Lao Cai

Lào Cai Thành phố Lào Cai
Lào Cai Location in Vietnam
Coordinates: 22°29′N 103°57′E / 22.483°N 103.950°E / 22.483; 103.950
Country	Vietnam
Province	Lào Cai Province
Established city	30 November 2004
Area
• Total	229.67 km2 (88.68 sq mi)
Population (2009)
• Total	98,363

Lào Cai ( listen) is a city in the Northwest region of Vietnam. It is the capital of Lào Cai Province. The city borders the city of Hekou Yao Autonomous County, in the Yunnan province of southwest China. It lies at the junction of the Red River (Sông Hồng) and the Nanxi River (Yunnan) approximately 160 miles (260 km) northwest of Hanoi.

It is a market town for timber, and the Lào Cai Railway Station is located on the Hải Phòng railway to Yunnan Province in China.

The town was invaded by the Chinese in 1979 and the border was closed until 1993. The town has a carbide factory. As of 2003 the district had a population of 86,855. The district covers an area of 223 km².

Ethnic minorities in Lao Cai used to speak Southwestern Mandarin to each other when their languages were not mutually intelligible.

Due to 25 minorities living together in this land, Lao Cai becomes a land with the richness of culture, history, tradition and cultural heritage. The Vietnamese accounts for the majority of people living there. Particularly, the proportion of the number of Vietnamese people living there reached the top in the 1960s because of the settler movements that officer was mobilized from Hai Phong city, Phu Tho province, Thai Binh province, Ha Nam province to Lao Cai. Among the ethnic minorities, the H’Mong, the Tay, the Dao, the Day, the Hoa account for a significant proportion. The diversity of their life has created the distinctive identity of Lao Cai. In order to promote this strength, the authorities of Phu Tho, Yen Bai, Lao Cai province jointly conduct to develop tourism of the source. It draws te attention of tourists successfully. Lao Cai is developing province located in mountainous area so it still retains the clean environment and the diversity of landscapes. It will play an important role to generate an ideal tourist destination for the domestic and foreign tourists. Sapa resort is one of 21 national tourist zones of Vietnam. Sapa is located at an altitude of 1200–1800 meters on average, year-round cool weather. It owns many landscapes, rocky woods, waterfalls and is a place of gathering for many traditional cultural activities of ethnic minorities as highland markets, Sapa love market. Hoang Lien Son range covers Fansipan peak considered as a “roof” of Vietnam and Hoang Lien Son Nature Reserve attracting many scientists and tourists. Lao Cai possesses many historical sites, natural caves and agro-ecological areas with specialties such as Bac Ha plum, temperate vegetables, precious medicinal plants, trout, sturgeon, ect. Pair of Lao Cai international border gate (Vietnam) - Hekou international border gate of Yunnan (China) separated through Nam Thi river is also an interesting tourist destination.

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Wikipedia