About 35km south of Hanoi, Quang Phu Cau incense village has a history of making traditional incense sticks for more than a century. Today, this incense stick making village has become a place to preserve the culture of the Northern Delta countryside.
Initially, the people of Quang Phu Cau mainly made a living by weaving baskets, fans, mats... According to legend, in the early 20th century, Mr. Le Xuan Vinh, a resident of Phu Luong Thuong village, was buying bamboo to split into strips when he met a merchant buying incense sticks.
The two decided to cooperate, one splits the incense sticks to sell, the other buys. From then on, the people of Phu Luong Thuong village had the additional job of splitting incense sticks, spreading to Phu Luong Ha village - the hometown of Mr. Le Xuan Vinh's wife. The incense making profession gradually became a business model that spread to 6 villages in the whole commune.
Since then, making incense sticks has become a traditional profession, maintained and developed to this day. The large Quang Phu Cau commune has developed into one of the most prominent incense-making villages in the suburbs of the capital, creating jobs for thousands of local workers.
In 2010, Mr. Nguyen Huu Chuyen - an incense stick factory owner in Phu Luong Thuong village, after many inspection trips to India, boldly invested in incense stick making machines and modern equipment, changing the production method. Originally, each worker could only split about 50 - 60 kg of wet sticks per day, but when machines replaced human labor, the production capacity increased to 2 - 3 quintals of dry sticks.
Each finished incense stick holds the artisan’s heart and soul. From making the sticks, dyeing the base, rolling the incense, to drying and packaging, everything is done meticulously and carefully by the artisan. The incense base is usually dyed lotus pink or bright red, the body is yellow.
With the manual method, when rolling incense, the worker rolls firmly but gently, so that the powder sticks evenly to the incense stick. But thanks to modern machinery, this step is now shortened in time, increasing productivity many times over.
After being rolled, the incense must be dried in a high, clean place with enough sunlight until it is dry, so that it does not get moldy and can be stored for a long time. If it is the rainy season with strong north wind, people must use an incense drying oven until it meets the requirements. Sunny weather is ideal for drying incense.
There are many types of incense made from different corresponding ingredients such as: agarwood, pine, rosewood, angelica, patchouli, star anise, cinnamon, resin of the canarium tree, vetiver roots, and charcoal...
Herbal ingredients, combined with a unique blending secret and meticulously crafted in each stage, incense from Quang Phu Cau village always has a long-lasting fragrance and color. Many local incense coils and incense sticks have been certified with 3-4 star OCOP. Thanks to that, Quang Phu Cau incense and incense sticks are popular with Hanoi consumers, present in all provinces and cities and exported to China, India, Malaysia, etc.
In recent years, the people of Quang Phu Cau village have joined hands to build craft village tourism, attracting many tourists to learn about unique cultural values. The colorful incense drying yards have also become attractive check-in spots, attracting photographers and tourists to come and take pictures. Especially during the Tet Nguyen Da, the incense village becomes a very popular place to take photos with Ao Dai.
