Bac Ha, a district in Lao Cai Province, impresses tourists with its majestic landscape, friendly local people, and ethnic and cultural characteristics. No matter what time of the year you visit Bac Ha, you can still enjoy its tranquility and beauty. Let’s explore Bac Ha each season and find the ideal time to visit Bac Ha with Handspan Travel Indochina!

Through this article, you will learn about these pieces of information below.

General information about Bac Ha’s weather climate condition 

Bac Ha is located at an altitude of 1,000-1,500m above sea level, between the Northeast and Northwest regions of Vietnam. Therefore Bac Ha can avoid the heat of summer in the Northwest and the humid air of spring in the Northeast. Also, due to this reason, the weather here is exceptionally cool and mild all year round. From April to September, the average temperature in Bac Ha is about 25 degrees Celsius. In other months, it is under 18 degrees Celcius. The hottest month of the year is June, and the coldest month is January. 

Bac Ha

Now, it’s time to see how Bac Ha is in spring, summer, fall, and winter!

Bac Ha in spring: the season of festivals and flowers

The mild weather climate and stunning scenery in spring make this season an ideal time to visit Bac Ha. Every spring from January to April, the hills and mountains in Bac Ha are covered with white plum and pear flowers. Therefore, it is so-called the White Highland, with two seasons of plum blossoms.

Plum blossom in Bac Ha

From January to April, you can admire different kinds of blossom flowers. January is the month of cherry blossoms in Na Co Lake and Bac Ha Town’s center. You can also see wild peach blossoms in Na Hoi - Ban Pho - Thai Giang Pho areas. In February and March, the Tam Hoa plum flower blooms brilliantly in Ta Chai, Na Hoi, and Ban Pho, followed by the Ta van plum and white pear flower in Lung Phinh - Ta Van Chu - Lung Cai - Simacai routes. Visiting Bac Ha in April, you will catch up with fragrant yellow mustard and buckwheat flowers on the small hills in Ban Pho, in Lu Than.

Peach blossom in Bac Ha

Mustard flower in Bac Ha

Besides brilliant flowers, spring is also an excellent time to visit Bac Ha, thanks to the colorful festivals of local ethnic minorities. If you travel to Bac Ha during the Tet holiday in Vietnam, you will have a chance to join the Say San festival of the Hmong people, the fire dance festival of the Dao people, the Xoe festival of the Tay people, etc. These festivals are held to wish for luck and abundant crops. Joining these festivals, you will have a chance to enjoy cultural activities, sports, and folk games of ethnic minorities. 

Bac Ha's Gau Tao festival

Bac Ha in the summer: ripe fruit season

The summer, from May to July, is also an excellent time to visit Bac Ha. Visiting Bac Ha this season, you will have a chance to try a variety of ripe fruits, admire stunning scenery, and see horse racing.

Trying ripe fruits

In May, Bac Ha begins to harvest plums that are evenly ripe from mid-May to late June. You can find ripe plums in the market in Bac Ha Town. Besides Tam Hoa and Ta Van plum, you can also find pears and peaches in Bac Ha. 

Ripe plum in Bac Ha

Admiring stunning scenery

Bac Ha in the summer is pretty beautiful, with the terraced rice fields in Ta Cu Ty and Ban Lien coming to the pouring seasons. At this time, the fields are filled with water, which makes the whole area look like a mirror. Besides charming rice fields, Bac Ha in the summer is also sparkling with the red color of the forest locust’s leaves. These leaves are only seen this season when the harvesting crop is coming. In July, you can also adore the violet color of balloon flowers in the Lung Phinh and Ta Van Chu areas.

Bac Ha in the summer

Seeing horse racing

Bac Ha's traditional horse racing festival is usually held at the end of May and beginning of June of the solar calendar for two days. Horse racing in Bac Ha is a rustic horse race without a saddle, reins, or pedals. 

Horse racing in Bac Ha

Bac Ha in autumn: the season of yellow terraced rice fields

Autumn, from August to October, is the best time to visit Bac Ha, with the flavor weather climate conditions, and beautiful scenery. Visiting Bac Ha this time, you will catch up with yellow ripe terraced rice fields stretching. Due to the terrain, the ripe rice season here lasts longer than in many other places. When the Hmong people in Hoang Thu Pho already had new rice to eat at the end of August, the Tay people in Ta Chai still pound nuggets until the end of September and the beginning of October. In September, rice ripens evenly in Ban Lien. In October, you can still experience the ripe rice season in Ta Cu Ty. 

Terraced rice field in Hoang Thu Pho

Terraced rice field in Ta Cu Ty

Besides the yellow terraced rice fields, you can also see the red color of the “Chi Blin,” a type of wide fruit in Bac Ha. In autumn, this fruit turns red in the Lung Phinh - Ta Van Chu area. 

Bac Ha in winter: a chance to see the floating sea of clouds

Like other mountainous areas, Bac Ha is extremely cold in winter. However, no matter how cold it is, Bac Ha still has unique characteristics. November and December is the best time to visit Bac Ha to see the floating sea of clouds. Especially in Hoang Thu Pho Heaven Gate and Ngai Thau Peak, the scenery looks more mesmerizing. 

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Floating cloud in Hoang Thu Pho

If you visit Bac Ha in December, you can also have a chance to join the Hmong people’s Tet holiday. The holiday lasts for a month, so you can participate in the pig slaughtering ceremony and hear about the custom of the H'Mong in Bac Ha on any day of the month.

In conclusion, Bac Ha is appealing at any season of the year. Hope that with the above information, you can decide a suitable time to visit Bac Ha.