Discover Thuy Xuan Incense Village - Quiet Beauty In The Heart Of Hue Ancient Capital

Thuy Xuan Incense Village is a particularly attractive destination with its ancient beauty and the brilliance of colorful incense bundles. Hãy nghe Trần Thuỳ Thanh Xuân (Đồng Nai) một travel blogger nổi tiếng bật mí .

1. Where is Thuy Xuan Village?

Thuy Xuan Incense Village is considered one of the must-see tourist destinations when visiting Hue. Located on Huyen Tran Cong Chua Street, about 7km southwest of Hue city center. The village is also on the way to Tu Duc Tomb, near Vong Canh Hill, so it is very convenient to introduce the craft village to visitors from all over the world.

Visiting the agarwood craft village, visitors will have the opportunity to learn more about the extremely meticulous and unique process of making incense, and will also be able to roll an incense stick by themselves. This is a valuable experience opportunity for visitors to have a deeper insight into the incense making profession, as well as the beauty of the culture, people and daily life of the dreamy people of Hue.

                                                                                                   Image source: Collected

2. What makes the incense village different?

Thuy Xuan is considered the largest incense village in the ancient capital, with a famous incense making profession for more than hundreds of years. Not only is it a long-standing traditional craft village, Thuy Xuan incense village is also a prominent tourist destination with a series of vibrant and attractive incense production facilities with many brilliant and beautiful colors.

According to the stories of veteran artisans in the incense village, the incense making profession was present during the reign of the Nguyen Dynasty. Since ancient times, the village has been the main supplier of incense for the royal court, mandarins and households living in the Thuan Hoa and Phu Xuan areas. Through many ups and downs of history, Thuy Xuan village has continued to preserve and promote the good traditions of its ancestors until today.

                                                                                                   Image source: Collected

Thuy Xuan incense village owns many diverse and unique products: from cinnamon incense, lemongrass oil incense, scented incense used to remove odors, to coil incense, agarwood cones... Among them, the most prominent is Tram incense, an indispensable incense in the spiritual life of Vietnamese people. The product is not only supplied to local markets, but also transported to many provinces and cities across the country. The characteristic of Thuy Xuan incense is that it does not use chemicals, but only uses natural, safe and environmentally friendly ingredients and ingredients. Therefore, the incense has a brighter yellow color than regular incense with a characteristic pleasant scent. In addition to the purpose of worship, agarwood incense is also used as a therapy to relieve stress, as well as bring spiritual comfort.

3. Learn about incense making in Thuy Xuan village

The beautiful Thuy Xuan incense village nestled along the poetic Huong River is home to prominent incense village streets and roads, attracting a lot of attention from visitors from near and far. From young people to the elderly, whether domestic tourists or international friends, everyone wants to see with their own eyes the unique and interesting incense making techniques here.

Thuy Xuan village has long been known for its extremely careful and delicate incense making method in every stage. Each incense stick must go through many meticulous steps under the meticulous hands of artisans to be able to fully retain the elegant, gentle, characteristic aroma of pure agarwood powder.

                                                                                                   Image source: Collected

To make an incense stick, first in the step of choosing the ingredients, the incense powder will be created by adjusting a certain ratio of agarwood powder, cinnamon, cardamom, pine buds, cloves, star anise, eucalyptus, cinnamon... mixed with water. In addition, some other ingredients such as wild grapefruit peel powder, eucalyptus, etc. are also added to evoke the perfect scent for the products of Thuy Xuan incense village.

In the Vietnamese mind, incense is very taboo to be burned halfway or suddenly flare up. Therefore, the raw material used to make incense cores is old bamboo cores taken from Binh Dien, Phong Son or Nam Dong forests. The cores are dried, split into small pieces, and exposed to the sun until dry and crispy. This step requires the craftsman to have a steady skill to make the incense legs even, the incense burns evenly, and does not go out.

                                                                                                   Image source: Collected

To make an incense stick, first in the step of choosing the ingredients, the incense powder will be created by adjusting a certain ratio of agarwood powder, cinnamon, cardamom, pine buds, cloves, star anise, eucalyptus, cinnamon... mixed with water. In addition, some other ingredients such as wild grapefruit peel powder, eucalyptus, etc. are also added to evoke the perfect scent for the products of Thuy Xuan incense village. In the Vietnamese mind, incense is very taboo to be burned halfway or suddenly flare up. Therefore, the raw material used to make incense cores is old bamboo cores taken from Binh Dien, Phong Son or Nam Dong forests. The cores are dried, split into small pieces, and exposed to the sun until dry and crispy. This step requires the craftsman to have a steady skill to make the incense legs even, the incense burns evenly, and does not go out.

4. When should you visit the incense village?

According to the experiences shared by the "locals" of Hue, you can set foot in the incense village at any time of the year. However, the most ideal time for you to experience this journey is when the weather enters summer (from March to August every year).

Because in the dry season, with the hot weather, people often bring incense out to dry. At this time, the scenery of the incense village becomes colorful and extremely beautiful. Besides, Tet is also an occasion for many people to come to buy incense, making the usually quiet scene become more bustling.

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Instead, when going during the rainy season (ranging from October to January), people will limit drying incense outdoors because of the frequent sudden rains. Therefore, if you are unlucky enough to go during bad weather, it will be very difficult for you to have check-in photos and virtual life. Thuy Xuan Incense Village is not only a place to preserve traditional crafts imbued with national culture but also an ideal check-in location. If you are planning to travel to Hue, don't forget to save this unique stop in your notebook!

Trần Thuỳ Thanh Xuân (Đồng Nai)