Avifauna include beautiful nuthatch Sitta formosa, Blyth's kingfisher Alcedo hercules, rufous-necked hornbill Aceros nipalensis, and yellow-vented warbler Phylloscopus cantator.

[9] The Phou Loei Protected Reserve (PLI) encompassing an area of 1,465 square kilometres (566 sq mi), lies in Luang Prabang and Houaphanh provinces.

The reserve is 87% forested, mixed deciduous and evergreens with an abundance of bamboo and grasslands resulting from shifting cultivation.

[10][11] The province is made up of the following 12 districts:[3] Luang Prabang is the capital of Lan Xang and is founded approximately 1,200 years ago.

Luang Prabang was known as Muang Sua around the 11th century,[13] and the settlement's name was changed after Cambodia gave a gold image of the Buddha, the Phra Bang, as a gift.

The dynasty had troubles with principalities, leading to Khun Chuang, who may have been a Kammu tribesman, extending his territory to Muang Sua and ruling from 1128 to 1170.

Colonel Hans Imfeld, commissioner of the French Republic, entered Luang Prabang on 25 August 1945 with a party of Franco-Laotian guerrillas and received assurances from the king that the protectorate was still in force.

[15] After the Washington Accord of 1946, the Thai government ceded the annexed territories of Luang Prabang and Sainyabuli provinces back to Laos.

[5][6] The National Museum, built in 1904, has exhibits of royal religious artifacts in the entrance hall, and a rock from the Moon.

[18] Wat Manorom, the 6 metres (20 ft) tall, bronze, sitting Buddha, built in 1382, was damaged in 1887, and was renovated in 1919 and in 1971.

Wat That Luang, originally established in the 3rd century BC by Ashokan missionaries, is the traditional cremation place for Lao royalty.

[19] Wat Xieng Thong temple was built in the 16th century (1559–1560) during the reign of King Saysetthathirath, at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers.

The ceiling in the sim displays Dharmachakras, dharma wheels symbolising Buddhist law and the circle of reincarnation.

The celebration includes Tak Bat, monks' alms procession, which passes by the Wat Ho Siang.