Visiting
a traditional craft village along the Red River banks is a good way of escaping
the busy life of the capital city and exploring the age-old ceramic craft
making.
a
newcomer to Hanoi you find myself in daily awe of many people gathering around
the sidewalk food stands, of the throngs of motorbikes winding and weaving
their way up Hue city street and down Ba Trieu street, and of the intrepid
tourists who confront – however timidly or courageously – the sensory overload
that is the Old Quarter. Sometimes, however, every city dweller needs to escape
the sound and the fury of downtown activity.
If
a city break is what you are after, the artisan village of Bat Trang, which
lies about an hour’s leisurely drive from central Hanoi, is well worth trying –
crossing over Chuong Duong Bridge and heading south on TL 195 to get out of the
motorbike melee and into the fresh air with housing developments on the left
and grazing cattle on the right coming into focus.
After
what feels like a little too long following road markings for Bat Trang, a
large sign appears on the right with the name of this lovely village, which
specialises in hand-made, hand-painted ceramics in all shapes and sizes.
Upon
our arrival, you puttered around the streets with the dwindling afternoon light
casting crisp silhouettes of power lines on chipping plaster walls the colour
of lemon sherbet. There were women drinking tea in front of a cement mixer and
a pile of bricks with the clear intention of filling the void left by a torn
down building. We passed overflowing shops with ceramics of all sorts on offer.
Our
senses were bombarded by the meandering melody of mournful music, the strident
scent of burning incense wafting out from the Buddhist temple, and a huge crowd
of people with white headbands spilling out onto the streets after a funeral
ceremony was just wrapped up.
Inside
the shops, the variety is incredible: tea sets, mugs, ash trays, plates, vases
– small, large, and humongous. Then there are the ceramic figures of dogs,
Buddha, Confucius, turtles, Bugs Bunnies, elephants, lions, eagles; you name
it, they have it.
The
man in the showroom is a kind and welcoming individual, and if asked politely,
he will allow paying customers to see the production facilities. In one part of
the factory, a dozen or so women operate huge press machines, which hollow out
lumps of fresh clay, turning them into vases or drinking vessels.
From
there, low wooden planks are loaded with fresh pieces and carried upstairs into
the kiln room. Two kilns larger than some studio apartments in are packed with
hundreds of pieces waiting to be fired. The perfectly uniform cups, saucers,
and teapots arranged in repetitive rows and columns of gray clay forms are visually
striking.
The
next room over is designated for painting and glazing. After the pieces come
out of the kiln the first time, another dozen or so women paint intricate blue
and white patterns and calligraphy on them with the narrowest of brushes.
If
you are looking for a bit of time away, and you do not have a motorbike, you
can take the 47 bus from Long Bien bus station for VND5,000 or you can take a
taxi for around VND200,000 each way.
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