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
Pang Xunqin traditional crafts and decoration. In 1984, he completed his memoir, which was published by San-Lian Press that year. He died in Beijing in 1985 from complications of gastric cancer. The Pang Xunqin Memorial Arts Museum was founded in 1991 in his hometown, where almost five hundred paintings are exhibited. Pang Xunqin Pang Xunqin (; 1906–1985) was a Chinese painter and teacher who, after studying in Paris, moved back to China and gave "traditional decoration art a modern context." Pang was also a co-founding member of the Storm Society, which aimed to bring a Parisian-style art world to China. He was