
very distinct habitats around Sa Pa. Especially important is SaPa’s
geographic position, at the convergence of the worlds 14 “biomes”
(distinct biographic areas), producing an assemblage of plant and animal
species unique in the world.
The Hoang Lien Mountains are home to a rich variety of plants, birds,
mammals, amphibians, reptiles and insects, many only found in Sapa,
Vietnam. For this reason, the Hoang Lien Nature Reserve was designated
in 1986, covering much of the mountain range to the immediate south of
Sa Pa.
History of Sapa
It is most likely that Sa Pa was first inhabited by highland minorities
of the Hmong and Zao groups, as well as by smaller numbers of Tay and
Giay, these being the four main minority groups still present in SaPa
district today. The Kinh (lowland Vietnamese) never originally colonised
this highest of Vietnam’s valleys, which lies in the shadow of
Phan-Xi-Pǎng (Fansipan, 3143 meters), the highest peak in Vietnam.
It was only when the French debarked in highland Tonkin in the late
1880s that SaPa, or Chapa as the French called it, began to appear on
the national map. In the following decade, the future site of Sapa town
underway to see military parties as well as missionaries from the
Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris (MEP) visit. The French
military marched from the Red River Delta into the northern mountainous
regions as part of Tonkin’s ‘pacification’. In 1894-96 the border
between China and Tonkin was formally agreed upon and the Sapa area,
just to the south of this frontier, was placed under French authority.
From 1891 the entire Lào Cai region, including Sa Pa, came under direct
colonial military administration so as to curtail banditry and political
resistance on the sensitive northern frontier.
The first permanent French civilian resident arrived in Sapa in 1909.
With its attractive continental climate, health authorities believed the
site had potential. By 1912 a military sanatorium for ailing officers
had been erected along with a fully fledged military garrison. Then,
from the 1920s onwards, several wealthy professionals with enough
financial capital also had a number of private villas built in Sapa.
At the end of the Second World War a long period of hostilities began in
Tonkin that was to last until 1954. In the process, nearly all of the
200 or so colonial buildings in or around SaPa were destroyed, either by
Việt Minh sympathisers in the late 1940s, or, in the early 1950s by
French air raids. The vast majority of the Viet population fled for
their lives, and Sapa town entered a prolonged sleep.
In the early 1960s, thanks to the New Economic Zones migration scheme
set up by the new Socialist regime, new inhabitants from the lowlands
started to migrate to Sapa region. The short 1979 occupation of the
northern border region by Chinese troops had little impact on Sa Pa
town, but did force the Kinh (lowland Vietnamese) population out for a
month.
In 1993 the last obstacle to SaPa's full rebirth as a prominent holiday
destination was lifted as the decision was made to open the door fully
to international tourism. SaPa was back on the tourist trail again, this
time for a newly emerging local elite tourist crowd, as well as
international tourists.
In 2006, the Chairman of The People's Committee of Sapa Province was
elected to The Communist Party Central Committee as the youngest ever
member (born in 1973).
Climate of Sapa
The climate of Sapa is unique to Vietnam. It is highly seasonal, with a
subtropical climate in the summer and a temperate climate during the
winter. Mean annual temperature for Sa Pa town is 15.4°C, with a maximum
of 29.4°C and a minimum of 1°C. The warmest months are July and August,
and the coldest months are December and January. Snow falls in some
years on the highest peaks and Sapa Town.
In common with the rest of northern Vietnam, Hoang Lien Nature Reserve
experiences a marked wet season from May to September, with the heaviest
rainfall occurring in July and August. Mean annual rainfall is 2,763 mm,
with a high of 4,023mm and a low of 2,064mm in Sapa. Humidity ranges
from 75 to 91 percent with a yearly mean of 86 percent in Sapa.
Climate varies considerably within Sapa nature reserve. The prevalent
wind direction for most of the year is west to east, leading to cloud
formation on the upper slopes of the Fansipan massif. These
high-altitude areas are covered by cloud most days of the year and have
very high humidity. Cloud also penetrates into the valleys but these
areas are usually less humid than the mountain slopes. In the extreme
east of Sapa nature reserve, around Ban Ho village, at the bottom of
Sapa Valley, mean temperatures are considerably higher due to the lower
altitude of these areas. |
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