Red brick and pottery from domed kilns
Mang Thit pottery village
Along Thay Cai canal, red domed kilns stand in a row like a small kingdom – where river clay becomes bricks, jars and pots.
Heritage: Over a centuryVinh Long
Clay comes by boat from riverside fields. Workers knead it with their feet, cut it into moulds, sun-dry the raw bricks and stack them in the kiln. Each firing lasts several days with the fire kept steady through the night.
In its heyday the area had thousands of kilns. Many have gone cold as factory bricks took over, but those still working now make decorative pottery and export planters – and welcome visitors.
In the afternoon, sunlight on the red bricks makes the whole canal glow. That is when photographers come from everywhere.
As long as the kiln glows, the village lives.
How it's made
- 1Carry and rest the clay
- 2Knead and mould
- 3Sun-dry
- 4Fire for several days
- 5Unload and sort
Traditional craft villages
- Hand-cooked coconut candyCoconut candy villageIn coconut country, the smell of coconut cream cooking in pans fills the hamlet from early morning. Every candy passes through a dozen hands.
- Coconut rice paperMy Long rice paper villageWood fires are lit by 3 am. By noon, white drying racks line the village lanes.
- Ornamental flowers on raised bedsSa Dec flower villageIn Sa Dec, flowers grow not on the ground but on beds raised over water channels – so they stay dry when the floods come.
- Thousand-layer pia cakeVung Thom pia cake villageThe smell of butter and durian fills the road – you have reached pia cake village.