TÂY CONE LINH MASSIF

Close to the Sino-Vietnamese border, west of the city of Hà Giang, the Tây Côn Linh massif extends over the districts of Hoang Su Phi and Vi Xuyên. It culminates at 2419 m of altitude and is known as the "roof of the northeast". Wild and relatively preserved - a part of the massif is classified as a natural reserve -, away from the classic tourist circuits, it constitutes a site of the most interesting discovery. Tây Côn Linh is especially known for its centuries-old Shan Tuyêt tea trees bathed in mist. The cool temperatures of altitude confer incomparable gustatory and medicinal qualities to this tea guaranteed organic, harvested by the minority ethnic groups that populate the massif: Dao, Tay, Hmông, Co Lao...

The Tây Côn Linh conceals many secrets, sometimes tragic. On March 12, 1949, during the Indochina War, during a parachuting mission, due to bad weather conditions, a French plane crashed in the massif. 21 soldiers died in the disaster, 9 French and 12 parachutists of the^3rd Indochinese parachute company. The Hmông villagers gave a burial to the dead who rested for nearly 70 years in the Trung Phung cemetery near the village of Tung San (about 30 km east of Vinh Quang). Due to work related to the construction of a road, the French and Vietnamese authorities agreed on the exhumation of the bodies and their repatriation to the Memorial of the Indochina Wars in Fréjus. On October 15, 2018, Geneviève Darrieussecq, Secretary of State to the Minister of the Armed Forces, presided over the burial ceremony of the 21 soldiers who "died for France." At least 15,000 French soldiers are still buried in Vietnamese soil, mainly in the north of the country.

More anecdotally, Tây Côn Linh is also home to a salmon farm located at an altitude of 2,000 m, in Phuong Tiên (Vi Xuyên district).

The discovery - walking remains the best way - of the Tây Con Linh massif can be organized by agencies in Hanoi while the area remains difficult to access for the individual traveler or the isolated motorcyclist. The round trip ascent is arduous, it is necessary to count two days. Departure from Hoang Su Phi, halt for the night in the village Chung Phung in a Hmong guesthouse at 1 600 m of altitude before beginning the final ascent the following morning. The Tây Côn Linh is a wild massif that offers an authentic experience with the villagers and breathtaking panoramas.