Quang Phu Cau incense village - a popular check-in spot during Tet season
Báo Lao Động•07/01/2025
Hanoi - Visiting Quang Phu Cau incense village (Ung Hoa district) near Tet, visitors can see colorful incense drying yards.
About 35km south of Hanoi, Quang Phu Cau incense village has a history of making traditional incense sticks for more than a century. Today, this incense stick making village has become a place to preserve the culture of the Northern Delta countryside. Quang Phu Cau incense village, Ung Hoa district, Hanoi. Photo: Linh Boo Initially, the people of Quang Phu Cau mainly made a living by weaving baskets, fans, mats, etc. According to legend, in the early 20th century, Mr. Le Xuan Vinh, a resident of Phu Luong Thuong village, was buying bamboo to split bamboo strips when he met a merchant buying incense sticks. The two decided to cooperate, one split the sticks to sell, the other bought them. From then on, the people of Phu Luong Thuong village had the additional job of splitting incense sticks, which was passed on to Phu Luong Ha village - the hometown of Mr. Le Xuan Vinh's wife. Incense making gradually became a business model that spread to 6 villages in the whole commune. Since then, making incense sticks has become a profession passed down from father to son, maintained and developed to this day. The large commune of Quang Phu Cau has developed into one of the most prominent incense making villages in the suburbs of the capital, creating jobs for thousands of local workers. A craftsman rolling incense by hand. Photo: Linh Boo In 2010, Mr. Nguyen Huu Chuyen - an incense stick owner in Phu Luong Thuong village, after many inspection trips to India, boldly invested in incense stick making machines and modern equipment, changing the production method. Normally, each worker could only split about 50 - 60 kg of wet incense sticks per day, but when machines replaced human labor, the production capacity increased to 2 - 3 quintals of dry incense sticks. Each finished incense stick retains the heart and soul of the worker. Starting from the stages of making incense sticks, dyeing the roots, rolling the incense until drying and packaging, all are done meticulously and carefully by the worker. The incense sticks are usually dyed lotus pink or bright red, the body is yellow. Incense is dried in the sun. Photo: Linh Boo With the manual method, when rolling incense, the worker rolls firmly but gently, so that the powder sticks evenly to the incense stick. However, thanks to modern machinery, this step is now shortened in time, increasing productivity many times over. After rolling incense, it must be dried in a high, clean place, with enough sunlight until it is dry, so that it does not get moldy and can be stored for a long time. If it is the rainy season with north wind, people must use an incense drying oven until it meets the requirements. The dry, sunny weather is ideal for drying incense. After drying, the incense is neatly arranged and packaged into small packages and transported to the point of consumption. Photo: Linh Boo The finished incense products are sold on the market and tourists can buy them as gifts. Photo: Linh Boo There are many types of incense made from different corresponding materials such as: agarwood, pine, rosewood, angelica, patchouli, star anise, cinnamon, resin of the Chinese carambola tree, vetiver roots, and charcoal... Herbal ingredients, combined with a unique blending secret and meticulously made in each stage, the incense of Quang Phu Cau village always has a long-lasting fragrance and durable color. Many local incense coils and incense sticks have been certified as 3-4 star OCOP. Thanks to that, Quang Phu Cau incense and incense sticks are popular with Hanoi consumers, present in all provinces and exported to China, India, Malaysia... The incense village attracts many domestic and international visitors to visit and take photos. Incense stick photo spot in Cau Bau village. Photo: Linh Boo In recent years, the people of Quang Phu Cau village have joined hands to build craft village tourism, attracting many tourists to learn about unique cultural values. The colorful incense drying yards have also become attractive check-in spots, attracting photographers and tourists to come and take photos. Especially during the Tet Nguyen Da, the incense village becomes a very popular place to take photos with Ao Dai.
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