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Vietnam: Black Tai woman and paddy fields near Moc Chau, Northwest Vietnam

In the narrow mountain valleys of Son La, Dien Bien and Lai Chau provinces of North Vietnam the Tai remain a very noticeable and confident minority. They are divided into White Tai and Black Tai communities, while further south, by the Lao frontier in Thanh Hoa and Nghe An Provinces, Red Tai predominate.

These subgroups are distinguished by the dress of their women. Vietnam’s Tai are people of the mountain valleys. Farming wet rice paddy fields they are relatively prosperous, enjoying more security and an appreciably higher standard of living than the people of the mountaintops. They are culturally confident, too, and well known throughout the north for their fine weaving and embroidery, sophisticated music and dance, as well as their business acumen in the marketplace.

Closely related to the neighbouring Lao, Thai, Shan of Burma and Dai of China’s Yunnan Province, they have lived for centuries in the fertile uplands between the Truong Son and Hoang Lien ranges – certainly long before the region became part of Vietnam – and have a rich literary legacy and folklore.

One of the most successful and confident non-Kinh communities in Vietnam, the Black Tai farm rich rice paddies in the irrigated uplands of the northwest and enjoy a standard of living far superior to most other tribal peoples in the region. A high value is set on education, and the position of women, particularly in commerce, is paramount.