Top 6 Hue handicraft villages you should visit - [Updated in 2020]

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Besides the magnificent landscapes, ancient tomb architectures, and sophisticated dishes from the imperial palace, Hue is famous for traditional handicraft villages. Having a visit and discovering traditional Hue handicraft villages is one of the most exciting experiences helping tourists know more about local people’s cultural features and daily lives. Each village has its own historical events and specific products. The article will show you the unique characteristics of well-known handicraft villages that you might visit during your journey in Hue. 

Let’s explore the top 6 Hue handicraft villages below.

  • Conical hat craft village
  • Folk paintings of Sinh village
  • The ceramics of Phuoc Tich village
  • Confetti village of Thanh Tien
  • Thuy Xuan incense village
  • Bao La bamboo knitting village

Conical hat craft village 

The images of conical hats have become an iconic feature of Hue, and this imperial city is the largest place that produces conical hats. The conical hat is original from Tay Ho village located in Phu Vang district, Thua Thien Hue province. Through many years of development, many villages produce conical hats, such as Da Le, Phu Cam, Doc So, etc. 

Hue Conical Hat

Hue Conical Hat

The conical hat from Hue is not only a simple product but also a real artful work. The progress of making a conical hat requires plenty of delicate and complex processes, from choosing the frame, thatching to polishing the hat. Besides simple and rustic conical hats, conical hat makers have created various colors and designs. The traditional village of a conical hat seems to be a place that keeps Hue’s cultural feature. You will feel the beloved images of Hue through the conical hat village. Moreover, this kind of product becomes a souvenir gift that is favored by many tourists. Taking your moment to visit one of the Hue handicraft villages would be an unforgettable experience for your trip.  

Folk Paintings of Sinh Village

Sinh Village is also among the Hue handicraft villages you should visit. The village gains popularity amongst tourists by making traditional folk paintings. The paintings of Sinh Village consist of over 50 themes divided into three main topics, characters, objects, and animals. The most remarkable thing here is that artists use many drawing molds printing in the paper instead of painting pens or colors as usual. 

The paper used is the same as the paper of the newspaper. The molds are made of jackfruit wood and craved by the artists or hiring others. The painters use the molds to print the primary colors, and other colors are painted by their hands, which creates specific characteristics of the traditional folk paintings here. Under the artists’ talented and skillful hands, Sinh village’s paintings are highly appreciated in terms of fine arts of folk paintings and being associated with the Hue’spiritual culture. Discovering Sinh village, you can witness the complicated processes of making a perfect painting with your own eyes and exploring ancient Vietnamese’ belief culture. Visiting Sinh village will be a memorable experience that you have to try during your trip here. 

The ceramics of Phuoc Tich Village 

One of the well-known Hue handicraft villages you must visit is Phuoc Tich village. Despite being over 500 years old, ancient Phuoc Tich village lying on the bank of the O Lau river remains the original traditional handicraft village of ceramics. 

Phuoc Tich Ceramics

Phuoc Tich Ceramics

The traditional village is famous for its ceramic products formed manually, such as clay pots, large porcelain vase, glazed terra-cotta jars, etc. The products made from ceramics are present in the daily life of Hue people and many places along Vietnam from Nghe An province to Southern provinces. Furthermore, ceramic items unglazed like flower vases are exported into the Japanese market. Visiting this ancient village helps you know more about making ceramics procedures and discovering the antique houses and relics. 

Confetti village of Thanh Tien 

Visiting Thanh Tien village of making confetti can be a fantastic experience that you can’t miss in Hue. Lying in Phu Mau ward, Phu Vang district, Thua Thien - Hue province, Thanh Tien village is renowned for making confetti for nearly 400 years. Especially during the Tet holiday, Thanh Tien village is bustling and busy at making the confetti. 

People use confetti to decorate the place of worship in houses, temples, pagodas, etc. Recently, Thanh Tien village's confetti is for decorating homes, festivals, and entertaining programs thanks to the diversity of colors and shapes. The products of Thanh Tien village are different from that of other places. Each paper flower here has eight petals with three petals in the middle. Besides, it has a difference in the way they dye the flowers. The artists use resin of trees and leaves to make a dye, helping to keep the flower colors more enduring. Coming here, you can witness sophisticated processes of making the confetti and discover their daily life. With unique characteristics, Thanh Tien village one of the  Hue handicraft villages you should not miss.

Thuy Xuan Incense Village 

Situated 7 km far from Hue, Thuy Xuan village is the largest incense village in Hue. Local people make incense for spiritual purposes for a living for many years. In recent years, the incense village of Thuy Xuan has become one of the Hue handicraft villages attracting many tourists. 

Thuy Xuan Incense Village

Thuy Xuan Incense Village

Visiting this traditional village, you’ll have an opportunity to see bunches of colorful incense flowers and immerse yourself in the smell of aromatic frankincense. Moreover, you can explore and take part in the process of making incense as an artist. That would be an exciting experience that you can’t forget during your trip. With a long history of development and unique activities, Thuy Xuan village has become one of the must-visit handicraft villages in Hue. 

Thuy Xuan Incense Village

Thuy Xuan Incense Village

Bao La Bamboo Knitting Village 

With a 15 km drive from Hue city in the north, Bao La village is a renowned traditional bamboo knitting village. At first, knitting is not the main activity here; local people do knitting in their pastime to make essential and necessary in-house items. Local people use bamboo to make in-house items, such as closely-woven baskets, grain baskets, bamboo beds, cradles, etc. When more people like to use bamboo products, they start producing more.   

Typically, people use bamboo for knitting that has some features like a straight tree-trunk, wide bamboo internode, etc. From that kind of bamboo, skillful and delicate artists make essential objects close to Vietnamese people’s daily lives. Surely, Bao La knitting village is one of the top Hue handicraft villages you should drop in. 

Each traditional craft village carries unique characteristics, but the most common thing is that they have cultural values that need to be conserved and developed. With the information on the top 5 Hue handicraft villages, we hope that you’ll have a memorable experience in this charming city. 

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