Western tourists explore century-old incense craft village in the highlands

Every Tet holiday, the Nung people in Phia Thap hamlet (Cao Bang province) clean up the stubble and dry incense in the fields to prepare for the biggest incense crop of the year.

Nestled at the foot of Pha Hung Mountain (To Mountain) of Quoc Dan Commune, Quang Uyen District, Cao Bang , Phia Thap is known for its traditional incense making profession for generations.

With completely natural ingredients, Phia Thap incense sticks create a spicy, strong scent due to the leaves of the agarwood tree.

The incense stick is usually made from apricot trees because it is flexible and easy to catch fire. The apricot trees are taken from the forest, split by hand, whittled into small, round sticks, and soaked in water for 2-3 days before use.

The glue used to stick the agarwood powder to the incense body is made from dried acacia leaves. This type of leaf is unique and can only be grown in the Phia Thap incense village in Cao Bang.

With completely natural ingredients, Phia Thap incense sticks create a spicy, strong scent due to the leaves of the agarwood tree.

The glue used to stick the agarwood powder to the incense body is made from dried acacia leaves. This type of leaf is a unique feature that can only be grown in the Phia Thap incense village in Cao Bang.

Dip the incense stick into the glue water and then soak it with a mixture of sawdust and agarwood powder. Repeat this 4 times to create a beautiful and firm incense stick.

There are many things to keep in mind during the process. If you add too much binder (gourd leaf powder), the fragrance will not be created.

If you roll the incense stick through the sawdust layer more than 4 times, the incense stick will be too big and not look nice. If you shake it unevenly, the powder will not stick evenly to the incense stick.

With good quality, Phia Thap incense is sold at all Tet markets in the province as well as in the northern provinces.

In recent years, Phia Thap village has started to develop community tourism , welcoming visitors from all over to relax and learn about village life. Experiencing incense making is one of the programs that attracts visitors here.

Looking at the person doing it, it looks simple, the wrist turns flexibly like dancing, but to reach such proficiency takes a lot of time.

This is also a way to promote products and brands, linking craft villages with places and cultural and tourist destinations to create attractive products, support socio -economic development for people, and is also a highlight when coming to Cao Bang.

Many tourists coming to Phia Thap village are given the experience of making incense by the locals.

To dry the incense sticks to a certain degree, the person drying the incense must choose the time to dry the incense at noon when the temperature of the day is highest.

If the sun is nice, it will dry in 1 day, otherwise it will take 2-3 days, sometimes it has to be dried in the kitchen to have incense in time to sell. The dried incense will be dyed red and then dried again, finally tied into bundles, each bundle has 20 sticks.

Tourists coming to Phia Thap village are allowed to experience making incense by the locals.

With good quality, Phia Thap incense is sold at all Tet markets in the province. As well as in the Northern provinces.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/du-khach-tay-kham-pha-lang-huong-thu-cong-tram-nam-tuoi-vung-cao-185917595.htm