Traditional artisans front and centre of tourism promotion in Hanoi as Vietnamese capital seeks to preserve dying craftsman communities

Hanoi has more than 800 craft villages that are home to traditional artisans – and they’re key elements of a new strategy by the Hanoi Department of Tourism

The Vietnamese capital plans to use its artistic heritage to attract visitors, and help safeguard the future of communities challenged by industrialisation

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Artisans make conical hats in Chuong village, Hanoi, Vietnam. A dying trade because of cheaper factory-made hats, it could be revived by a new tourism strategy to promote the city’s craft villages. Photo: Ronan O’Connell

Ronan O'Connell

Published: 1:15pm, 18 Jun 2022

They weave, mould, etch, stitch, carve and glaze in the same styles and locations as their ancestors did for centuries. Vietnam’s most traditional big city, Hanoi has more than 800 craft villages that are home to artisans.

Each community specialises in a specific craft. Some have perfected lacquerware, others ceramics, stonework, embroidery, folk painting, paper making, silk production, hat weaving, grass-mat twining or religious-idol carving.

Some villages, such as Van Phuc (silks) and Bat Trang (ceramics), are established on the tourist trail and advertised by travel agencies and in hotels across the city. Most, though, are like Chuong, the last village in the city where conical hats are made and which has never courted tourists.

Craft villages began flourishing 1,000 years ago, when the imperial court of Vietnam’s Ly dynasty was moved to Thang Long, which is now Hanoi. These creative hubs were quietened in 2020 and 2021 by Vietnam’s strict pandemic rules, which barred international tourists and restricted human movement and association within the country.

A bamboo basket and hat vendor cycles through the Old Quarter of Hanoi. Photo: Getty Images

Hanoi has more than 800 craft villages that are home to traditional artisans. Photo: Ronan O’Connell

Now, as Vietnam is again welcoming foreign visitors, the villages are being revitalised. Not only are they again free to operate at full capacity, but they have become key elements of a new strategy by the Hanoi Department of Tourism.