Overview of the smallest mountainous town in Vietnam

Thi xa Muong Lay, tinh Dien Bien von la thu phu cua tinh Lai Chau cu (nay la Dien Bien va Lai Chau). Nam 2004, sau khi chia tach tinh, thi xa Muong Lay tro thanh don vi hanh chinh thuoc tinh Dien Bien. Anh: Quang Dat

Muong Lay town, Dien Bien province was the capital of the old Lai Chau province (now Dien Bien and Lai Chau). In 2004, after splitting the province, Muong Lay town became an administrative unit of Dien Bien province. Photo: Quang Dat

Cach trung tam TP Dien Bien Phu khoang 100km, voi dien tich tu nhien tren 11.266ha, thi xa Muong Lay chi chiem hon 1% dien tich tu nhien cua tinh Dien Bien.

About 100km from the center of Dien Bien Phu city, with a natural area of over 11,266 hectares, Muong Lay town accounts for only over 1% of the natural area of Dien Bien province. Photo: Quang Dat

Hien Muong Lay co 3 don vi hanh chinh truc thuoc, gom: xa Lay Nua, phuong Na Lay va phuong Song Da. Day la thi xa nho nhat tren ca nuoc.

Currently, Muong Lay has 3 administrative units, including: Lay Nua commune, Na Lay ward and Song Da ward. This is the smallest town in the country. Photo: Quang Dat

Thi xa co khoang 3.050 ho gia dinh voi tren 11.500 nhan khau (dan toc Thai chiem gan 70%). Muong Lay duoc menh danh la “cai noi cua nguoi Thai trang”, luu giu nhieu net van hoa truyen thong dac sac, da dang va mang dam ban sac rieng.

The town has about 3,050 households with over 11,500 people (the Thai ethnic group accounts for nearly 70%). Muong Lay is known as the "cradle of the White Thai people", preserving many unique, diverse and unique traditional cultural features. Photo: Quang Dat

Da co hon 4.000 ho dan phai di doi de nhuong cho cho long ho thuy dien, trong do co tren 2.000 ho dan duoc bo tri tai dinh cu tai cho theo hinh thuc di ven - di chuyen len cac trien doi cao hon xung quanh long ho thuy dien.

More than 4,000 households have had to relocate to make way for the hydroelectric reservoir, of which over 2,000 households have been resettled on site in the form of relocation - moving to higher hillsides around the hydroelectric reservoir. Photo: Quang Dat

Diem an tuong khi den Muong Lay chinh la hinh anh nhung khu nha san truyen thong duoc quy hoach ngan nap, thong thoang. Nhieu ngoi nha van giu duoc net kien truc co voi mai lop bang da tu nhien doc dao.

The impressive point when coming to Muong Lay is the image of traditional stilt houses planned to be airy and airy. Many houses still retain ancient architecture with unique natural stone roofs. Photo: Quang Dat

Ben canh do, Muong Lay con duoc thien nhien uu dai voi nui non trung diep va nhung canh rung bat ngan, dat ty le che phu rung tren 65% - cao nhat toan tinh Dien Bien.

In addition, Muong Lay is also favored by nature with young mountains and vast forests, achieving a forest coverage rate of over 65% - the highest in Dien Bien province. Photo: Google Maps