The Amazing Tour 7 group and their companion, the New Generation Ford Territory, set off early. It was already around eight in the morning, and the fog was still thick. The sun could not shine through the forests and high mountains. The travelers followed the bad weather warning lights of the car in front, following each other along the dirt road. Although the road was bad, the car still ran smoothly. When we saw the bridge that was big enough for one car to pass, we knew we had arrived at Lao Chai.
Groups of people walked through the bare fields that had just finished harvesting the spring crop. When the local women and girls saw the visitors, they immediately came to offer some brocade products, such as bags, scarves or home hanging fabrics. The technique of drawing patterns with beeswax on linen, then attaching them to the traditional costumes of the Mong people in Sa Pa has been used for a long time. The motifs not only have a decorative effect, but also express the rich, vibrant spiritual world of the Mong people and enhance the value of traditional brocade.
Mong artisans paint beeswax on fabric.
Next to a rice field, right at the foot of the hill, the Amazing Tour 7 group went to a Hmong ethnic house to learn about this technique. The simple, small house nestled into the majestic landscape of the mountains and forests of the Northwest. However, the prominent yard, covered on all four sides by brocade drying, looked like ink dots on a mountain landscape painting. In the middle of the yard, an elderly woman was diligently drawing each pattern on a white cloth. Others were grinding corn or feeding pigs, also stopping their work to welcome tourists. The rocky road was bumpy and had to go uphill, so the tired travelers put down their suitcases, greeted the host and sat down to observe the artisan.
To create a complete and beautiful traditional costume, the Mong people have to go through many stages such as: spinning linen, weaving fabric with a loom, drawing beeswax to create patterns, dyeing indigo, embroidering colored threads to create embossed patterns... Now, technology has imitated these patterns, creating 10 uniform sets. The costumes made by Mong artisans have uneven lines, but that brings the strangeness, the uniqueness or the beauty of imperfection.
Travel blogger Tam Bui and Lifestyle blogger Nha Co Hai Nguoi try their hand at beeswax painting.
And this is the result after the experience.
Every stage in the process of creating brocade fabric is important, in which the beeswax drawing stage to create patterns is a feat and requires many skillful skills that have been accumulated over many generations. There are two types of beeswax (yellow is young wax, black is old wax), after all the honey is extracted, the wax is cooked until melted and then mixed together. When starting to draw wax on fabric, the beeswax must always be heated at a high temperature of 70-80 degrees, so that the wax does not dry out. The drawing pen is essentially a bamboo or wooden stick 7-10 cm long, the tip of the pen is clamped to the bamboo stick made from three triangular copper leaves, the thinner the pen tip, the more beautiful the pattern and the easier it is to draw. Each subsequent stage also requires creativity and sophistication to create beautiful patterns and connect with the overall color.
Miss Tourism Vietnam 2022 Luong Ky Duyen especially loves the costumes and brocade patterns here. She also spent a lot of time learning, talking and following the artisans step by step.
Miss Tourism Vietnam 2022 Luong Ky Duyen and photographer Soi Sau are dyeing fabric.
Then she embroidered with colored thread to create the most satisfactory final product.
At noon, the sky was red, the sunlight shimmered through the gaps between the leaves and the brocade fabrics, both dark and green. The Amazing Tour 7 group said goodbye to the hospitable locals of Lao Chai and asked for permission to leave, not forgetting to sincerely thank them for the wonderful experiences of today.
More information:
Amazing Tour is a series of destination promotion trips initiated by Travellive Media Group since 2013. Up to now, Amazing Tour has cooperated with international tourism promotion agencies such as Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Turkey... and recently the Taiwan Tourism Bureau with the itinerary from February 15 to February 23, 2023. The program has successfully organized real-life experiences, promoted tourism and quickly made a strong impression.
Amazing Tour has a new program format with the desire to inspire travel enthusiasts to explore the world. Accordingly, each program will include many practical activities aimed at providing service and destination information based on the real experiences of celebrities, people who have a profound influence on the community in the field of tourism and photographers.
The journey of practical experience, promoting tourism, culture, and cuisine Amazing Tour March 2023 "Ha Long, Sa Pa - Thousand miles of adventure" is organized by Travellive Media Group with sponsorship from Ford Vietnam car brand, and the companionship of partners: Ville De Mont Mountain Resort, Premier Village Ha Long Bay resort, Yoko Onsen Quang Hanh Japanese-standard mineral bath complex, 5-star Ambassador Cruise and Hai Au Aviation.
