For local people, they preserve this craft not only to earn their living but also to protect their origin, contributing to nurturing the unique cultural identity of the homeland.

The meritorious artisan Nguyen Van Ky is completing the “Baby holding chicken” painting on smoked bamboo material.

Located on the outskirts of the village, the old earthen house of meritorious artisan Nguyen Van Ky with its roof covered by canopies of an ancient tree, attracts many visitors from near and far to Xuan Lai to learn about the village’s traditional bamboo and rattan craft.

In this unique space, Ky was meticulously crafting his bamboo paintings inspired from folk art motifs like Dong Ho and Hang Trong paintings.

When he was slowly running his hands along the carved lines of the painting “Baby holding a chicken” in the Dong Ho folk painting set themed “Wealth and Prosperity”, Ky told us about the history of bamboo craft, which was believed to exist in Xuan Lai for over 300 years.

The secret behind the brand name of Xuan Lai’s bamboo craft lies in its unique natural smoking technique, which is found nowhere else in the world.

Bamboo is dipped in ponds for 3 to 6 months, then it is brought to a traditional clay kiln where bamboo is smoked with straw blended with clay and mud for many days and nights.

This process not only makes the bamboo dry, light, durable and resistant to mold but also naturally creates its distinctive colours from deep glossy black and chestnut brown to light brown and golden hues without using paint nor chemical dyes.

Brown colour needs shorter smoking time while black colour requires longer depending on glossiness.

Craftmen select suitable sizes and maturity of bamboo depending on each type of product to ensure durability. Only bamboo with straight, evenly spaced nodes, small joints and no signs of pests is selected to ensure the finest quality.

Starting this craft in 1997, Ky has made ceaseless creativity to produce a number of essential products meeting consumers’ tastes notably bamboo furniture such as tables and chairs, wooden long bench sets, desks, lanterns and folding screens even architectural works and decorations made from smoked bamboo.

Especially, Ky’s one-of- a -kind bamboo paintings with high artistic value were awarded many national and provincial prizes, brought to trade fairs and exhibitions and recognised OCOP products.

During its prosperous period, Xuan Lai craft village resembled a vast workshop filled with the sounds of saws cutting bamboo and bustling trucks transporting goods.

All villagers involved in production, from supplying raw materials and crafting to distributing products.

Particularly, Ky’s production facility exports about 10 containers of goods each month to the United States, Russia, Taiwan, and Japan, creating jobs for many local labourers and those from other localities.

Trong Thao bamboo and rattan furniture workshop, which mainly produces tables and chairs for restaurants, tourist sites and furniture used in pagodas and temples has maintained a steady flow of orders for years.

Selecting materials to make bamboo and rattan furniture products.

However, bamboo and rattan craft is also impacted by the tides of time. The number of crafting households tends to decrease when only 50 out of 250 households are maintaining production now.

Although the number of production households has declined compared to its heyday, bamboo and rattan products imbued with traditional identity still hold a firm place in the market.

This is evidenced by their presence in all 34 provinces and cities across the country as well as in several countries worldwide.

The trend of green living is becoming more popular. Xuan Lai’s bamboo and rattan furniture with its simple, rustic, and familiar beauty especially safety thanks to the natural crafting methods is gradually regaining its appeal, according to Le Dinh Hung, head of Xuan Lai village.

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