Cat Cat Village

Cat Cat is a Hmong village in Ta Van commune, about 2 kilometres from central Sa Pa, and one of the best known stops on a Sa Pa visit. Set at the foot of the Hoang Lien Son range, it took shape in the mid nineteenth century, with houses built against the hillside a few dozen metres apart. Near their homes villagers grow rice and maize on terraced fields entirely by hand, and they keep many traditional crafts such as growing cotton and flax and weaving cloth. Cat Cat brocade comes in many colours with patterns based on trees, leaves, flowers and animals; the cloth is dyed with indigo and then polished by rolling a round log over a flat stone coated with beeswax. The village also makes finely worked silver and copper jewellery and keeps customs such as the Gau Tao festival, along with dishes such as corn liquor and thang co stew.