Cat Cat village

Tourists in Vietnam travel to Cat Cat village are most attracted by its unique customs and old architectural monuments.

Cat cat village was founded since the 19th century and about 2km away from the centre of SaPa town. People are mainly Mong minority and often build houses spaced out dozens meters apart by mountain sides. They grow rice in terrace fields and maize on the mountain according to the handicraft cultivation method.
At present, Cat Cat village is preserving its old architectural monuments such as Pomu timber plank- roofed triple- room houses and many traditional handicrafts such as growing cotton and flax, close weaving and manipulating jewelry. Only with looms, the Mong people have created colorful brocade clothes with patterns of trees, leaves, flowers and animals. Besides this, Cat Cat village expands crafts of dying, printing and embroidering patterns on cloth. The most popular method remains dying in black and vegetable cinders water with forest leaves. Dyed cloth will be shined by rolling with a round section of a tree trunk on flat beeswax- covered rocks.

Visitors to Cat Cat have an opportunity to admire a lively and colorful picture. That is the image of young women sitting by looms with colorful pieces of brocade decorated with designs of flowers and birds. When these pieces of brocade are finished, they are dyed and embroidered with beautiful designs. A noteworthy is that H’Mong women use plants and leaves to dye these brocade fabrics. And then they roll a round and smooth section of wood covered with wax on fabrics to polish them, making their colors durable.

In addition to the brocade weaving craft, many residents in Cat Cat are good at manipulating gold and silver jewelry. Their products are fairly sophisticated, especially jewelry for women.

Tourists to Cat Cat are most attracted by its unique customs, including the custom of “pulling wife”. A man can ask his friends to lure a girl he likes to his house and keeps her there in three days. During these days, if the girl agrees to become his wife, a wedding will be held. However, the girl can happily go home after three days if she does not like him.

Traditional houses of H’Mong people in Cat Cat have three rooms with three doors and covered with po mu wood roof. In the house there are three columns that stand in round or square stones. The walls are made from sawn timber. The main door is always closed and only opens when people in the house organize important events. Altar, inlaid floor containing food, places for sleeping, kitchen and receiving guests are indispensable parts of the houses.

Visitors to Cat Cat Village can discover countless unique features of H’Mong.