Cu A Ly, Cu A Long's son, still remembers that autumn of 2021 when he was 19. His father, accustomed to venturing into the forest to plant cardamom and tending rice paddies, and crafting two-string fiddles during his leisure time, considered renovating their home to welcome guests for the first time.

The Hmong village, nestled at an altitude of 1,200 meters at the foot of the Hoang Lien Son mountain range, is surrounded by forest. A Ly's house sits on the highest hillside in the village. From their yard, every morning and evening offers views of clouds and mountains, rice fields ready for harvest, and the center of Lai Chau, over 20 kilometers away, visible in the distance. His family, along with several others, was among the first encouraged to build homestays for tourism.

At that time, Lao Chai had over 40 households, all Hmong residents. The community cultivated one rice crop annually, grew cardamom, and raised bees. The village had the foundations for tourism development but was not yet a priority area for significant investment in this sector.

Lao Chai seen from above. Photo: Ngoc Thanh

Lao Chai began welcoming guests and was recognized as a provincial-level tourist destination from 2018-2019. However, providing accommodation services and linking with tourism remained new concepts for the locals. The commune authorities created favorable conditions and mechanisms, offering partial financial support to the pioneering families.

Cu A Ly, who had just married and had a child that year, spent nights worrying about the cost of building a homestay. A good rice harvest yielded over 40 bags of paddy, 3 hectares of cardamom forest, and seasonal work brought in less than 4 million VND per month, barely covering living expenses for his family of five. Generations of his ancestors had built homes and established the village here, familiar with the forest and fields, only ever thinking about having enough food after each harvest, never considering building a larger house to host strangers.

"Our village is late to the game; how can we attract guests compared to established names like Sa Pa in Lao Cai, or even Sin Suoi Ho and Si Thau Chai in our own Lai Chau?" A Ly recalled his biggest concern at that time.

With savings of less than one hundred million VND, his father ultimately decided to "just do it; if it's not enough, we'll borrow." In the dry season of 2021, the homestay frame was erected, replacing the vegetable garden in front of their house. The first five bedrooms were completed before Tet (Lunar New Year). The family rented out three rooms and reserved the remaining two for themselves.

That December, the Hmong people harvested their crops, hung corn in the eaves, and prepared to butcher pigs for Tet. Cu A Ly's family welcomed their first guests: four people from Hai Phong who came to Lai Chau for the entire Tet holiday. Disliking overly familiar places, they sought out a pristine village with authentic lifestyles and culture, finding it in Lao Chai.

Despite having guests, the family was flustered rather than joyful when serving them, even after receiving training and guidance from cultural officials. A Ly recounted that in the early days, the homestay lacked certain services; water pressure was low, there was no place for guests to charge phones, and cooking was the biggest worry. The host scratched his head, honestly telling the guests that the house was newly built and asked for their understanding regarding any shortcomings.

The four guests did not leave; instead, they shared suggestions for improvement with the hosts. A Ly later proactively went to Sa Pa to learn more about guest guiding, cooking, and room service to better manage their establishment.

Cu A Ly, son of Cu A Long. Photo: Hong Chieu

Hoang Thi Hoan, an official at the Khun Ha Commune General Services Center, still remembers the first families selected to build homestays, including A Long, A Sinh, A Sai, and Hoa Suu. The village possessed a foundation of natural scenery, culture, and people. The Hmong also saw the opportunity to develop tourism to improve their lives, but funding remained a difficult challenge.

At that time, community tourism in Lai Chau often brought to mind Sin Suoi Ho and Si Thau Chai. The former Tam Duong district decided to allocate resources to Lao Chai, organizing trips for officials to take locals to Sa Pa and other locations to learn about home decoration, service provision, and cooking.

Those initial days were a process of "hands-on guidance." Hoan recalls a time when guests came for a cultural experience and ordered six meals. The village, hosting a large group for the first time, called the commune for advice, and the commune contacted the district. District and commune officials then went to the village to cook with the residents. Food and green vegetables were all grown by the villagers. However, to prepare meals suitable for tourists, additional knowledge of spices, menu planning, and service organization was needed.

"The kind nature of the villagers is also a factor that keeps people coming back. Tourism is a gradual process; it eventually flows smoothly. You can't plant a tree and expect sweet fruit immediately," she remarked.

Cu A Long's house, one of the first households to operate a homestay in Lao Chai. Photo: Hong Chieu

2023 was a difficult period for Cu A Ly's family. Each week, guests could be counted on less than ten fingers. The main road was under construction, causing many travelers to stop in Lao Cai or bypass the area to visit other villages. The homestay often felt deserted and cold. With few guests, the hosts became discouraged.

That August, the young Hmong man continued his studies in Ha Noi, learning more about cooking and room services. He realized that the available spices were not diverse enough and wanted to prepare a wider range of dishes. "There were times when the whole family worried whether we could keep it going. 2024 began to be more stable," he admitted.

Young people in the village taught each other how to take photos and videos to promote homestays, highlighting the best "cloud hunting" spots. Guests came and went, with one recommending another to this Hmong village at the edge of the Northwest.

Lao Chai received more attention. In 2024, the village achieved OCOP 3-star certification, a framework of 50 to 70 points for products with stable quality, commercialized according to government-issued criteria. Three months ago, Lao Chai won the Vietnam Tourism Award 2026 in the category of Destination with Deep Cultural Tourism Products.

Following a merger, the village now comprises 284 households with 1,500 residents. Currently, 30 households directly operate tourism services, and homestays can accommodate over 400 guests per night, consistently fully booked during holidays and Tet. Approximately 80 households provide auxiliary services, ranging from herbal baths to selling agricultural products, brocade, and souvenirs handcrafted by the Hmong people.

In 2024, Lao Chai welcomed 19,300 visitors; by the end of September 2026, this number increased to nearly 31,300 people, including 2,200 international visitors. Average monthly income, which was 7,5 million VND in 2024, has now risen to approximately 10 million VND.

Flowers are planted along fences and pathways in Lao Chai. Photo: Hoang Giang

Women embroider brocade by the roadside. Photo: Hong Chieu

Two Hmong boys play by a wooden rice mortar. Photo: Hong Chieu

Children in Lao Chai swim in a pool fed by stream water. Photo: Hong Chieu

The roads in Lao Chai are paved with cobblestones by the locals. Photo: Hoang Giang

With visitor numbers increasing 3-4 times, Cu A Ly's family boldly expanded, adding dormitory rooms to increase their maximum accommodation capacity to 20 people. As more foreign guests arrive, drawn by cultural experiences, he plans to learn English and financial management. A Ly views providing services as a continuous journey of learning and improvement. Many young people his age are choosing to stay in the village to work in tourism and forest cultivation instead of seeking jobs in industrial zones.

Cu A Long still advises his son, "Learn anything good you see, but traditions must be preserved, from the house structure to customs, festivals, hand embroidery, playing pao (a traditional game), and tu lu (spinning top). Preserving them for guests to see is also preserving them for ourselves." The family patriarch maintains traditional farming practices, from cultivating upland rice to growing cardamom. In his free time, he plays the two-string fiddle, both for enjoyment and to sell as souvenirs.

In early October, the village was quiet as one-half of the families went on vacation to Ha Long, while others went to the forest to tend cardamom, visit ginseng plants, and collect honey. Most of the village roads are paved with cobblestones, brought and laid by residents themselves, limiting the use of concrete. In front of their gates, the Hmong plant flowers, string wooden beads for decoration, and wooden trash bins are placed throughout, a model that Khun Ha commune has replicated in other villages. In 2026, the Hmong village was also selected as a pilot site for a smoke-free community tourism area.

In early winter, Cu A Long sat in his yard playing the two-string fiddle among a group of recently arrived guests. On the map, visitors who have passed through Lao Chai have "pinned" the hillside house, also the village's most beautiful cloud-hunting spot, with numerous "five-star" reviews.

Hong Chieu