The Kon River has been witnessing many ups and downs in the history of Binh Dinh over generations. Many traditional craft villages with nationwide famous specialties and ancient civilization bearing products were set up along the river, including Bau Da wine, Huyen market fermented pork roll Nhan Thap fine-arts wood carving, Song Thang rice vermicelli, Go Sanh Nhon Hoa pottery, and Go Gang conical hat.
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Go Gang conical hats
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Phuong Danh forging village
Phuong Danh is one of four villages of Dap Da town, An Nhon district. The village is around 300 years old. It manufactured both farming tools and weapons for Tay Son Uprising troops then in late 18th century.
The village has now over 200 forging furnaces, manufacturing various working tools and household utensils such as hoe, shovel, knife, bush-hook, sickle, scythe, axe, hammer, carpentry tools and bricklaying tools, scissors, ploughshare, mouse trap and horse-shoe.
The forging furnaces are highly specialized and have their own secret hereditary know-hows. Each furnace, thus, manufactures certain products. They are so fine that products of other places are pale in comparison with.
Phuong Danh forging products are sold not only within the province but also in the Central Highlands and the southern coastal central provinces of Vietnam. Visiting there, tourists will enjoy a bustling atmosphere with sounds of hammers striking anvils, flickering fires and labour of skilled blacksmiths while making useful products.
Every year, on the 12th day of the second lunar month, Phuong Danh villagers boisterously organize their traditional festival to commemorate the village’s founder Dao Gia Tuong.
Phu Gia conical hat village
Phu Gia village in Cat Tuong commune, Phu Cat district is 35km northeast of Quy Nhon city. The village has 400 households who sew conical hats. Only 20 households sew typical Go Gang conical hats which used to be put on head for horse-rides in past times.
In the old days, only mandarins and landlords had reserved right to wear Go Gang conical hats while the common people were allowed to wear other ordinary kinds of conical leaf hats. For that reason, Go Gang conical hats require meticulous processing with silver peaked cap and sophisticated decoration of dragon and phoenix.
Phu Gia village is also famous for its Tuong (classical drama) and other jobs of girdle cake and incense making. Hence, the village is chosen by Vietnam Ethnic Culture and Tourism Village Management Board as one of representatives in the Culture – Tourism Village of Vietnam ethnic groups built in Dong Mo, Son Tay, Ha Noi with other 13 localities nationwide.
Nhan Thap wood carving village
Nhan Thap village, Nhon Hau commune, An Nhon district is hundreds of years old. It locates about 1km south of Hoang De (Emperor) Citadel. The village mainly produced worship utensils, flower pots, betel and areca caskets, legs of tables and chairs, etc. in the past.
The village is strongly developing now, supplying new kinds of products, particularly souvenirs and decoration products for diversified need of customers, especially tourists.
Let’s visit the village to see with your own eyes steps of making the unique fine handicrafts by the skillful craftsmen. Every year, on the 12th day of the twelfth lunar month, Nhan Thap villagers hold death anniversary of their wood carving founder to review the traditions which have been preserved and passed down to present generation by their forefathers.
Bau Da wine village
Bau Da village belongs to Cu Lam hamlet, Nhon Loc commune, An Nhon district. Bau Da wine is famous now and becomes an indispensable gift from the land of martial arts. Visiting Bau Da village, the tourists find very interesting to witness process and techniques of wine making, enjoying arts of wine pouring, tasting drops of boiling hot wine and listening to interesting anecdotes about the renowned Bau Da brand name specialty.
Many wine villages in the region change their ways of making wine to get the most benefits. Yet, the local residents at Cu Lam hamlet still keep their own technique which has been handed down from generation to generation.
All of the steps - from rice grain selection, rice cooking and fermentation to wine boiling with bronze pots and alcoholic beverage distillation with bamboo straws – are kept unchanged. Bau Da wine is transparent and has special fine fragrance. Sipping it, you will find a light sweetish aftertaste in the larynx. If you accidentally overdrink, you won’t experience any pleasant headache like drinking other kinds of wines.
If you haven’t enjoyed the Binh Dinh specialities such as a kind of local birds which is smaller than sparrow and live at sugar fields in Phu Phong town, Huyen market fermented pork roll together with Bau Da wine during your travelling to Binh Dinh, you will be considered having no visit to the land of martial arts. Hence, Bau Da wine has been the typical cultural trait of Tay Son, Binh Dinh.
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