Ta Phin is a Red Dao village about 12 km from Sapa, set in a valley north of town and accessible by motorbike or as part of a guided trek. The Red Dao are immediately recognisable by their extraordinary red headdresses and elaborately embroidered clothing. The village is quieter than Cat Cat and the minority culture more intact — partly because the approach is less convenient and partly because the community has been more selective about how it engages with tourism.
The women of Ta Phin are known for their herbal medicine knowledge and produce medicinal herb baths that have become a popular draw for visitors — a long soak in a bath of mountain herbs after a day's trekking is genuinely restorative. A ruined Catholic church at the edge of the village, built by French missionaries in the early twentieth century and bombed during the American War, provides a striking architectural counterpoint.