Shopping – Silk in Van Phuc
Located on the secretive and dreamy Nhue riverbank, a little silk village appears on a small ward of Ha Dong, about 10 km from Hanoi. The silk weaving job of this village is famous for its many refined works in recent years. That’s silk. Weavers have made many charming products, from embroidered bags, wallets to beautiful dresses and specifically silk scarves for early autumn.
It is difficult to see the silk drying out in the sunshine, as hand made silk is now machine made. From an outside view, the village has many shops that display the various skillful silk products made by the local artists. Inside are many weaving and manufacturing shops. Many small objects are decorated onto the soft silk to beautify the bags or wallets and offer a wide selection for visitors
There is a variety of colorful products sold at reasonable prices, and is the best place for anybody who wants to find an elegant aodai. 50 shops lining 200meter would take anybody half a day just to wonder into each shop. It is guaranteed that here you will shop till you drop.
If you want to know and understand how the traditional weaving works then travel deep into the village to discover for yourself how the silk is made.
The founder of Van Phuc village is said to be a girl from the La family. The Chinese taught her and in turn, she taught the locals the key methods of weaving silk. The silk is unique due to the softness of the materials, sophisticated silk cords and spectacular vignettes.
It’s recommended to go shopping with your mum or close friend on a dry and sunny late autumn afternoon and just wander around the village.
Play with Bat Trang hand-made pottery
About 10km from Hanoi, take half an hour to go across Chuong Duong bridge, turn right, then take a road along the Red river, pass by the old roadside villages, extensive fruit gardens and immense maize fields to reach Bat Trang pottery village. On the way to this 500 year-old village, you can expect many vehicles contrariwise such as trucks carrying commodities from the village, cars taking tourists and young men traveling on their motorbikes.
Bat Trang has changed a lot in the last few years. Many beautiful roadside shops and stores are now open to display a variety of pottery products; from pretty bowls and plates, colorful glasses with different sizes to spoons, teacups and nice vases with embossments and statues. All products are beautifully on display. Most of shops display the same commodities but each of them sells a specific product with a distinctive design. Depending on the pottery-kiln where they import goods, each shop has their own unique product but still at the same price as the other shops. With about VND 200.000, anybody can be a satisfied customer owning a new of bowls and plates.
In the area of Bat Trang market, the prices are reasonable making it very easy for the customer to choose. The market is located next to the pottery-kilns and becaof this the shops offer a wide variety for families and teenagers alike. An example of this is the clay necklaces. There are many pavilions and thousands of racks where the products are on display. It’s also very easy to choose what you like and negotiate the price with the friendly shopkeepers.
After many difficult years, Bat Trang pottery village is now a prosperous place. Products made by many artisans appear in markets nationwide and worldwide. In supermarkets, you can easily buy Bat Trang’s products displayed on the racks. Along the road to the village, the coal fires in kilns are blazed while people are creating new products for the next New Year. To get materials for potteries, the local people have to buy clay in Vinh Phu province or Dau village in Bac Ninh. One batch of kiln can produce hundreds of bowls and plates.
Beyond the usual commodities such as bowls, plates, cups and pots, you can find many other different potteries such as; worshipping objects, interior and exterior furnished objects which included big flower-vases, urns, worshipping lights, three abundance statues, flowerpots, breeding animals and high quality enameled tiles. Bat Trang is famous for its covering enamel that is naturally ivory-white. The shapes of these potteries are very pleasing to the eye.
It is not only the potteries of Bat Trang that interest people, they are also attracted by another original pleasure. When in Bat Trang you will have the opportunity to make your own cute cup in one of the pottery-kilns. The artisans will instruct you on how to make potteries, from kneading clay, turning tables, coloring and putting them into the kiln. It is also very popular among teenagers. In addition, if you have kids, you can take part in coloring statues or painting pictures at the workshop. It is wonderful to have your very own hand made tea set.
Way to Duong Lam
Take your helmet and ride on a motorbike along the 32 National Road, you will reach Duong Lam – an ancient village, about 50km from Hanoi.
After turning right you will find a winding road through the rice fields. The village’s gate hides behind the old Banian-tree – a characteristic of Tonkin. Traveling along small sinuous roads, we met with Mr. Ha Nguyen Huyen – a writer and a journalist. The hohas been in his family for 8 generations, and has undergone many changes. It is a popular destination for tourist and an inspiration for local and international photographers as well as local film directors, fine arts and architecture apprentices.
Mong Phu is the only Asian wet rice civilization left! This Vietnamese ancient village was constructed by laterite in a large area with a sophisticated design. a Unique feature of this village is the fishbone-shaped roads, including the main road and other paths connected to each other. It does not matter where you start or go to, you will at anytime be able to exit onto the main road. Roads are tiled according to the normal village practice. Young men who want to get married have to bring bricks to tile the path. For every wedding that has taken place, there is a tiled road.
Duong Lam also known as Ke Mia, has a temple named Mia (Dong Sang village). This temple has the most artistic statues and has been recorded in the Vietnamese Guinness book. It now owns 287 worshipping statues. The most remarkable statue is the Goddess of Mercy. The local people have a folk verse that says Mia temple is outstanding becaof the Goddess of Mercy statue.
Going through the laterite wall that changes color into dark yellow, Mr Huyen pointed to a wooden gate hidden behind green mulberry trees. Mimosas and purple corn flowers line the peaceful paths. I felt delighted to walk along these small paths. Touching cool and rough stones and reading some Han script that literally means that there are talented people in every era, you will feel something miraculous behind those thoughtful stones.
If you would like to find an ancient place to be creative or relax, Duong Lam is an ideal place to visit.
Source from Vntravellive
Vietnam Travel Tips 