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Private tailor-made journeys of a life time
Jul 21, 2023
By Ms. Minh Thu
Dong Ho Painting Village is lying on the banks of the gentle Duong River. This is a place imbued with traditional art with the craft of making paintings on wind paper for generations. If you are a person who loves nostalgia and enjoys cultural values, please read this article by Vietnam Escape Tours to prepare for your upcoming trip.
Dong Ho painting is a traditional Vietnamese art form. These paintings have a special creative merit and are a breathtaking portrayal of the mythology of Vietnam's North.
Unique technique
This isn’t a kind of painting that artisans draw and paint every single picture, but based on the technique using woodblock prints. This way of painting creates a range of identical pictures. Wood prints include stroke prints and color prints. The artisan will print the contours of the pattern first then color the picture by another woodblock. Carving patterns on woodblocks is a meticulous task, which demands the innate skillfulness and experiences of the artisan.
Woodblocks used in making Dong Ho paintings
Unique Material
Paper used to make Dong Ho paintings is Giay Diep (shell paper). To make this special paper, artisan crush scallop shells, which is then mixed with liquid of glutinous rice flour, plain rice, or tapioca. This mixture is then swept over the wind paper (Giay Gio) with a broom made of pine needles. The finished result is bright white paper that sparkles under the sunlights.
Painting colors are also special because they are derived totally from nature. Paintings are created using four fundamental colors: blue, which is made from indigo or copper rust, black, which is made from bamboo charcoal, yellow, which is made from crushed "Hoa Hoe" flowers, and red, which is made from wine wood or red stones. Hence, colors on Dong Ho paintings brings about a distinctively vintage vibe that nowhere else over the world can have.
Unique colors for making Dong Ho paintings
Content of Dong Ho paintings
Paintings by Dong Ho represent the daily lives and labor scenes of people in North Vietnam as well as feature animal imagery.
Message of Dong Ho paintings
Dong Ho paintings depict a dream about a harmonious life between people, animals and nature. Besides, through those paintings, people also dream of a life of abundance, happiness, harmony between material and spiritual life. Regarding society, paintings show desire for an equal, peaceful and liberty society.
Artistic values of Dong Ho paintings
In the Tet holiday (Vietnam’s Lunar New year) Vietnamese people, especially Northern people, often buy Dong Ho paintings to decorate their home or workplace for their good meanings. That these paintings are hung on the wall will make the atmosphere more festive and home more “Tet”.
Artistic values of Dong Ho paintings
Dong Ho painting village is located in Song Ho commune, Thuan Thanh district, Bac Ninh province, about 35 km east of Hanoi center. The village is located right on the south bank of Duong River, next to Ho wharf, now known as Ho bridge.
From Hanoi to Dong Ho painting village:
By motorbike, car: National Highway 5 (Road 5) - National Highway 18B - Sui street - Keo market - Dau market - turn left down the dike road - turn right 3 km - Dong Ho painting village.
By bus: route 204 (Hanoi - Thuan Thanh, Bac Ninh), go to the end of the wharf, go a few kilometers to Dong Ho painting village.
Estimated travel time: 60 minutes
Dong Ho painting village is one of the famous tourist attractions near Hanoi. Coming here, visitors will experience many interesting activities, contributing to making the trip to Dong Ho painting village more attractive and memorable. Some activities that visitors should not miss when coming to Dong Ho painting village include:
Check-in Dong Ho painting craft village
The painting of Ho village is realistic but vivid, showing a meaningful message. Visiting here, you can check-in with unique paintings created by the people of Ho village.
Check-in Dong Ho painting craft village
Learn how to make paintings under the guidance of artist Dong Ho
Not only admire Dong Ho paintings, visitors can also directly participate in the painting process to better understand the unique features of this traditional craft. Through the guidance of artists at Dong Ho painting village in Bac Ninh, you can completely create a vivid and beautiful picture.
Join the interesting Dong Ho painting exhibition
More than 100 artifacts and paintings from the Dong Ho painting village are displayed at the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum. Here, you can admire the close-up of the paintings that make up the Dong Ho painting brand such as Mouse Wedding, Vinh Quy Bai To, Rooster Rose, Vinh Hoa Phu Quy, Buffalo Herding Flute...
Join the interesting Dong Ho painting exhibition
See the Dong Ho folk painting festival in Bac Ninh
Dong Ho Village Festival takes place from March 14 to 16 of the lunar calendar every year, attracting many visitors by its unique folk paintings. This is one of the special festivals, suitable for spring tourists.
Meet the elite artist of Dong Ho painting village
Visiting Dong Ho painting village, tourists can also meet elite artisans such as Artisan Nguyen Huu Sam and Artisan Nguyen Dang Che to learn about the history and discover the uniqueness of the traditional craft here.
Meet the elite artist of Dong Ho painting village
The best time for you to visit is in the last months of the year and the first spring months of the year. At this time, the weather is cool, you can combine sightseeing and buy paintings and items of Ho village as a souvenir.
The right time to visit: Be at the painting village around 9am - 11am or from 2pm - 5pm for the best experience.
Ho village tourism is a cultural attraction of Kinh Bac land, so you need to note the following things to have the most perfect trip.
Attire: You should wear comfortable but still discreet clothes when visiting Ho village. Because traveling to Ho village is often combined with temple tourism, you also need to choose the most appropriate outfit
If you ride a motorbike, you should be careful especially on the dyke road because this is where serious traffic accidents often happen.
You should consult information about Ho village online before coming to avoid confusion
Dong Ho Village is very peaceful and quiet without the hustle and bustle of the city, so if you are a person who likes excitement, this is not a wise choice.
The products sold in Ho village are quite expensive due to the display nature, so do not bargain.
Have you been impressed by this traditional Dong Ho Painting Village yet? You can be impressed even more if you go to the village and see up-close paintings and truly experience creating Dong Ho painting yourself. What are you waiting for? Pack your backpack and start your Bat Trang Ceramic and Dong Ho Villages Tour.
