Living culture
Indigo, Then melodies and mountain feasts
The Cao Bằng borderlands preserve the old ways of the Tày and Nùng: indigo dress the colour of loyalty and earth, stilt houses under yin-yang tiles, and the Then ritual — UNESCO-listed — sung to the gourd lute beside the fire.
Their food carries the same identity: five-colour sticky rice scented with forest leaves, bò khai greens, seven-flavour roast duck and slow-braised khâu nhục.
