Hue, located in Central Vietnam is always famous for its natural landscapes and tasty cuisine. However, little does everyone know that Hue is also home to a number of traditional crafts in Vietnam. Here is the list of 8 traditional craft villages in Hue.
Conical Hat (Nón lá) Village
The conical hat, . The conical hat might be quite familiar to many of you since they are a popular souvenir sold almost everywhere in Vietnam. Yet, Hue is one of the places famous for making conical hats.
Dạ Lê and Tây Hồ are considered as 2 conical hats making villages in Hue. Dạ Lê Village is located in Huong Thuy District, near Phu Bai Airport in Hue. Tây Hồ village is in Phu Ho Commune, Phu Vang District, about 12 km from Hue City Centre.
People there have lived on making and decorating conical hats for a long time. Once coming to these villages, you will have a chance to see how people make conical hats and buy the products directly from the local artisans. It’s the best way to discover Vietnam culture. One more good news is buying conical hats there is cheaper than buying them in the market.
Local artisans are making conical hats. Source: www.huesmiletravel.com
Huong Thuy Xuan Village – Colorful Incense Making Village
Huong Thuy Xuan is the biggest incense making village in Hue. It’s about 7 km from Hue city center to this village. You can find the way to this village easily because it’s on Huyen Tran Cong Chua Street, the same way people travel to Tu Duc Royal Tomb and Vong Canh Hill – two famous destinations in Hue.
The price of buying incenses is normally cheap. However, if you buy them in Huong Thuy Xuan Village, it can be a little bit more expensive because they have more colors and can be sold in the tourist area. If you are interested in photography, this is one of the best traditional craft villages in Hue to visit.
Colorful incenses in Huong Thuy Xuan Village in Hue. Source: wwwvqh.quangthu.com
Sình Village – Traditional Picture Making Village
Phu Mau Commune which is located in Phu Vang district is famous for its traditional craft of picture printing. Sinh pictures are not drawn by brush but printed by a drawing mold. A complete picture needs to be printed by many molds in different colors. Normally, the pictures are used for worship. They will burn the pictures after worshipping.
The way to the village is quite hard to find. Normally, tourists come here during the Tet Holiday – Vietnamese New Year.
The local artisan is printing traditional Sinh pictures. Source: www.divui.com
Bronze Casting Village – Phường Đúc
Bronze casting is a traditional craft of Vietnamese people in general and Hue people in particular. The place where tourists can learn about this craft is Phường Đúc. It is the only bronze casting village left after the war.
The village is about 3 km from the city center, on the way to Gia Vien Bridge. Few tourists come here. They normally want to learn about bronze casting and buy authentic products.
Bronze casting village in Hue. Source: www.lengdan.co.vn
Pottery Making Village – Làng Phước Tích
Phuoc Tich Village is considered the biggest pottery making village in Hue. It is located between Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue province, about 45 km from Hue city center. Long ago, the pottery products made here were used by the royal family only. Now, they are common in the daily life of the local people.
Tourists visiting here can learn about pottery making, but also sight-see some ancient houses and relic sites.
Phuoc Tich Pottery Village in Hue. Source: www.huesmiletravel.com
Paper Flower Making Village – Làng Hoa Giấy Thanh Tiên
Thanh Tien Village belongs to Phu Mau Commune in Phu Vang District. It’s close to Sinh Village mentioned above. Although the craft is not really well-known, it’s still one of the traditional crafts in Hue. During Tet, the village is crowded with many artisans and local people coming to buy paper flowers for decorating their houses. If you want to get creative by trying to make your own paper flowers, this may be one of the best traditional craft villages in Hue for you.
Thanh Tien Paper Flowers Village in Hue. Source: www.baomoi.com
Jewelry making village – Làng Kim Hoàn Kế Môn
Kim Hoan Village, also called the jewelry making village is in Phong Dien District, about 40 km from Hue city center. The local people here live on decorating, carving the gold or silver jewelry. Visitors may feel it interesting to watch the artisans patiently decorate the jewelry with tiny gems or carving tiny patterns. However, it’s quite far for visitors to come here so there are few people know about this village.
Jewelry made in Ke Mon Village. Source: wwwdulichvietnam.com
Basket weaving village – Làng đan lát Bao La
The last traditional craft village in Hue is Bao La Village – the basket weaving village. This one is in Quang Dien District, close to the South of Tam Giang Lagoon. The name of this village attach with the basket, so people always call Bao La baskets. Until now, the local artisans there not only weave baskets, they also weave other things for decoration.
Weaving products made by artisans in Bao La Village. Source: www.thegioidisan.com
To sum it up, although these traditional craft villages produce unique products and keep the traditions, they are being forgotten. Low income and fewer consumers are the 2 main reasons for that. If you are interested in traditional crafts, we recommend you visit the villages. They’re worth seeing and you also support the local artisans to have a better life. Don’t miss out on these 8 traditional craft villages in Hue.
