Cat Cat brocade village

Nestled in a beautiful valley about three kilometers from Sapa Town, Cat Cat- the old village of ethnic groups- attracts tourists from all over the world for its distinctive customs and practices which have been lost in almost ethnic villages. The village is within easy walking distance from any hotel in downtown Sapa.

Overview

Cat Cat cultural village was formed in 19th century by the gathering of some families belonging to some ethnic groups living in mountainous areas of northern Vietnam, especially Black H’Mong .They lived next to each other along the mountain side and cultivated surrounding their home. Rice and corn were grown in terraced fields, while traditional handicrafts such as twisting flax and weaving fabric have been well-kept. Through times, Cat Cat Village has transferred to one appealing feature of Sapa’s tourism.

What to see?

Visiting Cat Cat, tourists will be impressed by the peacefully picturesque sceneries. People can easily catch sight of women sitting in front of the loom with colorful pieces of brocade, while children playing around with pets or even livestock. From the plain brocade, then women can carefully dye them with special leaves and embroider beautiful patterns of flower and animal on them. Moreover, many residents of Cat Cat Village are also skillful at manipulating sophisticated gold and silver jewelry.

The original architect of H’Mong people is interesting as well. Their house typically contains three rooms with three doors and po mu wood roof, while the walls’ material is sawn timber. There are other indispensable parts of the house such as altar, kitchen, places for keeping food and sleeping, etc.

What to do?

Cat Cat Village gives tourists a chance to have a glimpse into the daily life of local ethnic people, as well as take part in traditional activities such as weaving fabric. It is also a good opportunity to purchase some traditional souvenirs and handicrafts right from the craftsmen. People can also try some local food selling the way upcoming to the hill.

In addition, the road leading to Cat Cat Village is an easy and interesting route for trekking. The spot is only within 20-30m minutes walking from Sapa center; and the hike through mountains will offer tourists the wonderful picture of rice paddies, water fall, or even water buffaloes grazing leisurely.

Duy Vinh sedge mat village

Being created by alluvium of three rivers Thu Bon, Trung Giang and Ly Ly, Duy Vinh commune (Duy Xuyen district, Quang Nam province) has been famous for a long time of weaving sedge mats. The profession of weaving sedge mat was derived from Nga Son – Thanh Hoa province, and introduced into Quang Nam in early 14th century. 

Sedge grass is the main material in mat weaving; it is easy to grow in this land and gives high productivity. There are many kinds of mat like plain mat, colored mat, embossed mat…; therefore depending on the intended use of each one, farmers will harvest sedge in many different sizes. After being harvested in July and August every year, sedge will be dried, dyed by color ink and stored for weaving all year round. Many clients come to Duy Vinh to buy sedge mats or they will be sold at Ban Thanh sedge mats market.

Duy Vinh craft village has 350 households, 300 of which have weaved sedge mats from generations to generations and supplied nearly 10,000 pairs of sedge mats each day to the market. The weaving process requires two people, one is the designer for the pattern by controlling the jutes up and down rhythmically, the other is responsible for inserting the sedges into the space between jutes. This work requires patience and experience to make a perfect work. From the yarns of green, red, purple, yellow sedge ... with brain and heart, the weavers have created hundreds of perfect color mixing picture.

In many years before, this product was very hard to consume and heatly competed by industrial produced mats. However, some years recently, many people returned to use sedge mats; that helps to resuscitate this valuable traditional occupation. Duy Vinh mats craft village is not only creating job for local residents but also an attractive destination of worldwide tourists

Ban soy sauce village

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

Duong Lam ancient village

After the recognition of Hoi An ancient town, Hanoi old quarter, Duong Lam village in Son Tay Town (some 60km to the west of Hanoi Capital) is the first ancient village recognised as a national relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information.

Two of Vietnam’s kings, Phung Hung (761-802) and Ngo Quyen (896-944) were born in Duong Lam, giving the village its prestige. Both men led resistance wars against northern invasion and after winning national independence, were crowned kings. After their deaths, the local people built temples in their honour.

The ancient village has a history of about 1,200 years with many houses dating back up to 400 years. One special thing about the village is that most of the buildings here are made of laterite and mud, two materials that are abundant in the area. Laterite is used on house walls, gates, wells, temple walls, and so forth. The mud is taken from ponds. Apart from its historical and tourism values, Duong Lam ancient village is an important place for scientists to study resident communities in ancient agriculture. The village gate, banyan, well, communal house are important factors in classifying Duong Lam ancient village.

Well

The common well was built in every hamlet in Duong Lam village. The well brings the name of the hamlet it is located. At present, each family possesses its own well but the common well has been protected because it maintains many imprints of the villagers.

Communal house

The communal house is a worshipping place of the god – founder of the village. The ancient village consists of 5 villages so it has 5 communal houses. Doai Giap and Cam Lam communal houses dedicate to Phung Hung – the national hero who won the victory against invaders under Duong Dynasty; Cam Thinh communal house dedicates both the founder of the village and great mandarin Cao Phuc Dien – the hero under Le Dynasty. Dong Sang communal house worships the God but it was destroyed by fire and was restored by financial support from people. The god Tan Vien Son was dedicated in Mong Phu communal house. So far, Mong Phu communal house is a gathering place of the villagers for cultural activities. The communal house was made carefully with sophisticated decoration details. It is considered as a flower of unique sculptural architecture.

Architecture of the house

The wooden house mainly has 5 or 7 spans with 2 wings. It has 5 rows of columns, sometime 1 row disappears. The house has specialized by sophisticatedly carved details in the form of flowers, leaves, clouds.

A system of wooden doors is very firm. Each span has 4 leaves of the door with upper and lower joints. Thresholds were made of firm wood above 40-50cm from the ground and 10cm from the floor. This distance helps to ventilate well, avoid humidity for the thresholds. The whole system of the thresholds is the tie system linking all spans together.

For tangible culture relic, Duong Lam has 21 relic sites, consisting of temples, pagodas and tombs and ten of which have been classified as national and provincial relics. For intangible cultural relic, Duong Lam has preserved various festivals, customs and literature on the people and land of Duong Lam through different period of time. For ecological environment, Duong Lam has many beautiful scenes linked with legendary stories such as Guom Hill, Ho Gam Hill and tales on the two kings Phuong Hung and Ngo Quyen.

Tranh Khuc " chung" cake village

Tranh Khuc Village in Duyen Ha Commune of Thanh Tri District, Hanoi is known throughout the country for its traditional craft of making Banh chung (square glutinous rice cake). At present nearly 200 households in the village are involved in making Banh chung to supply the markets on the occasion of Tet (New Year Festival).

In many homes all members of the family are involved in making Banh chung at their residence. Quantity varies from one household to another, averaging hundreds of cakes a day, but up to 1,500 cakes at Tet. In recent years, Banh chung made by Tranh Khuc villagers have been exported to many countries, including Russia, Australia and Thailand, mainly to meet the needs of overseas Vietnamese.

The Banh chung produced here is renowned for its distinctive flavour. Village elders are most experienced at making these special cakes and generation after generation they hand down their expertise, keeping the craft alive in Tranh Khuc Village.

Each step in making Banh chung involves a professional touch. The Dong leaves used to wrap the cakes must be large, green and untorn. After the leave ribs and petioles are removed they are washed and left to dry. The glutinous rice must be large-size grains which are washed and drained. The green beans must be of top quality. They are husked, cooked and pounded into paste. The pork must be fresh and not too lean. It is parboiled to eliminate any odour and then cut into large pieces and marinated with spices and pepper to make it soft and delicious. To make a cake, four or five layers of Dong leaves are used as the wrap of the dumpling, with the green blade of the outside leave turned outward. The dumpling is made of a layer of glutinous rice, a layer of green bean topped by pork and then another layer of green bean topped by another layer of glutinous rice. The dumpling must be wrapped tightly to maintain a uniform shape. The cakes are placed into a big pot and boiled for eight to eleven hours. 

The trademark of Banh chung made in Tranh Khuc Village has been registered to the Hanoi Industry and Trade Department and the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam under the Ministry of Science and Technology. With its typical flavour and good quality Banh chung of Tranh Khuc Village have been exported to many countries. 

Wraping all the dumpling into a square cakeBesides making the traditional Banh chung, Tranh Khuc villagers can alter the ingredients to suit the tastes of offshore customers. For example, people in Australia like to have egg added to the recipes while US customers insist on having chicken added, or the Taiwanese like to have Chinese sausage included in the Banh chung.

According to Nguyen Van Thanh, Chief of Van Uyen Hamlet, Tranh Khuc Village produces Banh chung all year round but the busiest time is around Tet (New Year Festival). The trademark of Banh chung made in Tranh Khuc has become the pride of the villagers.

Phuc Sen forging village

Phuc Sen forging village is located in  Quang Yen district, Cao Bang province. Phuc Sen hammer village is a traditional trade village, appeared over 1000 years ago. Phuc Sen is a rocky village. Main products of the village are metal and steel hand-held agricultural equipments and woodwork equipments. During Vietnamese’s  war resistance, Phuc Sen forging village took park in casting cannon and grenade casing.

Phuc Sen commune has 10 hamlets, 6 of them involved in forging. Stepping into the village, we can find forging furnace everywhere. Main products of the village are metal and steel hand-held agricultural equipments and woodwork equipments. Those bushwhackers, axes, scissors, knives, hoes, shovels, reaping hooks, etc are made from skillful hands and secret of forgers.

Phuc Sen forged products are identical. By examining the temper water, we can see the quality of the knife. In addition, professional forgers  can test by moving the knife on a nail. One that moves smoothly is a good one. It’s important to make an evenly thin blade and use good tempering water. Though there are not many designs for the products, Phuc Sen farm tools have become a trade mark around the country. 

When visiting these hamlets, one can see a diverse range of forges and tools sold on both sides of the road, while the sound of hammer blows resounds across the village.Besides the normal forge tools, such as bellows, anvils, hammers and water troughs, the Nung An people also build earthen cylinder kilns, about 80cm in height and 60cm in diameter.

Thanks to their secret techniques and expertise,  Phuc Sen villagers have a reputation for making very sharp and durable products.  To promote the development of the traditional craft,  villagers often bring their products to sell at Quang Uyen Market so they can raise funds for agricultural tools, blacksmithing tools and materials.

Lately they have started selling their products to other localities in the country.

Chuon "Tet" cake village

An Truyen village, also known as Chuon, in central Vietnam, has been famous for Tet cakes since the reign of King Bao Dai.On the 24th of every lunar month of December, hundreds of households in An Truyen Village, Thua Thien-Hue Province, start making Tet cakes made from sticky rice.

Mrs. Huynh Tam, 84, sold more than 1,600 Tet cakes in the last two weeks of the lunar month of December.Tam said, “My family has been making Tet cakes for 4 generations, so all my children and grandchildren know how to make the best cakes. The secret is using the rice from Cua Paddy Fied, in the village. The rice has to be rinsed, dried, then cleaned three times with water. Then green beans are cooked with flavouring. Lard also makes the cakes have their special taste.”."The difference in taste of the cakes made here is quite clear, especially when they’re freshly out of the boiling pot. You can smell the green beans along with the fat,” she said.

At the house of Ho Van Toan, 10 people were busy preparing and wrapping cakes that have been made by his daughter a law and children. “I just can’t take any more order. It’s insufficient to sell more than 20 cakes for a customer at a time. The reason our cakes our so special is the addition of flavouring, green bean and pork fat. It’s also important to add the right amount of pepper, fish sauce, seasoning powder and other spices for the cake.”

Mr Doan Ran, 78, is experienced in the production of Tet cakes. He said that An Truyen sticky rice was among specialties offered to King Bao Dai of the Nguyen Dynasty. The king also specifically asked that this rice be used to make Tet cakes, then presented them to court officials on the Lunar New Year.

After adding all the ingredients, cakes must be wrapped in the leaves of Su banana . These leaves are what give the cake it’s colour, which can be kept for between 15 and 30 days. Even tying the cake takes skill. It must not be too loose or too tight. The cake is cooked using long-burning "duong" wood that makes a fire that lasts up to three hours.

Price of Chuon Village’s Tet cake remains unchanged at VND10,000 (USD0.5) and VND30,000 (USD1.5) each, depending on different sizes. Many people, including those from Danang, Ho Chi Minh City and even in northern provinces come to the village to buy their cakes.

Phuoc Tich pottery- making village

Phuoc Tich village in Phong Hoa Commune in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue’s Phong Dien District has been recognized as a national cultural heritage site by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Lying silently 40 kilometers to the north of Hue, the ancient village is well-known for its traditional pottery crafts and ancient houses and temples that have been preserved for 500 years in the traditional style that makes them invaluable architecturally and culturally.

Founded in 1470 by Hoang Minh Hung, a marquis under the reign of King Le Thanh Tong, the village at that time was called Con Duong, lying near peaceful O Lau River, and was a sanctuary for local Cham villagers. A 500-year-old Chinese fig tree, a temple worshipping Confucius and a twin tower honoring Hung and the founder of Cham pottery are historical proofs of the ancient village.

Phuoc Tich village has 117 houses, 27 of them highly valued for their cultural integrity, and 10 churches. Most houses in the village are between 100 and 500 years old and are so well preserved as to astonish cultural anthropologists, architects and historians alike.

The homes in Phuoc Tich are considered representative of the homes throughout Northern and Central Vietnam with their open structures and their surrounding fruit orchards that are as large as 1,500-square-meters.

Phuoc Tich houses are mainly made of breadfruit wood and are adorned with exquisite and lively carvings, most of them undamaged despite being surrounded by so many wars through the years. The interiors usually include parallel sentences, a horizontal lacquered board, wooden scrolls, a plank bed and an altar wardrobe. Moss covered tile roofs sag a little under the weight of time and brick walkways, wind screens and old water wells complete the picture. Green lines of tea trees are a charming green substitute for walls.

Traces of Cham culture remain in the village. Recognition of these national cultural relics brings opportunities for development of the village’s tourism potential. Local authorities have organized many activities and folk games for tourists to learn more about the ancient village as well as ancient ceramics.

Phuoc Tich was a famous pottery village in its heyday, supplying the entire central region. It achieved great honor when the Nguyen Court in Hue commissioned the village to produce “om ngu”, or clay pots, for cooking in the Forbidden City.

The pottery has no enamel, so it is called soil pottery primitive and has few vignettes. It is simple and has a natural beauty. During the Nguyen Dyansty, trade was brisk throughout the land; boats and ships from Nghe An, Quang Tri, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Quy Nhon and South Vietnam all sailed here to buy pottery.

Every year Phuoc Tich villagers jubilantly hold the festival to honour their craft making ancestors on November 5 of the lunar calendar at Doi Temple. With its unique value in terms of architecture and traditional craft, Phuoc Tich Village was ranked by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a national relic.

Xuan Lai bamboo- weaving village

Xuan Lai bamboo product making village is located in Gia Binh district, Bac Ninh province (30 km from Hanoi). It is considered as the cradle of bamboo products. Consumers are familiar with its products of bamboo flag handle, mattock handle, ladder, dado…

Xuan Lai village produces bamboo products, especially black bamboo. Normally, bamboo is soaked under water for months; it is then fumigated with straw and clay for four days. This makes it light and stable.

The profession of  bamboo making Xuan Lai village's longstanding. Formerly, families dig to make the main appliances for daily life in the family as woven baskets, baskets, bamboo bed, bed, couch ... Until now, many households has established production facilities, large-scale business.

Currently, Xuan Lai is also famous for interior handicraft from bamboo such as sofa, rocking chair bookshelf, bamboo house, coffee table, wardrobe… and small items such as glass pad, clothes hanger, and flower vase… especially products with shiny brown black that are not painted are much preferred. Bamboo furniture and decorates made by the village are combined firmly in terms of structure and beautifully in terms of colors. They are convenient to use. Bamboo are soaked under ponds for several months then covered with straw and clay, put onto the ovens on the ground to be smoked out. The ovens use straw. They have no fire but only smoke. After being smoked out for four executive days, bamboo becomes lighter, tougher, and resistant to termite and wood eater. It will be used as material to make useful and good looking items.

Xuan Lai village is being preserved and developed with typical products of high use value and art value such as bamboo pictures, bamboo furniture and bamboo architecture. Products of Xuan Lai village are welcome domestically but also internationally through tours as well as Vietnam and international import – export enterprises.

Phu Cam conical hat making village

Hue conical hat or Phu Cam conical hat has not only a beautiful form but also modest color. It is light and so thin that light seems to pierce through it. Through natural light, one can see Hue landscapes with verses engraved on paper placed between two layers of leaves. Hat-making village Phu Cam (also Phuoc Vinh) lies on the southern bank of the An Cuu River in the centre of the former imperial capital of Hue. It’s a village famous for its traditional way of making conical hats for hundreds of years.

From the front look, Phu Cam-made hats look graceful, soft and thin as silk. Hue landscapes or even poems can be seen clearly through the hats in the sunshine. It takes woman much time to make the frame and iron leaves before young girls start sewing. The beauty and grace of a hat depend much on the frame (made of 16 brims from the hem to the top). Artisans use sharp knives to prepare the brims and make the frame that needs skills, techniques and experiences, as well as mathematical calculations which have been handed down for generations.

The leaves to make hat play a vital part, leaves have to be blue-white, neither too young nor too old. Collected leaves are to be put to dry in the sun, put to be moistened by dewdrops, and then to be ironed flat on a steel- plank above a kiln, cleaned with a towel. After all this, leaves are cut to fit the frame.

Moreover, how to arrange the leaves on to the frame is not easy. Each hat needs 50 leaves and between the leaves are coloured papers with pictures or paintings of landscapes, or even poems. Hat-makers are hardworking and careful and diligent. Hats are served with silk-threads and the chin-straps are made of coloured silk (black, white, yellowish, purple, violet…) to harmonize with Hue climate and beauty.

Most remarkably, poem-hat is a distinctive feature of culture in Hue. Locals say they like to do the job not only to earn money but to preserve their age-old tradition as poem-hats have been absorbed into folk music and songs. Today hat are still used by young girls to shade their heads in the sun and to make them look more graceful in the traditional Ao Dai (long dress).

Cu Da ancient village

 Located 20km west of Hanoi, Cu Da ancient village belongs to Thanh Oai district on the outskirts of Hanoi. Cu Da is known as an original and unique space where still preserves the old gates at the village and every hamlet, the old temples, shrines and houses with original architecture style of northern delta region and ancient houses with French architecture dated back to over 100 years ago.

Situated on the bank of Nhue river, Cu Da village has become a bustling business place, a wealthy village that justifies the saying "Close to market is best, close to river is second". The golden time when Cu Da village was most developed were the last years of 19th and early 20th centuries. Cu Da not only has a big gate at the beginning of the village but all hamlets have it's own gate. Elderly people say because of thriving business Cu Da village was also a working place of thefts, in order to protect security in the village each hamlet built a gate to prevent bad people. The roads in the village are paved with inclined tiles, the walls stand close together, at night the gate were locked with wooden doors. This is a rare feature in the villages in north Vietnam. 

Arrive in Cu Da village on an early day of the year, we seemed to be daydreaming in a certain country picture of the early 20th century. The village gate is an arch shape with curved roof, 2 columns on the sides are embossed Chinese characters make it looks like a bell steeple of a pagoda. Cu Da village is adjacent to Hanoi, it belongs to former Ha Tay province. The beauty of the village is nestled by the surrounding Nhue river. Before when the river was not polluted children were seen swimming around while ferry boats traveling along. The scene of thriving business once upon a time still remained in the brick steps that reach out to waterfront.

However the ancient features of the village are relics. The village's main road is the transportation route along the river bank, each lane that crosses the main road has a gateway modeled after the ancient village gate. This fishbone model is typical for an ancient Vietnamese village on the riverside with economic morphogoly of both commerce and agriculture. 

The front side of the village is not only the gate, Cu Da village has 3 gates including the middle one, but also include the landing strip in the river port. The advantage of the village is "Close to market is best, close to river is second". The narrow lanes run towards every house, all lanes are very deep and long. There are still many old houses, if based on the dating engraved on the frame of the wooden houses, the number of houses aged 100 years or more are more than 30, these houses are roofed with Vietnamese tiles, and the number of 70-80 year old houses are uncountable.

While many villages in Vietnam no longer have old houses Cu Da village still has many, and people of Cu Da village started to realize the value of their old houses since the Japanese scientists visited the village, they began to understand the economic and cultural value of the village once Cu Da is upgraded and recognized as a key tourist destination. Another ancient feature of the village is a pagoda named Linh Minh Tu with the original stone pillar marking the year when the village was restored in Hau Le dynasty 1695, and the recent archeological findings has extended the age of Cu Da ancient village to about 2000 years.

It is the discovery of ancient bricks, the typical of the tombs of Chinese colonial time dated back to 20 centuries ago. There is also a high mound call Dong Gia, the archeologists say it is a brick tomb built in the Chinese colonial time. The discovery showed that the village was one of the earliest formed in the region and the places with such brick tombs were usually economic centre, a thriving society.

Notably there are ruins of a platform built with green stone that people call worshiping place. Besides the ancient beauty the village also has modern charm, they are the houses built in French time 1920 - 1940 that look very western. By the river is a towering flagpole built in 1929. There are about 50 houses with western style in the village. At that time Cu Da is the only village in the region with road lighting. During this time people of Cu Da village went to Hanoi and open business, they set up factories, workshops, merchants...A series of rich families in Hanoi take their brands with first name "Cu" such as Cu Doanh, Cu Chan in the textile, Cu Phat...in order to remember their native land. 

Business people went to live in Hanoi also brought money home to build houses and buy land. Traces remain in the two green stone toad statues placed at the river port, on the base pillars are engraved Chinese characters "Van Co Nghiem Nhien" (Eternal solemnity and wealth). There are holes in the statues for the oil lamp, it is a "lighthouse" for the boats trading on Nhue river found their way at night.

The village currently has a few dozen two-story French architecture pretty sophisticated but harmonious with the traditional style of the northern delta. Most of the old houses in the village are made of wood, on roof tiles. The villa of Trinh The Sung family was built over 130 years ago has undergone 4 generations. Despite many ups and downs the house is still intact. As he wanted to preserve and maintain the traditional culture the families do not want to rebuild it.

Coming to Cu Da village, visitors not only discover the ancient features of the villages but also have the opportunity to witness the active production and characteristic flavour of vermicelli, a traditional job of Cu Da.

People who are original of Cu Da village come back to the village on 14th Lunar January and burn incense for their ancestors. cu Da village is also famous for 2 special things: Cu Da soy sauce and vermicelli. Soy sauce of Cu Da is one of the best in the country, still very popular in Hanoi region. Cu Da vermicelli is also the main item. Coming to Cu Da village you will find vermicelli being dried everywhere. With many advantages in terms of relics and a busting craft village, Cu Da is worth to be considered as a tourist destination for ancient Vietnamese village still preserves the traditional shades. Another strong point in terms of tourism is Cu Da village is very close to Hanoi centre, only about 20km from city, you can visit it by motorbike or push bike on a day trip.

Dong Ngac ancient village

Dong Ngac village is located about 10km from downtown Ha Noi, is one of few villages which have still kept intact the cultural features and old historical architecture despite the impacts of rapid urbanization.Dong Ngac Village in North Tu Liem District (formerly known as Ke Ve) is famous for its communal house, manyold houses and ancestral worshipping houses hundreds of years old. 

Stepping through the village’s mossy gate and walking on a brick-paved road, visitors will walk into a completely different space, which is quiet, peaceful and quaint. The first and must-see destination is its large-scale communal house which was built in 1653 to worship three genies, including Thien Than or Doc Cuoc, Dia Than (the village tutelary god) and Nhan Than (a famous general).

The communal house is a solemn place where the village’s most important events take place. It now displays a set of ancient paintings from the Le Dynasty (1427 - 1788) depicting bumper harvests and the peaceful, prosperous life of people and eight paintings showing the trades of fishery, forestry, fabric weaving, husbandry, farming and handicraft and 20 doctorial steles of the villagers from the Le to the Nguyen Dynasties.

Following the paved path and the smoke from kitchens, anyone who walks on the narrow lanes around the village, called “Dong”, “Ngac”, “Ke” and “Ve”, in the village are surprised that so near the capital there is such a quiet and peaceful space.

Like many other villages in Viet Nam, Dong Ngac is moving forward with the pace of development but it has still preserved its architectural works, ancient houses 100 years old in the architectural style of the northern delta in Viet Nam or the French style, Tu Khanh Pagoda built in the 18th -19th century and dozens of ancestral worshipping houses of the Do, Pham, Phan, Nguyen and Hoang families. Among them, the ancestral house of Do Family that honors Do The Giai, a senior official under the Le-Trinh Dynasty (the 17th-18thcentury), has many valuable objects, such as bronze gongs, parallel sentences in Chinese characters, altars, two 2m-high cranes standing on tortoises and two steles. 

Another village attraction is an ancestral house that honors Do The Giai, a senior official from the Le – Trinh era (The Trinh were the noble family that dominated northern Vietnam during most of the Ly Dynasty, from 1428 to 1788). Visiting the house, you will have chance to listen to many interesting stories about the village by the host. Time had touched the ancestral house, but its cultural value remains.

In these days can still see many engravings on the old gates in Dong Ngac. And in most ancestral houses there are parallel sentences written in Chinese characters, showing that elders in the village continually remind the younger generation of the importance of study and acquiring further knowledge.

Time has touched the ancestral house, but its cultural value remains, thereby it has been selected as the place for shooting scenes of daily life of people in the past by many film directors.

Hoi Quan weaving village

Hoi Quan weaving village in Tuong Giang Commune, Tu Son Town, Bac Ninh Province experienced ups and downs through history, the weaving craft is still maintained and handed down through the generations. 

Major products of the craft village are bamboo screens which are used in hotels or exported overseas, pillows and nappies for babies, and handkerchief. Moreover, the craft village is also well-known for sanitized white cloth used for light industry. 

Visiting Hoi Quan, visitors can see the interesting things of the village when they reach the village’ gate. From the gate, the brick paved lane, a unique characteristic of ancient village in the North, leads to village households. Visitors can hear the sound of running spindles of weaving looms in ancient mossy houses. The tradition is that Hoi Quan villages girls when grow up most know every steps of how to weave a small width piece of cotton cloth or a piece of silk to sell at local markets. 

Before the revolution in Agust 1945, almost every household has a weaving loom, some families has 5 or 6 weaving looms and had to hire more people to weave. The key products of this village is small width cloth (40 cm), mosquito – net cloth, thick cloth, check cloth, silk, and even medical style cloth during some periods. During the war in the North, the village still maintained and significant contributed to the 9 year war (1945 – 1954). After 1954, when the North was totally liberated, weaving in the village was developed with wider weaving looms and weaving technique was improved from string pulling to feet paddle to weave more cloth types such as calico, plain batiste, check batiste. 

Hoi Quan weaving village has currently 900 households (3,650 persons), 90 percent of whom do weaving job. Ten percent of weaving households are big scales weavers. The hardship of Hoi Quan people has helped to maintain the traditional vocation, creating significant incomes to the society, improving households’ economic conditions.

Visiting Hoi Quan, visitor have a chance to visit a culture village which was named as a “village with a good traditions which deserves complementation” by King Tu Duc (1872). Visitors can also hear the busy noise of running spindles and see the hardworking of the local people who work from dawn to dust to create high quality products.

Tuy Loan ancient village

About 15km southwest of Da Nang, the Tuy Loan ancient village is located in Hoa Vang District’s Hoa Phong Commune.  It boasts beautiful scenery and the unique characteristics of a Vietnamese rural village.

The village dates back over 500 years to the time when Emperor Le Thanh Tong issued a royal proclamation to extend the country’s territory.  A stele erected at the worshipping house of the village’s five families reveals that their five predecessors with the last names of Dang, Lam, Nguyen, Tran and Le together founded this village.

Despite many ups and downs over the past 5 centuries, local residents are proud of the village's many old houses, its history and its beautiful setting with its many interesting features that include an old banian tree, a boat station, a communal house and others.  Villagers also take pride in their speciality of My Quang (Quang rice noodles) plus their rice paper making.

The village communal house was built in 1889 under the reign of Emperor Thanh Thai.  Despite the passing of so many centuries, the house still retains its inherent majesty.  It covers an area of over 110m2 and has brick walls and a pantile roof.  It is decorated with two dragons flanking a moon, and flying dragons encrusted with shards of pottery.  It has four rows of jack tree wood pillars, each having six pillars between 2.5 and 4.5m high.  The structure of the rafters is patterned after "Chong ruong - Gia thu".  The pillars against the walls are carved with stylised floral designs and their bases are decorated with pumpkin shapes.  At the two sides, the roof beams are decorated with a dragon's head, and the tie beams of floating clouds, daisies and peonies reflect their artistic value.  At present, the house preserves 20 honours dating from Emperor Minh Mang's reign to Emperor Khai Dinh's. The communal house was recognised as a historical and cultural relic in 1999 by the Ministry of Culture and Information.

To pray for peace and prosperity through the year, a traditional festival is held annually from the 9th to the 10th day of the 1st lunar month at the village communal house.  The two-day event features various solemn traditional festive activities, including an incense offering ceremony in commemoration of national heroes and ancestors, and the floating of flower garlands and coloured lanterns on the Tuy Loan river.  In addition, locals and visitors have the opportunity to enjoy folk games and traditional competitions such as “bai choi” (singing while acting as playing cards), grilling “banh trang” (soft rice paper), cooking “banh chung” (square glutinous rice cakes), tug of war, climbing banana trees, catching eels, and interesting boat races.

The Tuy Loan ancient village is a really peaceful destination for those who want to get far away from the hustle and bustle of city life as well as to relax and temporarily forget the pressures of daily life.  Visitors will be fascinated by the village’s scenic rustic natural beauty along with its festivals filled with music, food and fun.

Trich Sai ancient village

Trich Sai is one of six ancient villages in the Ke Buoi area that is within the Buoi commune, Tay Ho district, Hanoi. It has preserved its traditions and rich culture while also developing as a part of Thang Long-Hanoi. 

In the Ke Buoi area, Trich Sai is situated on alluvial soil along the banks of the Thien Phu and To Lich rivers. The Thien Phu River silted-up during the years of the Ly and the Le dynasties and today it actually consists of many small ponds.

A bit of history

Trich Sai village has a long history and in the village there are many old pagodas, temples and shrines. Village elders say that in ancient times, what is now called West Lake (Ho Tay) was known as Dam Dam Lake, and it was surrounded by forests that sheltered many kinds of animals, including the legendary nine-tailed fox. At that time, the people of Trich Sai village made their money by selling the trees that they cut down and the forest animals that they killed. They also caught fish, snails and oysters in the lake. Along with the villages of An Thai, Bai An and Ho Khau, Trich Sai was famous for its silk cloth. Legend has it that in the time of King Le Thanh Tong (1460-1497), the king sent one of his concubines, a Cham girl named Phan Thi Ngoc Do, and 24 maids to Trich Sai village. This concubine taught villagers how to grow mulberry trees, raise silkworms and weave silk. The silk cloth made by the Trich Sai villagers became famous and was sold locally and exported. While the people of Trich Sai long ago ceased weaving silk, local people are aware that silk was once the pride of Trich Sai village on the shore of West Lake. 

Historic relics

Historic relics such as communal houses, pagodas, temples and shrines still exist in Trich Sai which are said to date back to the Ly Dynasty.The Thien Nien Pagoda, which is recognized as a historic relic of national importance, was built in the time of King Ly Nam De (451-455). The pagoda is part of a complex on Thap Bat Hill that was built to honor two of King Ly Nam De’s daughters who were killed by a monster.In his time, King Le Thanh Tong (1460-1497) had temples built in Trich Sai village for his concubines to worship Buddha.

For ages people have gone to the communal houses of Trich Sai and Vong Thi villages to worship a man named Muc Than who had foiled an attempt by the great tutor Le Van Thinh to kill King Ly Nhan Tong one day when the king was taking a stroll around West Lake. People from the two villages even now go to these communal houses every year on the sixth day of the ninth lunar month to commemorate the death of Muc Than. 

In Trich Sai village there’s a small pagoda called the Gia Hoi Pagoda. Legend has it that one day two daughters of King Ly Nam De, Van Phuc and Van Loc, went to Long Do Mountain in Trich Sai village by the West Lake to kill the legendary nine-tailed fox that was a danger for local people. The two daughters could not kill the animal themselves and so they asked a female magician named Van Tho for help. The creature disappeared but performing this difficult bit of magic killed poor Van Tho. King Ly Nam De promptly built a temple to worship her. When the two daughters of King Ly Nam De, Van Phuc and Van Loc, died, the temple was renamed Phuc Loc Tho and people were told that they could worship all the three women here.

There’s also a temple in Trich Sai village where people worship Phan Thi Ngoc Do, and many old houses still exist in the village. In more modern times, Trich Sai villagers have shown themselves to be true patriots by fighting against the French and the Americans.

Today’s Trich Sai village is a part of modern Vietnam but its cultural and historical values remain unchanged, and this makes the ancient village on the edge of the old Thang Long imperial city different and special.

Thu Le ancient village

The ancient village of Thu Le is located near Tam Giang Lagoon in Quang Phuoc Commune, Quang Dien District. It was established during the middle of the Le Dynasty (1428-1788). For over half a century, the village has preserved many cultural features of a village in the old capital of Hue.

Translated from the Chinese, the name “Thu le” means “giu le”, (literally keeping politeness and rites), which shows that the villagers attach much importance to maintaining their rites, customs and disciplines. 

Thu Le is an agricultural village but it is famous for such cultural works as pagodas and communal houses. It is also famous for Ngu Hanh Temple built to worship Princess Huyen Tran during the Tran Dynasty (1225-1400) who followed her husband to reclaim new lands in the South. There is also Van Thanh Temple to worship Khong Tu and Vo Thanh Temple to worship Quangong.

In the village, there are 14 families, including eight large families, namely Le, Nguyen, Ho Dang, Phan Gia, Phan Ngoc, Phan Nhu, Ngo Van and Ngo Thoi. According to the village’s custom, each large family together with the authorities and villagers, take responsibility for organizing worshipping rites during the year.

Along the village’s main road, many family worshipping houses are scattered. Each is not only a beautiful architectural work but they also preserve the cultural and historical imprints of a family.

The village also boasts an ancient pagoda with a grand three-gate entrance. The main hall was built in the style of a long Ruong house, a strange architecture rarely seen in Hue. 

The roof of the pagoda was terracotta inlayed with different shapes of dragons, unicorns, tortoises and phoenixes. All the parts made from wood in the pagoda were carved with delicate patterns, showing the skillfulness and talent of artisans in My Xuyen Village in the past.

On the main four doors, artisans created four-season paintings and eight beautiful objects with five bats holding in their mouths the Chinese script “Tho”, symbolizing five good fortunes. For a long time, Thu Le Village’s pagoda has been the place for organizing religious activities and is a charming destination for tourists nationwide.

400m from Thu Le Pagoda is the village’s communal house which was built according to the rules of fengshui. It is an architectural relic in the suburbs of Hue with the style, scale and decoration imbued with that of the Nguyen Dynasty in the 19th century.

The wood structure in the communal house was also delicately carved. Furthermore, the communal house also has preserved many precious ancient objects like stone steles, stone bells, a block of marbles used to exorcise the plagues and a set of 57 ordinances conferred by kings in the Nguyen Dynasty.

Annually on January 6 of the lunar calendar, the villagers in Thu Le organize their wrestling festival in the yard of the communal house that attracts a large number of visitors. The wrestling festivals in Thu Le and Sinh villages are considered the most ancient and famous in Hue in particular and the Central region in general.

On the 7th, when the wrestling festival ends, the villagers flock to participate in a boat-racing festival. During the first two days of the New Year, the area seems to be overwhelmed by the festive atmosphere that shows the optimism and sporting spirit of the villagers. 

Besides the traditional festivals, in February of the lunar calendar, despite the cold weather with its drizzling rain, the village elders gather at the communal house to prepare for the cleaning and decorating of unknown graves.

Once every three years, the villagers organize a rite to worship the unknown spirits. The custom has been handed down from generation to generation, showing the caring and kindness of the villagers.

With a tradition of thirst for learning and overcoming difficulties, the younger generation of Thu Le Village now brings into full play the traditions of their ancestors to preserves the cultural identities and values.

Visiting the village, tourists have a chance to discover the simple beauty of a famous village in Hue where there are roads shadowed with bamboo clusters, small lanes and moss coved communal houses and pagodas, wharfs, boats and rivers. All these things remind visitors of their sweet childhood.

Xuan La " To he" village

Xuan La village has three thousand people and around 200 people are earning their living by making To he. Everywhere there is To he – that place has Xuan La villagers.

The toy figurines which have brought a small joy to many generations of Vietnamese have experienced many ups and downs, but Xuan La people are faithful to this job, though this job can’t make them rich.

To he – folk culture

For children, To he can open a colourful world where they can see characters from history, movies and cartoons, from the famous monkey named Ton Ngo Khong in “The Journey to the West” Chinese novel to Picachu and Pokemon, characters from famous Japanese cartoons to princesses in fairy tales, etc. 

Today, when children are flooded in the world of modern games, toys, etc. To he craftsmen have to be very creative to make their characters lively.To make To he, craftsmen must be very patient, but most To he craftsmen are men. Xuan La families have one oral rule: secrets in making To he are only transmitted to sons and daughters-in-law, not daughters. According to old craftsmen, this job appeared around 300 years ago. 

To he is a traditional toy that is closely tied to the lives of farmers. To make To he, craftsmen only need glutinous rice powder, which is dyed with seven basic colours (green, sea blue, red, purple, yellow, white and black), and bamboo sticks. 

In the past, Xuan La villages used trees, ash, etc. to make colours for rice powder but now they use food dyes, to still ensure that children can eat their toys. 

The tools to make To he are very simple, comprising a bamboo stick, a small comb, a bee wax piece and a small knife. With a small box containing the above things, a To he craftsman can go everywhere for several days or even a month. 

Like other traditional crafts, To he has experienced many ups and down. Sometimes To he makers seemed to have lost their job because they couldn’t compete with Chinese toys, which are eye-catching and cheap.Thanks to the efforts of Xuan La villagers, this craft is surviving. Now children can see To he at every park or at the gates of schools.

To he – A cultural ambassador

This folk toy has confirmed its position and is considered a cultural ambassador of Vietnam. Craftsman Nguyen Van Thuan, who has made To he for 56 years, has been to the US and Japan to perform To he-making art.  

No one knows when the art form first appeared but Xuan La is seen as its traditional home. Children in the village, from the age of 7 or 8, started to learn how to make To he from their fathers. As there were no lessons, learning was mostly visual. 

From sticky rice flour and pigment, the artisan can shape the dough into a doctor’s figure, dragons, a phoenix, birds and trees. Though To he is not a particularly difficult job, artisans should know well how to combine different colours in order to produce a lively effect. 

During the holidays, from the first to the third lunar months of the year, 60% of the villagers from Xuan La go to different cities and provinces to knead To he. An artisan can earn around VND40-50,000 per day. But money is not the issue. To he makers say they are happy seeing the joy in the eyes of children who get to see their work.