Tet is coming, Hoa Tien brocade (Quy Chau) does not have enough goods to sell to foreigners.

Hoa Tien Brocade Weaving Cooperative in Hoa Tien - Chau Tien village (Quy Chau) is located next to Hieu river, with Ta Chum flat and fertile field. This place has a unique feature that few other places have, which is that there are more than 200 water wheels that have been quietly carrying water to the terraced fields for decades. Coming to Hoa Tien this season, the sound of water flowing from the water wheels is in time for winter-spring production, the fields are bustling with people plowing the spring crop so that they can rest and enjoy the festival. Outside the fields, in the village, the women of Hoa Tien Brocade Weaving Cooperative work hard day and night as orders increase day by day, all of which are silk scarves ordered from Hanoi for customers from many countries, mainly Europe. While watching the women weaving silk and checking the goods, two foreign groups from Hanoi came to visit and learn. They enjoyed looking at the products, watching the Hoa Tien women weaving and then staying to experience the homestay service here, sleeping in a stilt house and enjoying delicious mountain dishes.

Ms. Sam Thi Bich - representative of Hoa Tien Brocade Cooperative shared: The weaving group has many sisters who supply silk, thread, and spinning thread, but there are only 4 sisters who are good at weaving, working day and night but still do not have enough goods to sell. Customers from Hanoi order a lot, mainly silk scarves with natural colors, unique to Hoa Tien village. These scarves are embroidered directly by the women here with natural patterns and colors of silk, of the mountains and forests. It is called mountains and forests because the woven colors are made from forest leaves and the patterns are also vivid pictures of life, mountains and forests. The unique feature here is that the patterns and colors are very elegant, harmonious while still retaining the soul of brocade: green, indigo, purple... that the women were taught by their grandmothers and mothers.

Ask Ms. Sam Thi Bich when she was checking a rather elaborate scarf to be imported, she pointed to the products one by one and introduced: This is the pattern of the Rau Dun plant, a popular vegetable along rivers and streams, we often go pick it to eat, now "thank" it for bringing it here. So what pattern is this? This is the chau chang, which is also an animal and a familiar dish of our Thai people, also brought here. And here is the poinsettia flower, here is the sun, here is the deer, the star, the bird, the gong stand, here is the Ban flower...

Just like that, Ms. Bich introduced us to dozens of patterns and embroidery lines. Under the skillful hands and creative aesthetic sense of the ladies, each silk-like scarf simulating the spiritual life of the village gradually appeared and shone in the natural silk color.

It is the unique, sophisticated patterns and elegant colors that have helped Chau Tien brocade products attract foreign customers. From their love for the products and ancient culture, they have traveled far and wide to experience cotton growing and weaving activities, and to watch women weaving each thread of silk on traditional scarves and clothes.

Because each silk scarf has to be pulled and knitted, it takes a person nearly 3 days to weave, and the scarf is sold for 600-750 thousand VND/piece. Rolling the cotton, spinning the yarn into the frame, each pattern has to be spun, woven, and framed separately, meticulously, patiently and gently, it feels like only the hard-working mountain people here can do it.

In the past, the patterns on brocade were very impressive with the colors red, black, white, purple, green... which stood out even more in spring and festivals. Costumes made from brocade were the quintessence, the property, the dowry of girls when they got married. But now, keeping up with the trend, meeting the requirements of customers, especially foreign customers who prefer natural, elegant colors, Chau Tien brocade has applied dyeing techniques to get the most natural colors, at the same time, women and mothers have researched and mixed harmonious patterns, creating unique products with colors such as beige, light brown, yellow brown, light green, light blue, light pink, gray blue...

Although Hoa Tien village does not have many households engaged in weaving, their weaving techniques are very experienced and they can make difficult designs. The women have harmonized the needs of customers and widely introduced the traditional values ​​of the Thai ethnic village in Nghe An. Hoa Tien brocade products are highly applicable, used to keep warm in winter, and are loved by tourists. The women also do community tourism, practice welcoming guests, serving meals and accommodation for guests with traditional dishes such as purple sticky rice, grilled chicken, grilled fish, grilled mushrooms, sauce, soup, fish with short nose... that are unforgettable after just one taste.

Unique way to sell

Ms. Sam Thi Nga - a good weaver here said, we only know how to weave and are very secure because Ms. Sam Thi Tinh, daughter of Ms. Sam Thi Bich in Hanoi, is in charge of selling the products to the entire village.

Ms. Sam Thi Tinh was born and raised in Chau Tien, Quy Chau. Since childhood, she has experienced the work of growing cotton and weaving with her grandmother and mother. Her mother and grandmother sang her lullabies about weaving, the traditional profession of the village.

Her love for her homeland and her desire to introduce the unique culture of her hometown have urged her to find ways to bring local specialties to the capital and friends across the country. And she has connected and opened a shop introducing Hoa Tien brocade in Hanoi at two locations at Craplink and Hoa Tien Brocade. There were very difficult times, those were the years affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, but Hoa Tien women still did not give up, diligently growing cotton to weave fabric, preparing goods to serve the holidays and Tet.

Regarding income, Ms. Sam Thi Bich said that the annual revenue from brocade is more than 1 to 2 billion VND. After deducting expenses and wages, the women in the group receive about 30-40 percent of the weaving fee. That is a good source of income in the village. As for homestay services, the women also actively grow vegetables, raise chickens, learn to cook, prepare dishes as well as invest in infrastructure to serve tourists. The women also receive banana and pineapple fibers to spin into yarn to weave fabric.

Another experience of homestay service in Hoa Tien village is that visitors can enjoy art performances, watch the women diligently weaving and spinning silk in the days before Tet, and see the spring coming to the village.

Hoa Tien Village is only about 10 km from Que Phong, so it is connected to Que Phong tourism, where Sao Va waterfall is famous. Ms. Vi Thi Hoai, a homestay owner, said that in the summer, there are even more guests, she takes care of the bedrooms and meals for the guests. The women in the weaving group, the cooks, the yarn makers, support each other to preserve and spread the village's handwoven products. The simple happiness of the women is that they have a favorite job to do and earn income right at home.