Sometimes, Ha Giang is compared to an "addiction" by tourists, addicted to the beauty of Ha Giang. Not only is nature favoured by the Nho Que River and the majestic Dong Van stone plateau, but Ha Giang also has extremely romantic flower seasons. Every late Fall and early Winter, the valleys, hillsides, and passes in Ha Giang become extraordinarily beautiful with buckwheat flowers.

Also read: Ha Giang spring trip in 5 pristine villages

 
At the end of October and early November every year, buckwheat flowers bloom, with gentle pink and purple colours throughout the hilly areas of Ha Giang. The majestic mountain and forest landscape here, with pure, beautiful buckwheat flower hills, captivates visitors when coming to the top land of the Fatherland.

Buckwheat or rye is grown in the high mountains of Northern Vietnam. The petals are bunched together into a pyramid shape; in the middle is a grain of wheat. Flowers grow on the hills and roads, at the foot of the mountains, on the passes and bring intense vitality to even the thorny cliffs, just like the people here.

Legend has it that, since ancient times, there were two fairies, Tien Gao and Tien Ngo, who went to sow seeds in the lower world. They had too much rice husk and corn, so they poured them into the ravine. Sometime later, after the rice and corn plants had been harvested, a forest of tiny flowers suddenly appeared, stretching from one mountain to another. On the trees were triangular leaves hidden under the flowers. Because it is from the rice family, it arose from rice bran and maize bran, so it is called buckwheat; the leaves are triangular, so it is called "triangular buckwheat".

The colour of buckwheat flowers changes with each stage. When it first blooms, it is pure white, then turns light pink, purple-pink, dark red, and finally black. When it withers, it is no longer beautiful.

I don't know who was the first to create the "buckwheat flower season fever" in the Northwestern mountainous areas. I only know that tourists flock to Ha Giang at the end of winter. The weather is clear, dry and a bit chilly; the water in the river is abundant and still green, and buckwheat flowers cover the hills, fluttering as if beckoning.

Buckwheat flowers grow a lot along the road to Ha Giang, around the villages, but Suoi Thau and Pho Cao are familiar places that young people choose to see and check in with buckwheat flowers. In 2023 alone, the road to the Lung Cu flagpole is the hottest destination tourists seek.

Pho Cao (Dong Van) has a wild landscape surrounded by endless mountains. The buckwheat flowers here have already bloomed, looking from a distance like a brocade fabric woven by Mother Nature as a gift to humans. People often say that Pho Cao Valley is "a place where there is only heaven, earth and flowers", which is enough to understand how vast the buckwheat flowers are here!

Read more: Dong Van tourism handbook

Suoi Thau (Xin Man) is also an attractive destination because of its pristine beauty, especially at this time of the year, when the cold air seems to be melted by the deep colours of buckwheat flowers mixed with rows of flowers. Sa Moc trees grow tall in the vast space of the steppe.

Also read: The steppe is poetic and majestic, as beautiful as a 'wonderland' in Ha Giang

And the place not to be missed to participate in the race to check in the most beautiful buckwheat flowers in Ha Giang this year has an additional road to the Lung Cu flagpole. Remember last year, around January and February at the beginning of the year, this road was famous on social networks due to the cherry blossom season. This year, once again, the buckwheat flower has attracted many beauty-loving souls to stop with it, to admire and immerse themselves in the forest of flowers.

Honestly, the flowers in the Northwest region can hardly compare with the beautiful beauty of many common flowers, such as roses and lilies. But because of their simple, rustic beauty, they have a strange attraction, along with flowers that only bloom in rare months and seasons a year. So people still fall in love with it, still love the unexpected gifts from mother nature. It makes us want to visit Ha Giang again for those who haven't been and binds the souls of those who want to return to immerse themselves in the beauty here.