Short answer: the 23 in our name is a latitude. Vietnam’s northernmost point, in Lung Cu at the top of Ha Giang, lies at about 23°23’ north, just south of the Tropic of Cancer at about 23°26’.
The top of the map
Every Vietnamese schoolchild learns the four extreme points of the country. The northern one is in Lung Cu, in the far north of the Dong Van area, at about 23°23’N. Today Lung Cu is a commune of Tuyen Quang province, since Ha Giang was merged into Tuyen Quang in 2025 (see what changed after the merger), but for travellers it is still the place people mean when they say “the top of Ha Giang”.
Most visitors know it through the Lung Cu flag tower, which stands on a hilltop close to the northernmost point and flies a flag of 54 m², one square metre for each of Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups.
Just short of the Tropic
The Tropic of Cancer, the most northerly line where the sun can stand straight overhead, currently runs at about 23°26’N. Three minutes of latitude is only around five or six kilometres, so the northern tip of Vietnam stops just short of it. In other words, almost all of Ha Giang is tropical on the map — and yet the stone plateau around Dong Van and Meo Vac has cold, foggy winters and frost on the highest ground. That contrast is one of the things we want people to understand before they come: latitude says “tropics”, altitude says “pack a warm jacket” (see our packing list).
Why a number, not a slogan
We wanted a name that says where we are, not what we sell. “23” points to a real place on the map, it is easy to remember, and it works in English and Vietnamese. For many Vietnamese people it also has a second meaning: 23 was Ha Giang’s vehicle number-plate code, and you will still see plenty of 23 plates on the road.
So when you see the small “23°” in our logo, read it as a coordinate: the northern edge of Vietnam, and the place this guide is written from.