Sơn La

Sơn La lies on a high plateau in the mountainous country between the Black and Mã rivers. Tai communities established mường in the valleys among the ridges, where cultivated fields contrast with the surrounding uplands. The Tai epic Quam tố mương recounts the movements of the leader Lạng Chượng from Mường Lò to Mường La, Mường Muổi and Mường Thanh, preserving a history of settlement and local rule in this northwestern country.