Ceramic Village - a trip through Bat Trang

Hey Guys!  Worlds laziest blogger checking in!  Before I get started let me give you a quick update.  Hanoi is great, sometimes it’s hot, sometimes it’s humid, and sometimes there’s a typhoon.  There, you’re all caught up, so let’s get started.

Today I want to talk about pottery, specifically Vietnamese ceramics.  Last week I had the pleasure of visiting the village of Bát Tràng.  The village is located 15km from Hanoi, and is now considered a suburb of the Vietnamese capital city in an area rich in clay which is perfect for producing fine porcelain.  Pottery making in this village can be traced back to the 14th century AD, and is famous for some of the best-known porcelain products.  It’s nickname “ceramic village” is quite fitting, as there seem to be more ceramic stores and markets than restaurants or convenience stores.  It’s quite a sight to see indeed.

One word of warning.  The town produces a large amount of products which are shipped all over Vietnam and exported to other countries, however, since becoming a hotbed for tourism, there is definitely money to be made.  Unfortunately this may mean running into some pushy sales people, who will shop short of nothing to try and get your to buy something.  This isn't too big of a deal, and just saying no a few times will get most of them to let you be.  This did surprise us however as we were instantly greeted in a motorbike parking lot by a woman who ran a pottery workshop which offered a pottery making experience.  Full disclosure, my friends and I planned to do this anyway, I was just caught off guard a little how quickly you can be pulled into a sale.  The workshop we were brought to was a very simple stone building with wide open spaces inside.  Nothing fancy and nothing like an industrial machine of any sort in sight, simply a large number of hand spun potter's wheels and the dreaded tiny Vietnamese stool.  

After we were sat at our wheels, we each got a chunk of clay and were given a chance to play around and try our hand at making a ceramic cup.  It didn't take long to figure out that this is definitely something I would be awful at.  In theory pottery seems so simple, especially when watching one of the workshop employees transform a lump of clay into a perfect cup in a matter of 15 seconds.  More amazing still is how they could repeat the process over and over again, each time creating a cup of exact and precise proportions.  Oh how wrong I was.  Messing up over and over again, there was no way I was walking away with a perfect cup.  The workshop employee told us that it takes approximately 2 years to get to his level of making cups.... that right, just basic ceramic cups.  That shows just how difficult it can be.  Despite the miserable failures, I had a blast trying to create something.

Have no fear however, for even if you fail over and over again, the workshop is nice enough to make a cup for you, which you can then take your artistic skills to and paint to your heart's desire.  Once that's done, you can also pay to have the cup baked, creating a fully functional teacup masterpiece.  This is something I chose to do, and while I was super excited at the idea, I came to be greatly disappointed.  See the problem started with the paints.  The paints the workshop provided were inferior in quality, and more importantly they were watered down to hell.. I mean, even after applying 5-6 coats of paint, after baking and curing, the colors faded so much, leaving very little in terms of a desirable final product.  Of course this is not something you can tell until after the baking process, which was a 24 hour turnaround at this particular shop.  Since they also requested payment upfront, there is no way you can inspect the final product before making your purchase.  My advice?  If you choose to bake your final product to take home, ask them for quality paints, or at least ask for paint tubes and water on the side so that you can dilute the paints yourself, and not end up with a final product you are unhappy with.  I do however still highly recommend that you try the experience should you find yourself here.

In the main market areas of Bat Trang, there are dozens of shops, most of which will sell very similar products.  It seems as if there are very few artists who "create", and then many others mass re-produce their designs for sale both to consumers and wholesale to merchants all over Vietnam.  Do be careful however and don't rush into any purchases, as prices will vary from store to store.  Take some time to walk around and compare prices as there could be anywhere from 10-20% in price difference.  All in all, this was a fun day trip capped off with a delicious, yet super inexpensive Bun Cha lunch.  For more pictures please check out the gallery here.  Until the next adventure friends, cheers from Hanoi!