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| A group of young visitors from Hanoi enjoy a workshop tour making Thanh Tien paper flowers |
Stepping into the vibrant yet nostalgic space at artisan Tran Phu’s home in Thanh Tien paper flower village, a group of young visitors from Hanoi could not hide their amazement at the beauty deeply rooted in traditional culture. The village atmosphere appeared simple and rustic, filled with the scent of earth and bamboo, while colorful paper flowers brightened the ancient ruong house.
Tran Phu, a native of Thanh Tien village, has devoted more than 40 years to the craft of paper flower making. His rough yet skillful hands carefully cut and arranged delicate flowers full of life and spirit. As he guided visitors through each stage of the process, he also shared stories about the craft and the village itself.
What makes craft village workshop tours more appealing than traditional sightseeing is that visitors can directly interact and create products of their own. Thuy Mai, a tourist from Hanoi, said she had visited Hue many times before, but this was the first time she had joined a workshop and made paper flowers herself in the famous Thanh Tien village. “The process of cutting and shaping each sheet of paper into a flower made me realize the value of patience and meticulousness,” she shared.
Traditionally, paper flowers were used during festivals, Lunar New Year celebrations and worship rituals, placed respectfully on family altars, ancestral shrines and kitchen altars. Today, during workshop experiences, young participants creatively design many new flower styles and arrange them into youthful bouquets as souvenirs from their Hue trip. In addition, instead of using only the traditional five colors, artisan Trần Phú, following suggestions from younger visitors, has introduced pastel tones to better suit modern aesthetic preferences.
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| Young visitors enjoy checking in with bouquets of paper flowers they made themselves at Thanh Tien paper flower village |
Y Nhi and Thuy Tu, two young co-founders of Shunhwa, a unit specializing in Hue traditional craft village workshop tours, said the growing popularity of these workshops largely comes from participants enthusiastically sharing their experiences on social media platforms such as TikTok and Facebook. “At first, we struggled to develop workshop tours focused on traditional crafts and found it difficult to reach customers. Fortunately, it was the visitors themselves who spread the stories of Hue craft village workshops. That helped us realize how excited tourists are to immerse themselves in local life and experience these meticulous and artistic handicrafts firsthand,” Y Nhi shared. As a result, experiences such as making Thanh Tien paper flowers, creating Sinh village paintings, painting on conical hats, or crafting Kitchen God statues in Dia Linh village have become increasingly lively and bustling with participants. Beyond offering hands-on experiences, these workshop tours are also contributing to the preservation and promotion of traditional cultural values.
Tran Phu reflected that in the past, paper flowers were mainly made during farming off-seasons, rainy days or before festivals and Tet holidays. The income was modest, so villagers still needed other jobs such as farming or construction work to support their families. “Now, this once-quiet little village regularly welcomes visitors and has become much livelier and more cheerful. Seeing that, villagers feel more motivated and determined to preserve the craft,” he said.