Serene Lung Tam Village

Serene Lung Tam Village

Nestled under the foot of hills in Quan Ba District in Ha Giang Province, Lung Tam Village attracts many travelers from near and far owing to its astonishing landscape and serenity and Mong ethnic minority women in colorful attire.

The hospitality of ethnic minority children and adults warms visitors who put on three or four jackets and traverse hundreds of kilometers of winding roads and in cold weather to the village. There, they are welcomed by friendly smiles and greetings of locals, particularly lasses.

What surprises visitors to the village is that the Mong women do not need to wear shawls and jackets in such a harsh weather, as their clothes made of linen help keep them warm from the bitter cold in the mountainous region.

“Linen is like an air conditioner as it cools our body in summer and keeps us warm in winter,” a Mong lass says.

She furthers that is why the Mong people have chosen brocade linen as the main material for dresses for many generations and preserved the tradition of weaving this cloth until on January 19.

It takes some 41 steps to weave a piece of cloth. In brief, people have to dry the flax, take out the fiber, crush and boil it in ash and wax water before threading yarn on a loom. A finished cloth needs to be washed for about ten times and rubbed with beeswax until it becomes smooth and silky.

Local women are not only good at weaving but also master in textile dyeing with a unique technique and skills hardly seen in other parts of the country.

The brocade craft tradition at Lung Tam Village used to be on the verge of extinction when the mass production of clothes with much cheaper prices from China flooded the local market. But it has been restored since 2001 and provided job for more than 120 people.

Local women now can diversify their brocade products and make not only dresses but also shirts, skirts, iPad and pillow covers and tablecloth.

With eco-friendly material, unique patterns and colors, the artwork of Lung Tam artists are preferred by foreign tourists, especially Japanese and European visitors.

Source: SGT

Bài viết liên quan

	The 3rd Sakura Festival to be opened in April, 2015 The 3rd Sakura Festival will be held from April 3rd – 5th, 2015 at 30-10 Square (Ha Long City), according to the news from the meeting between leaders of Ha Long City People's Committee and representatives of Wanokai Association (Japan) on Nov. 24 in Ha Long City. Detail >>

	Mountain pass offers stunning panoramic vista of Ha Giang On a cool autumn day, my friend and I were lucky enough to visit Ma Pi Leng Pass, considered the king of all passes in Viet Nam, which locates in Meo Vac district in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang. Detail >>