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The silk road
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11:24
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01/07/2007
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Just 13 km southwest of Hanoi, near the dust and din of Ha Dong highway, a tranquil village’s streets are covered by colourful cloth.
The main tarmac road leads to the centre of a village named Van Phuc, which is considered the cradle of silk in Vietnam.
Along the way silk cloths are drying in the sun. While modern technology means the weaving process uses state of the art of equipment, the process of extracting silk from silkworms has hardly changed.
“Growing and feeding silkworms is highly complex. Our methodology has been handed down through the generations of our family,” says Mai Chi, an owner of a silkworm breeder. “We are in charge of making silk only and then we supply the high quality silk to the weaving mill.”
Although the wooden handlooms have been replaced by the clacking of weaving machinery years ago, the villagers still follow a traditional and labour-intensive silk making process.
But the Van Phuc weaving mills are just as secretive when it comes to their methods and with good reason. While quality silk can be found in other villages throughout Vietnam, Van Phuc has a reputation as the smoothest.
Legend has it, a princess of the Hung King royal family introduced silk making to the area nearly 2000 years ago.
In feudal times, silk products were reserved for kings, queens, royal relatives and mandarins.
“Women love silk as this kind of cloth not only makes them comfortable in the summer but also offers an elegance synonymous with noble girls of the past,” says Thanh Binh, a Hanoian who regularly visits Van Phuc. “I drive here at least once a month, I’m a huge fan of silk.”
Silk is now more popular than ever and more affordable. For just VND50,000 to VND100,000 ($3.5- $6), you will have a silk shirt, a skirt or a pair of trousers. Of course, high quality silk products can cost millions of dong.
If you have the time, a trip to Van Phuc can be a financially rewarding one. In the silk shops along Hang Gai street in Hanoi a scarf might cost up to double what it would in Van Phuc.
“I catch the number two bus for VND3,000 from the city centre. It only takes 45 minutes to get there,” says Suriko Tomo, a Japanese student currently studying in Vietnam. “Here in the land of silk, there are a lot of good bargains, which can’t be found in the centre. Although Van Phuc products are not as good as Chinese, the price is very appealing.”
Recently, a row of shops selling silk products has started to bloom in Van Phuc Silk village. These shops mainly deal with wholesale orders, though walk in customers are still welcome.
While smaller enterprises supply silk for other provinces inside Vietnam, larger ones export high quality products to the EU and the US.
“Things have changes dramatically in twenty years. In the 1980s, our life was quite good as we often exported silk to Eastern Europe, but when the socialist regime collapsed, this line of trade had to stop and our business got stuck,” recalls Thu Ba, an old Van Phuc shop owner.
“But now, the market has opened up, Van Phuc’s products can travel all around the world. Finally, we have regained our prosperity.”
(Source: VIR)
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