Bat Trang – The top-class ceramic brand in Vietnam
The village is only several hundreds of meters from the mild Red river, but throughout the village are white statues in all dimensions lying in front of stone houses with doorframes widely opened as if to welcome the whole world.
Charming products of Bat Trang village
The history of Bat Trang was introduced to me by Dang – our tour guide, when we were walking along the border of the village. It was in the very past that the people here recognized the great amount of white clay, and through many centuries of development, a big village has been erected around the place where people used to produce ceramics and created the ceramic brand Bat Trang, with products exported to every country in Europe and Asia. Nowadays it has become one of the famous ceramic areas in Vietnam.
Impressed by the procedure of the ceramic production
As the story was coming to an end, we were close to a small house. Dang opened the door offhanded and said something in Vietnamese very loud. No one answered. So he explained us that most of the people had come home to rest and avoid the heat at noon. So we moved to the next door house. It was disordered with many big vases, containers of liquid clay and kindled red light from the coal oven. The sunshine arrives only from small windows.
The man inside friendly showed us the steps to make such a vase: how to create the mixture of liquid clay, to put it into the form, dry it and burn to products.
On the upper floor we found a small store with all kinds of products, from flower pots, tripodals, modals,… They may still contain the white color, or are being painted by the workers following complex designs: peacocks, ornamental plants, mountains and clouds. Some are finish with the design and waiting to be burnt. The burning process takes about three days to complete.
A Stage of Making Ceramic Products
In this picture is a very lady, sitting on a chair and decorating a two-meter-high vase. I was mesmerized by her skilful painting. On the white surface suddenly appeared subtle and elegant patterns. I wanted to ask her so much but was afraid of interrupting her work. Dang was telling her something in Vietnamese. However, she continued her work, nodded her head without leaving her eyes from her painting while she was answering me.
She told that she studied painting in a university in Hanoi, and decided to follow her career in painting ceramics. I asked her how she got to know what to draw. There are many painters using the same pictures, she answered me, but after several years she came out with some own ones. Then she showed me those.
How long would it take her for a vase of about 2m in height? We were observing together her working process, since it was only a twig of a tree till it bloomed with flowers. The time was not really too quick, just enough for me to understand the meaning of this work.
The perfect place to get a beautiful and cheap set ceramics
After that we continued to another room, where completed products were presented for sale. “How much do you think would such a product costs?” asked Dang me. I hardly knew anything about ceramics, but from the size and the complex design I was thinking about 500 to 600 USD. Dang nodded his head and explained me the necessary expenditures. “But you can buy it in Bat Trang without going to the shop, with less than 100 USD,” laughed Dang.
Making-Ceramic experience is also a not-to-be-missed activity once you visit Bat Trang Village
We paid visit to workshop specialist in the production of smaller ceramics. Outside on the yard were many works in their coarse form placed. There were thousands of tea sets, vase and animals put on the shelves. Everything was so packed that there was just enough space for me and my bag to go through.
Bat Trang is also a popular destination for one day adventures to discover Hanoi, but only very few international visitors were here. In fact, it was only me. Most of the Vietnamese come here to buy some gifts, dishes, bowls or decorations instead of markets in the city.
I have also put in my pockets a complex and beautiful tea set with the price of 20 USD! And continued with a green tea cup and a bamboo tray – a gift for my elder brother and his future wife. About at the end of the day, Dang and me were strolling on the main alley of the village, in the middle of the dark and small brick wall and besides all the closed houses. On the wall was a great amount of black coal. Dang explained me that instead of wasting the burnt coal, the local uses it to maintain and repair house and walls in the village.
Bat Trang is located about 13km from Hanoi, you can go by bus or easily hire a car and a tour guide from one of the travel agencies in Hanoi.
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