Discover 6 Characteristic Traditional Craft Villages of Quang Nam Province

Hoi An is an ancient town in Quang Nam Province recognized as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in 1999. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Hoi An was one of the busiest trading ports in Vietnam, where merchants from many countries like Japan, China, Portugal, Italy, and more arrived to trade.

Indeed, the architectural styles of many houses and pagodas here show the influences of various foreign nations such as Japan, China, Britain, and France. When visiting Hoi An, you have the opportunity to explore antique houses along the Thu Bon River that appear virtually untouched by the two wars against French colonialism and American imperialism in the 20th century.

Hoi An Ancient Town has preserved nearly intact an architectural complex of historical monuments, including numerous dwellings, assembly halls, communal houses, pagodas, shrines, wells, bridges, ancestral clan houses, landing stages, and markets... with narrow streets intersecting in a checkerboard grid pattern. The townscape is cloaked in a mossy, antique patina, resembling a living picture. The existence of an urban area like Hoi An is unique in Vietnam and rare in the world. It is regarded as a living museum of architecture and urban lifestyle.

[red]1. Phuoc Kieu Bronze Casting Village[/red]

Phuoc Kieu Bronze Casting Village (Thanh Chiem Hamlet, Dien Phuong Commune, Dien Ban, Quang Nam) is the oldest traditional craft village in Quang Nam Province. For over 400 years, generations of craftsmen in the village have not only preserved the trade but also introduced its products to the world.


The bronze casting craft in Phuoc Kieu was founded by a man named Duong Tien Hien, who migrated from Thanh Hoa to pass on the craft. By the late 18th century, two quarters had emerged here: the Dong Kieu statue-carving quarter and the Phuoc Kieu statue-casting quarter. In the early 19th century, the Nguyen Dynasty merged the two quarters into Phuoc Kieu Commune Commune-Brand, also known as Phuoc Kieu bronze casting village.

[red]2. Hoi An Lantern Making Craft[/red]


Hoi An Ancient Town is also a land boasting many proud traditional craft villages, such as Thanh Ha pottery and Kim Bong carpentry... but what truly creates the unique hallmark of the old town is the craft of lantern making in Hoi An. Hoi An lantern making was honored as an exemplary craft village of Vietnam among the total of 9 traditional craft villages nationwide recognized by the Vietnam Association of Craft Villages in 2011.

[red]3. Duy Trinh Silk Village[/red]


Duy Trinh Silk Village is just as renowned as other regions. Historically, during the flourishing era of local sericulture, the mulberry cultivation area reached up to 160 hectares, with nearly 200 households engaged in silkworm rearing, silk reeling, and silk and fabric weaving. Visiting the craft village, visitors can witness firsthand the stages and techniques required to produce these famous, supple ribbons of silk.

[red]4. Ban Thach Mat Weaving Village[/red]


Heading east about 5 km from Nam Phuoc Town – Duy Xuyen District (Quang Nam), visitors will come across lush green sedge fields stretching along the right bank of the Thu Bon River. This serves as the primary raw material source for the Ban Thach mat weaving village.

[red]5. Lam Yen Drum Village[/red]


As for the origins of this craft village, no one remembers exactly when drum making in Lam Yen began. For generations, whenever the festival season arrives with the beating of gongs and drums, people in Dai Loc in particular and neighboring areas such as Dien Ban and Duy Xuyen often recall the folk verse: Lam Yen drums – Phuoc Kieu gongs. Most drum-making households in Ap Nam today belong to the Phan clan. Just mentioning this clan immediately brings to mind the locals who spend their days hammering gongs and tapping drums, producing a signature acoustic rhythm unmistakable from any other village.

[red]6. Thanh Ha Pottery Village[/red]


Visitors to Hoi An Ancient Town often see street vendors selling terracotta whistles and other souvenirs crafted from fired clay. Those are souvenirs from Thanh Ha Pottery Village – a pottery village with a history of more than 500 years in Hoi An.