Mù Cang Chải is a rural district of Yên Bái province, in the Northwest region of Vietnam.

The district is located at the foot of Hoang Lien Son mountain range, at an altitude of 1,000 m above sea level.

[4] In response to this challenge, the Hmong people developed a way to retain water by levelling the land on the mountain in layers, resulting in the rice terrace fields' distinctive look.

To create the contour of each piece of land, the Hmong people balance each terrace by water that people will point out a high place that is moved up on the coast and moved down to the low land so the fields surrounding hills are water level and the same height, creating the rice terraces of the mountain.

Since they were designated a National Heritage Site in 2007, the rice terrace fields in La Pan Tan, Che Cu Nha and Ze Xu Phinh have attracted community-based tourism and featured in local festivals held during rice harvesting season in early October.