Explore Hmong Heritage in Butte County

In 1980, Hmong fam­i­lies start­ed arriv­ing in Butte Coun­ty as refugees escap­ing post-war per­se­cu­tion fol­low­ing their sup­port of Unit­ed States efforts dur­ing the Viet­nam War.

When search­ing for a place to set­tle down, many were drawn to Oroville. Its rur­al land­scape, rolling hills, and wind­ing riv­er val­leys close­ly mir­rored the moun­tain ter­rain of their home­lands in Laos and Thailand.

Nav­i­gat­ing steep lan­guage bar­ri­ers upon arrival, fam­i­lies relied on their deep agri­cul­tur­al her­itage to cre­ate new oppor­tu­ni­ties. By rent­ing avail­able land across Ther­mal­i­to, rur­al Oroville, and out­ly­ing Chico, Hmong fam­i­lies cul­ti­vat­ed crops and built self-suf­fi­cient fam­i­ly farms from the ground up.

Just as the Hmong were set­tling in Butte Coun­ty, the Chico Cer­ti­fied Farm­ers Mar­ket was also found­ed, cre­at­ing a per­fect venue for Hmong fam­i­lies to turn their moun­tain farm­ing exper­tise into self-suf­fi­cient small businesses.

In the decades since, Hmong agri­cul­tur­al fam­i­lies have broad­ened local food offer­ings. Hmong mar­ket stalls intro­duced spe­cial­ty crops, such as Asian greens, long beans, win­ter mel­ons, and bit­ter mel­ons, along­side tra­di­tion­al mar­ket favorites.

More than that, though, the mar­ket stalls became impor­tant week­ly touch­points where non-Hmong res­i­dents inter­act­ed direct­ly with Hmong res­i­dents, build­ing a cul­tur­al bridge cen­tered on food and farming.

Today, these mul­ti-gen­er­a­tional fam­i­ly enter­pris­es are man­aged in part by sec­ond-gen­er­a­tion Hmong-Amer­i­cans. Hmong pro­duc­ers — includ­ing Dexter’s Chow, Ha Lee Moua, Ka Chang’s Pro­duce, Lor’s Pro­duce, and Sal­ly Yang’s Farm — con­tin­ue to sup­ply fresh pro­duce to North­ern Cal­i­for­nia year-round.

For Hmong fam­i­lies, New Year is an hon­ored cul­tur­al cel­e­bra­tion. Tra­di­tion­al­ly, after the har­vest sea­son in the fall, Hmong gen­er­a­tions gath­er for New Year to hon­or ances­tral spir­its, cel­e­brate the fall har­vest, and step into fresh beginnings.

While cel­e­bra­tions in South­east Asia match local crop har­vest time­lines, in the Unit­ed States, com­mu­ni­ties orga­nize these events into a region­al cir­cuit that runs from mid-autumn through late December.

And with its mid-Octo­ber date, Oroville kicks off the North­ern Cal­i­for­nia Hmong New Year cel­e­bra­tions before the cir­cuit con­tin­ues to Sacra­men­to in late Novem­ber and Fres­no in late December.

Quick Facts

The Oroville Hmong New Year is the offi­cial kick­off event for North­ern Cal­i­for­ni­a’s fes­ti­val circuit

• Date: Sec­ond week­end of October
• Loca­tion: Nel­son Sports Com­plex, 2290 6^th St, Oroville
• Activ­i­ties: Tra­di­tion­al music (qeej), folk danc­ing, soc­cer, vol­ley­ball, top-spin­ning, and more
• Learn More: Get All the Details

Tra­di­tions and Cul­tur­al Heritage

Dur­ing the Oroville Hmong New Year, vis­i­tors can expe­ri­ence vibrant dis­plays of Hmong cul­tur­al heritage:

• Tra­di­tion­al Cloth­ing: Attire fea­tures fine embroi­dery (paaj ntaub), detailed pleats, and sil­ver jewelry.
• Music & Dance: Live per­for­mances cen­ter on the qeej (a tra­di­tion­al bam­boo reed instru­ment) along­side folk dances.
• Com­mu­nal Sports: Com­pe­ti­tions bring crowds togeth­er for soc­cer, vol­ley­ball, and tra­di­tion­al top-spinning.

Beyond sports and food stalls, the event cre­ates a cru­cial space for long-dis­tance rel­a­tives to recon­nect and pass down time-hon­ored cus­toms as well as a space for vis­i­tors to learn more about the rich his­to­ry of the Hmong people.

From casu­al food trucks to fam­i­ly-run mar­kets, explor­ing local Hmong-owned busi­ness­es offers a direct taste of the food tra­di­tions and com­mu­ni­ty spir­it woven into Butte County.

This curat­ed list high­lights a few beloved com­mu­ni­ty spots across Chico and Oroville.

Chico Estab­lish­ments

• Asian Mar­ket Chico: A pop­u­lar fam­i­ly-owned and oper­at­ed gro­cery store, car­ry­ing a vari­ety of Asian food favorites since 2000.
• MY Ori­en­tal Market: A well-stocked local Asian mar­ket with a strong empha­sis on South­east Asian ingre­di­ents. Shop­pers enjoy their selec­tion of spe­cial­ty pro­duce, fra­grant spices, and large selec­tion of noodles.
• PB & Jimmy’s: A pop­u­lar food truck serv­ing an ener­getic fusion of South­east Asian and Amer­i­can dish­es. Stop by for hot grilled spe­cial­ties, refresh­ing cold snacks, and fla­vor­ful bites on the go.
• Rice & Grill: Find this fam­i­ly-owned Hmong food truck reg­u­lar­ly at Chico State, where they serve tra­di­tion­al South­east Asian favorites. Enjoy per­fect­ly grilled meats, fresh veg­eta­bles, and savory rice dish­es made fresh daily.
• Thao’s: A fam­i­ly-owned restau­rant bring­ing a diverse menu of tra­di­tion­al and mod­ern Asian cui­sine right to down­town Chico.
• Vang’s Plants and Suc­cu­lents Hub: Also known local­ly as Vang’s Hub, this vibrant shop com­bines house plants and suc­cu­lents with curat­ed vin­tage cloth­ing and pre-loved finds.

Oroville Estab­lish­ments

• Lit­tle Bam­boo House: A cozy, fam­i­ly-run restau­rant serv­ing home-style South­east Asian com­fort food packed with tra­di­tion­al flavor.
• M.C. Ori­en­tal Mar­ket: A neigh­bor­hood sta­ple for essen­tial Hmong cook­ing ingre­di­ents, fresh Hmong sausage, and steamed pork meat­loaf ready for dinner.
• The Spicy Kitchen: A wel­com­ing casu­al eatery where own­er Sia Vue serves up home­made Lao sausage, fresh papaya sal­ad, crispy pork egg rolls, spring rolls, and steam­ing bowls of boat noodles.
• Tong’s Mar­ket­place: A pop­u­lar spot for South­east Asian gro­ceries, fresh sushi, and dai­ly hot entrees made from tra­di­tion­al fam­i­ly recipes. Sig­na­ture offer­ings include pork laab with sticky rice, fresh-stuffed rice rolls, bar­be­cued pork skew­ers, and pre-pack­aged Kaopoon red cur­ry chick­en soup.