1. Embroidery: Quat Dong village, Hanoi.
There are many embroidery villages in Vietnam, but Quat Dong village in Hanoi is widely known for its high quality products. Located next to a national highway, the Quat Dong embroidery village is 1 of the 200 most well known traditional handicraft villages in Vietnam.
 
Embroidery has been developing around here since the 17th century; local skilled artisans were chosen to make sophisticated embroidered costumes for the Vietnamese King, Queen and other Royal family members before Vietnam became a socialist republic country.
 
The first man who taught the local people how to embroider was Dr. Le Cong Hanh, who lived during the Le dynasty. He learned how to embroider while on a trip to China as an envoy, and taught the villagers of Quat Dong upon his return. Although these skills eventually spread across the country, the Quat Dong's artisans’ creations are still the most appreciated.
 
In order to create beautiful embroideries, an artisan must be patient, meticulous and have an eye for design, along with clever hands. Nowadays, Quat Dong products may range from clothes, bags, pillowcases, to paintings and decorations, which are exported to many countries.

2. Silk: Van Phuc village, Hanoi.
 

“Van Phuc Silk”

Situated on the bank of Nhue River, about 10km southwest of Hanoi Old Quarter, the silk village of Van Phuc is renowned for its traditional weaving and premium quality silk products. Van Phuc is the most ancient silk village, with over 1,200 years of history. It produces the best silk in Vietnam.
 
Van Phuc silk is known for its smooth, lightweight and elegant appearance. A traditional kind of silk called ‘Van Silk’, which has been traditionally produced in Van Phuc, is very insulative; it has the ability to make the person wearing it feel cool during the summer and pleasantly warm in the winter.
 
To satisfy the varied demand for their silk, the Van Phuc silk producers have expanded their silk garment goods to include embroidered silk, wrinkled silk, double layers of silk and a wider variety of silk colors.
3. Ceramics: Bat Trang village, Hanoi.

“Bat Trang”

The 500-year-old ceramic making village, Bat Trang, is located about 10km away from Hanoi, to the right side of Hong River. The name “Bát Tràng” in Vietnamese means “a big yard”.

Five families from Bo Bat came to where the village is now, and joined the Nguyen family and Minh Trang family, in order to live together; their names were combined into “Bat Trang”, hence the village’s name. They chose this particular place to settle because the land has a large amount of white clay, which is very useful for making high quality pottery. It’s also located next to a river, which facilitates the transportation of their goods, to trade with other villages.

The Bat Trang ceramics are hand-made by local artisans. Both Royal families and normal farmers used them for hundreds of years, and they are still highly valued today.

4. Conical Hats: Chuong village, Hanoi.
 

“Conical hat”

Located in Thanh Oai district, which is located 40 km away from Hanoi, Chuong Conical Hat village is well known for its special product, “nón lá”, a type of conical leaf hat. This small village is crowded with many foreign and domestic visitors who come here not o¬nly to place orders, but also to witness the process of making the “nón lá”.
 
The main material of a conical hat is palm leaf. Only light-colored and evenly green leaves can be used to make beautiful hats. The bamboo must be split into very thin strings and then soaked in water in order to prevent tearing and any breakage. The main rings of the framework must be even, smooth and shiny. After taking several steps to whiten the leaves, the artisans then sew together the leaves and the rings.
 
Apart from being a symbol for all Vietnamese women, the conical hat is an indispensable accessory due to its useful functions. It protects the wearer’s head and face from the intense tropical sunlight or even the pouring rain, and it also works as a handy fan that can be used to cool off on hot summer days.

5. Square Sticky Rice Cake: Tranh Khuc village, Hanoi

The Tranh Khuc village in Thanh Tri district on the outskirts of Hanoi is famous for making “Bánh chưng”, a typically square sticky rice cake for the Lunar New Year or Tet Holiday in Vietnam. The cake that’s produced here is renowned for its distinctive flavour.
 
Each step in making “Bánh chưng” requires someone with experience. Normally, a household can make an average of 200 cakes a day, but during the week before Tet holiday, due to high demand, their productivity may increase up to 10 times the usual. In recent years, “Bánh chưng”, made by Tranh Khuc villagers, has been exported to many countries, such as Russia, Australia and Thailand, mainly because of the demand created by Vietnamese expats overseas.