Sa Pa, Vietnam: Chatting With H’Mong & Dao Saleswomen

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On my last day in SaPa, I wanted to get some video of the H’Mong and other ethnic minority women running after the arriving tour buses. Yes, they literally run after the buses, even though they are wearing flip flops and carrying big backpacks! It’s quite a sight, and shows just how determined and competitive these women can be.

Since I woke up too late, I simply walked outside to chat with some, as I had done every day in Sa Pa. They are extremely friendly and sociable, as you can see in the video. Some are much more aggressive at pushing their products than others, but most are happy to talk casually. As soon as I express any interest at all in their handicrafts, others mob me. They state “You buy this from me?!” to get my attention. The smoother ones start with “Where you from?” to establish a 5-second rapport before launching into the sales pitch.

Notice the clothing some of them wear under their traditional indigo-dyed outer garments…these tribal minorities are being thrust into the modern world very quickly. The H’Mong girl in the “H’Mong Girl Makes Horse From Plant” video uses a RAZR cell phone even though she can’t read! She gets people like me to send text messages for her. I’ve found the younger women to be much better at English and more business savvy than their elders.

The H’Mong population is the largest minority group in the region, followed by Dao. You can see several Dao women, wearing red, in the video as well. Each minority group speaks its own language and has its own customs. Most of them share Vietnamese as a common language and as a necessity for living in Vietnam. Many of the women who interact with tourists speak broken English, too.

While in Sa Pa, I took an interest in the H’Mong, giving them motorbike rides home, and eating meals with their families. If you are interested in learning more about them, google “love market,” and you’ll probably find an interesting story or two about their most famous courtship ritual. Additionally, the United States has a significant H’Mong population, most of whom are in California. Their unofficial American leader is a H’Mong man named General Vang Pao, a Vietnam War leader who was charged in California with plotting to overthrow the Laos government, basically the same mission he was supported by the US to do 40 years ago. Charges were dropped last week.