Xuan Lai trade village

+ Nostalgic Beauty All That Glitters Is Not Gold

Upon paying avíit to Bac Ninh Province just northeast of  Hanoi, one cant help but be attracted to its one-of-a-kind Quan Ho folksongs – duos of love songs by sister and brother groups. Having inherited the cultural tradition of Kinh Bac, Bac Ninh is also homeland of famous traditional craft Villages such as Dong Ho folk painting and Dai Bai bronze castings. And in this land , Xuan Lai is known for its unique carbonized Vietnamese bamboo furniture.

     Xuan lai – Gia Binh people are always proud of their bamboo craft, but no one remembers when the craft came into existence. The village patriarch, however, feels that this craft must be hundreds years old considering that they already saw all villages involved in making bamboo wares since they were children. At that time, those patriarchs had to learn by themselves to create utensils for serving the daily life and agricultural production – grain baskets, baskets, benches, beds, and tables etc coming in many original designs. 

     Passionate work has been part of each Xuan Lai villager because of the long, proud tradition of manufacturing bamboo furniture. There is no handicraft guild, no convention, and no secrets. People share experiences, and children take up their fathersế vocation from generation to generation with handicraft work  hand-in-hand with agricultural work. Through many ups and dows, in certain times, bamboo furniture seemed unable to thrive or even survive in the face of mass production of industrial products made of plastic and plywood. Facing falling into oblivion, the proactive villages paved the way to researching, diversifying, and improving the quality of their bamboo products. And their furniture, made of carbonized bamboo of a naturally shiny black, is well received by customers.

     Masterful strokes are needed for the creating of such appealing carbonized bamboo products. After being harvested, the bamboo is usually soaked in a pond formonths to preclude worms and to enhance flexibility. It is then made straight and put into a kiln made of clay and straw. This kiln works on a basic of straw that creates only smoke but on fire, and is airtight for many days. Carbonizing time depends on color requirements – a shorter time for brown and longer time or even many times for shiny black.

    It is difficult to creating of such appealing carbonized bamboo to make final products, because this step requires much creativity and skill. There are wide ranges of products : from tables, chairs, swings, beds, cupboards, newspaper shelves, and more to screens, lamps, trays etc with variations in dimensions and styles. Xuan Lai workers are able to create powerful and durable products with the natural beaty of carbonized bamboo materiala nostalgic beauty of uniqueness found nowhere else in Vietnam.

     Xuan lai workers notably have a great mind for art as illustrated by the creating of courteous « picture screens » of yellow and dark brown throngh the scraping of a layer of carbonized bamboo skin. They have really blown the spirit of Dong Ho images into bamboo with themes such as honor and wealth, pine-daisy-ivory bamboo-apricot, old stories, beautiful woman, and eight fairies or successfully illustrating many modem themes.   

     Furniture made of carbonized bamboo of Xuan Lai is available in major shops in Hanoi, Hue, hochiminh City, and other, and it has also been part of a new trend in interior decoration recently. These products are particularly well received by foreigners, with Japan, America, Taiwan, and some EU countries serving as notable examples. Its nostalgic beaty creates an image forever remaing in the hearts of many the world over.