Binh Dinh pottery largely overlooked

Van Son has been famous for centuries as a pottery making village, one of the oldest in Binh Dinh Province.

 

Meticulous craftsmanship

Meticulously-crafted, the products from Van Son Village, An Nhon Township’s Nhon Hau Commune have been turning soil into art for a long time, and have become known throughout the country.

Despite economic development and rapid urbanisation, Van Son's industry remains vibrant.

Its products are mainly earthenware, which can be seen in a number of places, including Bac Ninh, Hue, Danang, Quang Nam, Kien Giang and Rach Gia.

According to local craftsmen, it takes a lot of time and effort to create a product ready for sales in the market.

Cao Van Binh, 52, who is an experienced craftsman from Van Son, said “In order to make pottery that is up to standard, the potter first has to make sure that the materials are of alluvial soil or clay. They then have to be well-kneaded, dried, and pounded. After that impurities will be removed, making it into a soft and silky powder. Such a process requires a lot of time and know-how. Only after that are they ready for the kiln."

Currently, craftsmen in Van Son are facing some difficulties in maintaining this tradition, due to the lack of availability of appropriate soil, high production costs and low selling prices.

Vo Thi Phung, 38, from Van Son, said soil prices have doubled, to VND100,000 (USD4.79)  per wagon.

Tremendous time and effort put in

Industrious craftsmen

Shining up before sale

Preparing for the kiln

Final products

Cua Van among world’s most beautiful villages

 

Cua Van village in Ha Long Bay has been recognized as one of the most beautiful villages around the world by Journeyetc.com, a travel blog that provide useful guidance on and latest information about the travel market.

In a recent article featuring the world’s 16 exceptionally charming villages, Journeyetc.com said tourists will be amazed at the historical sites and the cobble stone streets of the village.  

It is definitely one of the most scenic around the world, it said, advising visitors to admire the majestic lime stone hills of Ha Long Bay, take photos of the floating fishing village and colorful raft houses, and immerse themselves in the rustic lifestyle of Cua Van. 

Also in the blog’s list are beautiful villages in Switzerland, New Mexico, Italy, Tunisia, Japan, France, Czech Republic, Turkey, England, Hawaii, Georgia, Canada, Indonesia, Bermuda, and Chile.

Source: VOV

 

Cua Van among world’s most beautiful villages

Cua Van village in Ha Long Bay has been recognised as one of the most beautiful villages around the world by Journeyetc.com, a travel blog that provide useful guidance on and latest information about the travel market.

In a recent article featuring the world’s 16 exceptionally charming villages, Journeyetc.com said tourists will be amazed at the historical sites and the cobble stone streets of the village.

It is definitely one of the most scenic around the world, it said, advising visitors to admire the majestic lime stone hills of Ha Long Bay, take photos of the floating fishing village and colorful raft houses, and immerse themselves in the rustic lifestyle of Cua Van.

Also in the blog’s list are beautiful villages in Switzerland, New Mexico, Italy, Tunisia, Japan, France, Czech Republic, Turkey, England, Hawaii, Georgia, Canada, Indonesia, Bermuda, and Chile.

Staying the night at Dao Village

Just spending one night with a Dao minority family is a great experience for tourists.

In the Nam Choong village of Xin Man Commune, Ha Giang Province, tourists can do just that as they can easily find a cozy homestay for the night and enjoy the hot spring that runs through the village during the day as they experience the daily routines of Dao people.

Xin Man Commune is located in the north-west area of Ha Giang Province but tourists can reach it from the city of Ha Giang or Lao Cai.

Nam Choong village is special not only thanks to the hot spring, but also because it’s the living place of Dao Ao Dai and its villagers still keep the old traditions alive on a daily basis.

 

The bridge leading to the Dao’s locality

The hosts will serve lunch and dinner according to visitor’s request. Normally meals will include chicken, pork, buffalo, fish and vegetable dishes - Photos: Pham Thai

 

Hung Yen’s unique Ban soy sauce village

The Ban craft village produces arguably the most delicious soy sauce in Ban Township, Yen Nhan District, Hung Yen Province.

 

A woman makes Ban soy sauce in Ban Village, Hung Yen Province 

Ban soy sauce is so popular because it is made from large-grain sticky rice, small-grain soy bean, and in particular dinged-well water. There is only one well in Ban Village to supply the water to make the soy sauce, which is its sole purpose. Therefore, coming to Ban village to witness the sauce’s production in Hung Yen is recommended to tourists as it is a fascinating sight around harvest time.

March to August is that time for the villagers, so expect to see hundreds of jars in diverse sizes filling yards in every household. Making soy sauce is not difficult but making Ban soy sauce is an art-form.

Producers have to wash the rice carefully then soak it in water and cooked into sticky rice, next scatter the sticky rice onto a large bamboo flat basket and dry it in an airy place until the rice turns yellow. Soy beans must be roasted until the bean is brown and then the beans are soaked in a clean jar for one week. After the beans have fermented, producers will add a little salt and more soy beans into the water and stir regularly. The sauce must be fermented on sunny days.

Coming to Hung Yen, tourists will also be suggested to visit the Pho Hien relic complex, of which Mau Temple is a highlight and a mystery. Once stepping into the temple, travelers will be amazed by the huge seven-hundred-year-old tree which makes a domed gate for the temple. Another attraction tourists should not miss is the huge longan tree, called Nhan To, in front of Hien Pagoda. Around 300 years old, the tree is a sacred place for locals as they believe the tree brings prosperity to the land.

Another relic of the Pho Hien relic complex worth visiting is Thien Hau Temple, Dong Do-Quang Hoi Temple and Chuong (Bell) Pagoda which is endowed with poetic scenery and boasts a stone bridge spanning a lotus pond and 18 statues of Arhats. Hung Yen Literature Temple holds a collection of ancient steles.

Pho Hien also has stunning Vietnamese architecture, which is decorated with the colors of folk belief and religion, and some are considered high in artistic value. Along with their architectural features, these relics have preserved utensils for religious offerings, palanquins, hammocks, horizontal lacquered boards and many pairs of wood panels with skillfully-inscribed parallel sentences.

More importantly, the relics of Pho Hien preserve their innate ancient beauty. With the wet rice civilization and culture, we catch the colors of bronze, stone, wood, tile and soil on each roof, door and path, which create a sense of immortality of each relic.

With its role as a key link from the traffic artery of the Red River, Pho Hien was once a frontal port of Thang Long Citadel that opened to the sea, ranking second in importance to Hanoi, as goes an old Vietnamese saying. Today, Pho Hien residents are embracing an ambition to revive its glorious past.

Unicorn head making thrives in Nam Dinh

Gao village in Thanh Loi commune, Nam Dinh province, has preserved the age-old tradition of making unicorn heads for the annual full-moon festival which falls in the middle of the eighth lunar month.

During the subsidized economy several decades ago, the villagers decided to establish a cooperative that only made unicorn heads for the festival. 

The cooperative created intricately designed unicorn heads from materials such as used papers, inks, and bamboo supplied by the State, and delivered them to State companies to sell.

Having experienced many upheavals over the years, only three households in the village now earn a living from making unicorn heads. They still maintain the traditional manual work, from building and painting the bamboo frames to arranging and gluing decorative papers to create the final product.

The village is most well-known for making large-sized unicorn heads. Hung, a local villager, says he inherited the craft from his father who specialised in large unicorn heads. He used his own initiative to develop lighter, more durable unicorn heads using cloth instead of paper.

He says he is happy because the trade continues to grow and flourish, and his new products are selling well.

At another house in the village, the entire family is working hard around the clock to deliver products to their dealers on schedule. A small unicorn head costs just VND8,000 (38 cents).

Although the full-moon festival is celebrated only once a year, Gao villagers hope to preserve their traditional craft and make enough money to cover some of their daily expenses.

Making large-size unicorn heads

Cloth pieces are used instead of old papers

The unicorn head is made of rattan and bamboo splints

Gluing the head

The inner framed layer of the head

Unfinished products

Painting the head

Drying the products in the sun

Putting the finishing touch to the product

Hoi An's traditional silk village

A silk village in Hoi An, Quang Nam Province, somewhat overlooked for a while, has seen a revival of tourism of late, attracting tourists.

Ma Chau Village in Duy Xuyen District is just one kilometre away from centre of Hoi An City.

The combination of eco-tourism and traditional handicraft product development has helped to preserve the cultural life of people in Quang Nam.

Now, the village appears much more like in the past. Old looms in wooden houses, long unused, have been activated again. Besides the sight and sound of the moving looms, village also has green mulberry gardens and silkworm baskets.

Scarves and dresses made of silk are on display throughout the village, showing off the traditional craft of the residents.

Visitors also have the chance to learn something about the fabric-weaving method of the Cham ethnic minority people as well as see special products of the area.

  

Journey to Ta Phin Village

On the way to Sapa Town in the northwest province of Lao Cai, Ta Phin Village located about four kilometers off the center of town is awaiting your presence.

 

Tourists tramp around Ta Phin Village in Sapa Town 

Nestled in Sa Peng Commune, Sapa District, Ta Phin is home to Dao people and to reach the village there is a splendid view of the valley on one side and mountain on the other. Under the valley is a crystal water stream winding along green terraced rice fields and in the distance are lines of corn trees, ensuring tourists feast their eyes as they discover a new land.

Visitors will be firstly amazed at the Dao ethnic ladies, with their red scarves covering their hair, as they flock to welcome travelers. They are dressed mostly in black costumes with colorful patterns hemmed in collars, sleeves and laps together with a white hat and shoes. All Dao women shave the hair on their foreheads and eyebrows following their traditional custom.

On the tramp around the village, some Dao women or children will chase after visitors to ask them to buy their brocade products. The village is studded with simple houses with girls sitting sewing products by hand. Bright smiles and the laughter of children will also make an unforgettable memory.

Strolling for about 1,000 meters, excursionists will meet a huge cave at the foot of a high mountain, which legend states was the place where Dao people’s ancestor settled.

The cave is named Dinh Binh Ta Thanh Long Dong and tourists will pay VND50,000 for a guide with a flashlight as they encounter the mysterious grotto with colorful stalactites in weird shapes. The cave is also the start of Ta Chai Stream running through a primeval forest, creating picturesque scenery worthy of anyone’s admiration.

Near the cave is also a brocade-making craft village where tourists can buy and witness artisans making costumes, handbags, hats, carpets as well as many kinds of jewelry. The village is also famous for tasty fruit such as peach, plums, apple and persimmon and many ethnic cakes and indigenous wines as well which tourists should stock up on for gifts for family and friends.

A view of Dai Binh Ta Thanh Long Cave in Ta Phin Village - Photos: Dang Hoang Tham

Silk village – treasure of Hoi An

If you are fortunate enough to take in the splendor that is Hoi An ancient town in Quang Nam Province should not miss a new tour to Lang Lua (silk village) by QuangNamSilk Company at 28 Nguyen Tat Thanh Street.

 

Tourists inspect an artisan weaving fabric at Silk Village in Quang Nam 

From an idea of an original Quang Nam people who has long time attached to silkworm and mulberry tree in Duy Xuyen Commune of Dai Loc District, the village was born to restore the culture of weaving fabric career and to provide tourists more knowledge on the history of this traditional career. Hoi An in the past was a port shipping silk to the world. Local people take pride of the place where the silk road on the sea took shape.

The village is where tourists can get a glimpse into the making process of Quang Nam’s traditional silk and Cham people’s brocade cloths. Tourists to the venue can study 40 kinds of mulberry, ancient styles of looms and silkworm breeds, among others.

“The Silk Village is where we preserve a precious collection of related items to the weaving fabric career and a collection of ruong houses (traditional houses in Quang Nam architectural styles). Additionally, we also make Quang Nam silks here,”  said Le Thai Vu, director of QuangNamSilk Company.

“For over ten years, I have put effort on collecting ruong houses nationwide, hundreds of years old mulberry kinds and ancient looms to equip for the village,” Vu added.

Tourists can also admire a collection of old costumes by 54 ethnic minority people in Vietnam displayed in ancient houses there. Those who wish to have a tailored costume or eat traditional Quang Nam food like cao lau (a soup made with noodles, pork and greens), mi Quang (noodles in Quang Nam style) and com nieu (rice cooked in earthenware pot) can ask artisans at the village.

Silk Village is located on the road leading to Hoi An ancient town. This tourist and cultural site is 30km away from Danang downtown to the Road 607. Tourists can take a 30-minute bus which costs them VND20,000 (around US$1) to get to the site. For further information, contact the QuangNamsilk at 28 Nguyen Tat Thanh Street, Tan An Ward, Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province, tel: (84-510) 392 1144.

1,000-year-old Cham tower unearthed

The remains of a unique Cham tower have been found in Phong Le Village, Cam Le District in the central city of Da Nang, an area not known for Cham relics.

The remains of a unique Cham tower have been found in Phong Le Village, Cam Le District, Da Nang City.

Archaeologists from the city's Museum of Cham Sculpture and Faculty of History at the University of Social Sciences and Humanity discovered the site last year and earlier this month found that the foundations of the structure, which measure 16m by 16m, said Vo Van Thang, director of the museum.

"We have unearthed this vestige dating back 1,000 years ago and the foundations are still intact," he said. "Experts were surprised because this is the first archaeological vestige relating to Cham culture found in Da Nang and it's different from other Cham relics found in other regions."

"The discovery is very important," he said.

The excavation was prompted by the discovery of many valuable c at the same site last year.

The Champa Kingdom originated in India and spread along the coast of modern-day Viet Nam between the 4th and 13th centuries. Cham culture, including Cham towers, folk songs and dances and traditional festivals, are an important part of Viet Nam's cultural diversity.

Royal bananas light up rural village

Chuoi ngu season has now come upon Dai Hoang Village, in the northern province of Ha Nam, giving visitors of the area a chance to enjoy the rare taste of the fruits.

 

Chuoi ngu is a variety of banana that has grown in the area for hundreds of years. It is small and has bright yellow skin and a sweet smell when ripe. Its beauty and taste has made the area famous since the 13th century.

It is said that this kind of banana used to be a favourite fruit of the Tran Kings, so local people call it Chuoi ngu, meaning royal banana.

 

 

Although the fruit can be seen all year round, it is mainly in season between June and August, when the bananas taste the best.

Any visitors to Dai Hoang Village at this time have the opportunity to enjoy this delicious specialty, along with the beautiful sights of local markets filled with the bight yellow ripening fruits.

 

 

According to local people, their fruit has just been granted a certificate of origin by the Ministry of Science and Technology. This will encourage them to preserve and develop this species of banana and help widen its market.