Only taking place on weekly Saturday evening, Love Market in Sapa used to be the place for ethnic people to find a partner to get married. At this market,
visitors have chance to enjoy the real life of H’Mong and Red Dao ethnic minorities.
What makes it special
The love market of
Sapa used to be the place to find a partner to get married. With the tourism, the real love market does not take place anymore. Currently you can only see a representation of the love market. Do not miss it anyway if you are staying here a Saturday night. Young Red Dzao tribe used to come to Sapa to sing songs to the opposite sex. Girls sang the songs hidden in the dark, when a boy found them, and if they matched together, they disappeared into the forest for three days. Some of them got married after that.
How it is held
The market is held only on Sunday morning for people coming here to exchange or buy and sell the necessary utensils for daily life so it is always very crowded. Because villages in Sapa are sparsely populated, people living in far-away villages had to go in advance from Saturday to be able to join the market on Sunday. They arrived at the town on Saturday evening, and take a rest.
In the market, youngsters would have a chance to get to know others by joining activities such as playing traditional games, playing leaf-horns, singing and dancing. The performances of them were full of romantic melodies expressing wishes for an eternal love. Not until the market finishes, happy memories are left in the minds of many mountain people. After that night, some can luckily find out their match and make a promise to date on the next market. Many of them later become husbands and wives. It is the reasons why that night called the Love Market - a beautiful cultural feature of the
Sapa region.
Why you should visit the love market
Love market is the place where all traditions, customs and beliefs of Dao, H’Mong and other ethnic groups are presented. It is where you can join with their activities and feel the unique features in their traditions by yourselves, not just watch and listen it from tour guides. And it is where you can approach the friendliest, the plainest and the most hospitable local people.
Moreover, you can visit the market and buy some specialties or some souvenirs for your beloved. They are displayed in many stalls and you have a wide range of choosing what you like.
About 10:30 pm or 11:00 pm, you also enjoy the sound of Khen and Sao, join the love market and perhaps you want to try using these popular musical instruments.
Read more:
Shopping in Sapa’s markets
Source Internet
