Mai Châu is a rural district of Hòa Bình Province in the Northwest region of Vietnam. The district is located at about 160 km from Ha Noi. The scenery of Mai Châu attracts many tourists.

In 2003 the district had a population of 48,570.The district covers an area of 520 km². The district capital is the city of Mai Châu.

Hoa Binh is a mountainous province located in the north. It is bordered by Son La in the west, Phu Tho and Ha Tay in the north, Ha Nam and Ninh Binh in the east, and Thanh Hoa in the south.

The culture of Hoa Binh combines six minorities with their own languages, traditional literature, and festivals. The climate is hot and humid with high levels of precipitation during the rainy season. Several calamities such as heavy rains, floods, violent storms, and droughts occur in this area. Tourists especially enjoy the minority specialty dishes including rice cooked in bamboo and grilled meat.

They also enjoy watching traditional dancing, music performances (bronze, drums, gongs), and Thai minority singing and dancing. The remote minority villages are attractive sites for tourists. Located on Highway 6, Hoa Binh provincial is 70 km south-west of Hanoi.

Hoa Binh town and the adjacent area was the cradle of the Hoa Binh culture. Archaeological finds show that this is the first place man domesticated crop plants. Hoa Binh province is inhabited by various ethnic groups, the Muong, Kinh, Thai, Tay, Dao, H'Mong and Hoa.