The Chieng Khoi Lake is situated in Put village, Chieng Khoi commune, Yen Chau district, Son La province. The lake is 4 km north of the center of Yen Chau town and possesses an area of 40 hectares.
The native people say that Chieng Khoi means a large area which is flat and upland. It was said that Chieng Khoi previously had been an area which lacked water and its people were very poor despite being hardworking. A man of the commune named Khoi who was extraordinarily strong. His body was like the body of ironwood. His hands were as large as paper fans. Witnessing his relatives suffering the lack of water, he left his residence to find out water sources for his relatives, forming the Chieng Khoi Lake.There is another lake also named Chieng Khoi. Yet it is an artificial lake which was begun to be built in 1971 with a dam 45 meters high and 110 meters long, and put into operation in 1980. The lake was originally the floor of narrow valleys. The inside of the lake contains a 7-km narrow valley running zigzag around big hills. The water of the lake is always limpid and calm. Small streams and primitive forests make lake surface and landscapes here so fanciful.
On landed hills and limestone rows surrounding the Chieng Khoi Lake live delicious forest vegetables like rau sang, la xom pon, bamboo shoots, mang dang (bitter shoots), mang lay, mushrooms, and various kinds of birds such as nightingale, laughing-thrush, whiter egret, parrot and swallows. In the lake lives many kinds of fishes like carp, hemicultur, snake-head and catfish, and many species of shrimps, crabs and frogs. In forests here live many kinds of animals, including monkey, chamois, muntjac, civet, etc.
Reaching Chieng Khoi, you will enjoy not only the beauty of the Chieng Khoi lake but also traditional cultures of the Thai minority of Yen Chau such as festivals and profound dance and songs. The Thai people of Yen Chau are renowned for their traditional craft. With skillful hands, they create profound fine arts and handicrafts like ethnic instruments, bamboo and rattan utensils and Khit cloth - a kind of cloth popular in not only Yen Chau but also the whole mountainous area of the North-west. Another famous product of Yen Chau is khan pieu (Pieu muffler). After few-hour sightseeing, you will be taken to mountainous villages in which you will be enjoyed ethnic dishes processed by Chau Yen’s girls. You cannot stand dancing with native people and drinking ruou can, and will feel the friendliness and hospitality of native people.
The Chieng Khoi Lake is an ecological spot which attracts more and more visitors both inside and outside Vietnam.
