Fansipan (

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

: ''Phan Xi Păng'', ) is a mountain in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. The height of the mountain was in 1909, but now the height of the mountain is . It is the highest mountain in the

Indochinese Peninsula Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

(comprising Vietnam,

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

, and

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

), hence its nickname "the Roof of Indochina". It is located in the Lào Cai Province of the

Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

region of Vietnam, southwest of Sa Pa in the Hoang Lien Son mountain range. Administratively, it is shared between Tam Đường district, Lai Châu and Sa Pa town,

Lào Cai Lào Cai () is a city in the Northwest region of Vietnam. It is the capital of Lào Cai Province. The city borders Bảo Thắng District, Bát Xát District, Sa Pa and the city of Hekou Yao Autonomous County, in Yunnan province of southwes ...

Etymology

The origin of the name ''Phan Xi Păng'' is unclear. The most accepted theory is that it evolved from ''Hủa Xi Pan'' (''the tottering giant rock'') – the name that the locals called the mountain based on its shape. Another theory suggested that the name came from the

Hmong people The Hmong people ( RPA: ''Hmoob'', Nyiakeng Puachue: , Pahawh Hmong: , ) are a sub-ethnic group of the Miao people who originated from Central China. The modern Hmongs presently reside mainly in Southwest China (Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, Chon ...

, as it means ''Azalea Mountain'' in their language due to the prevalence of azalea and other species of

Rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

genus on the mountain. It has also been suggested that the name could have derived from Phan Văn Sơn, a geography official in the

Nguyễn dynasty The Nguyễn dynasty (chữ Nôm: 茹阮, vi, Nhà Nguyễn; chữ Hán: 阮朝, vi, Nguyễn triều) was the last Vietnamese dynasty, which ruled the unified Vietnamese state largely independently from 1802 to 1883. During its existence, ...

who helped the French to map the area and define the border with China in 1905. Due to the inaccurate local pronunciation, the name generally evolved into ''Phan Xi Păng''.

Geography

Fansipan is the tallest mountain in the Hoang Lien Son Range, situated on the border of Lào Cai Province and

Lai Châu Province Lai or LAI may refer to: Abbreviations * Austrian Latin America Institute (Österreichisches Lateinamerika-Institut) * ''Latin American Idol'', TV series * La Trobe Institute, Melbourne, Australia * Leaf area index, leaf area of a crop or ve ...

with its peak located on the Lào Cai side. The mountain is part of the

Hoàng Liên National Park Hoang Lien National Park (, also known as ''Hoàng Liên Sơn, Dãy Hoàng Liên'') is a national park within Hoang Lien Son Range, in the districts of Sa Pa and Than Uyên of Lào Cai Province, and part of Phong Thổ District in Lai Châu ...

. It has a

topographic prominence In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...

of , ranking 6th in Vietnam.

Geology

Fansipan was formed around 250–260 million years ago, between the

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleoz ...

period in the

Paleozoic The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838 by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...

era and the

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...

period in the

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceo ...

era. The

Himalayan orogeny The geology of the Himalayas is a record of the most dramatic and visible creations of the immense mountain range formed by plate tectonic forces and sculpted by weathering and erosion. The Himalayas, which stretch over 2400 km between th ...

since Late Mesozoic has further uplifted Fansipan and the Hoang Lien Son Range and created the

Red River Fault The Red River Fault or Song Hong Fault ( vi, Đới Đứt Gãy Sông Hồng) is a major fault in Yunnan, China and Vietnam which accommodates continental China's (Yangtze Plate) southward movement It is coupled with that of the Sagaing Fault in ...

to the east.

Summit mark

The initial metal pyramid was made and installed here by Soviet engineers from Hòa Bình in 1985. The amateur mountaineering expedition was the first one since the end of the colonial period and was officially timed to the 40th anniversary of the

Victory Day Victory Day is a commonly used name for public holidays in various countries, where it commemorates a nation's triumph over a hostile force in a war or the liberation of a country from hostile occupation. In many cases, multiple countries may ob ...

of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany.

Climbing

Hiking

Fansipan can be climbed in a steep and fairly strenuous hike. Previously, it took about 5–6 days from Sa Pa to reach Fansipan peak and return. Now the total time is usually only about three days, even two days, or for experts and strong, healthy people, it can be done in one day. Tour companies in the area will arrange hikes to the summit taking from one to three days. Most recommend taking the two or three-day options, and few guides will take tourists on a round trip in a single day. A very small village is located at around where accommodation and food is offered. Further up, at , is an overnight camp. Most booked trips include the use of these facilities in their price should they be required.

Cable car

A cable car to the peak of Fansipan was inaugurated on February 2, 2016. The

gondola lift A gondola lift is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel wire rope that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supp ...

departs from a terminal in Muong Hoa Valley near Sa Pa and takes 20 minutes to arrive at the summit. The service holds two

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for the longest non-stop three-rope cable car in the world, spanning , and the greatest elevation difference by a non-stop three-roped cable car for the difference in elevation between the termini. Currently, there are also climbing trains that help climbers get past the walking stairs. Round-trip cable fare is VND 700,000 and round-trip climbing train is VND 150,000. There are discounts for students.

References

{{Authority control Mountains of Vietnam Landforms of Lào Cai province Tourist attractions in Lào Cai province Highest points of countries