Traditional house of the Nung in Lao Cai
From the center of Si Ma Cai district, tourists travel about 3 km to Nan San commune to contemplate the picturesque scenes of terraced fields in a lush valley and the ancient earthen houses of the Nung people, which have stood for several dozen years to a hundred years. Then Xuan Van, a local, says that before building a new house, the Nung people must choose a place that support production and living conditions. “According to the Nung’s custom, the direction of the main door must suit the age of the house’s owner. We choose an appropriate day and hour to break the ground. At a chosen time, we put a mould used to make earthen walls on the land and butcher a chicken and a pig to inform the land spirits of our construction. I say: ‘Today is a good day. My surname is Then. I will break the ground to build a house. I pray the land spirits to protect and bless us, to live in the new house having a lot of money, no sickness, no disease, and no incident,” Van confides. After the ri