Sa Pa 15th century and represent local cadastres. Then came the highland minorities of the Hmong and Yao. The township is one of the main market ones in the area, where several ethnic minority groups such as Hmong, Dao (Yao), Giáy, Pho Lu, and Tày live. These are the four main minority groups still present in Sa Pa district today. The Kinh (lowland Vietnamese) never originally colonised this highest of Việt Nam’s valleys, which lies in the shadow of Phan-Xi-Pǎng (Fansipan, 3143 m), the highest peak in the country. It was only when the French debarked in highland Tonkin in the late
Nam Pang River edge." Nam Pang River The Nam Pang River, also known as Pang River, is a major river of Shan State, eastern Burma. It is the largest tributary of the Salween River. Its source is in the hills northeast of Pangkyehtu and it flows by the town of Kunhing. The Nam Pang joins the Salween from the right at the village of Na-hkilek at at an elevation of . A few miles beyond the confluence is said to be "a strange whirlpool, at the place the river is in a gorge between limestone cliffs, which fall smooth and precipitous to the