Viet Nam News
HA NOI — Craftspeople from traditional villages in Ha Noi’s suburban district of Thanh Oai have gathered to present their unique handicraft products at a Christmas Fair at the 118-year-old Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi hotel.
The artisans, who are masters of their guilds, hail from the Canh Hoach bird cage making village, the Du Du wood carving village and the Chuong conical hat making village. They demonstrated their amazing skills at the fair.
Under their “golden hands”, natural materials such as palm leaves, bamboo trees or a block of wood are turned into a charming conical hat, a refined wood statue, or a sophisticated carved bird cage.
Speaking at the opening of the fair on Monday evening, the hotel’s General Director William Haandrikman said: “The fair aims to introduce to our guests and other tourists the quintessence of folk villages, thus to contribute partly to promoting Vietnamese traditional handicrafts. Visitors will have a chance to witness the amazing skills of the craftsmen, to talk with them about their works and to purchase beautiful handicraft products.”
According to Le Thi Ha, chairwoman of the Thanh Oai District People’s Committee, the district, which is located only 20km from Ha Noi, has more than 50 traditional villages.
“Alongside the folk villages of handicraft products, there are many villages making edible products including Uoc Le (specialists in gio cha – Vietnamese traditional sausage making) and Cu Da (specialists in vermicelli making),” she said. “So we hope we will have chance to introduce our local specialties to tourists.”
Standing in his booth at the fair, Le Van Tuy from Chuong Village proudly tells visitors about his homemade conical hats. He says they are not only a headwear product, but also a “typical Vietnamese image.”
“Come to my workshop in Chuong Village,” he said. “Visitors will have chance to see a mini museum” displaying conical hats from different regions in Viet Nam.
“Although each region has some specific techniques in making the hats, it doesn’t matter as long as foreign tourists can realise it is a Vietnamese conical hat,” he said.
The fair, which is taking place next to the hotel’s garden, is open daily from 3pm to 7pm until December 31. — VNS