Thanh Ha Pottery Village is located north of the Thu Bon River, 3km west of the center of Hoi An ancient town. It preserves traditional pottery-making techniques dating back 500 years.
If you love traditional Vietnamese arts and are interested in studying handicrafts, join us to explore this destination!
1. Tickets to Thanh Ha Pottery Village
- Address: Pham Phan street, Thanh Ha village, Hoi An city, Quang Nam province, Vietnam
- Ticket price to visit the pottery village: 30,000 VND/person
- Ticket price to explore the ceramic museum: 40,000 VND/person
- Opening hours: 7 am to 5:30 pm
- Time to visit and experience: 1 – 2 hours
- Parking: yes
Thanh Ha is a small village with about 30 households making traditional decorative pottery for living. Its outstanding products include decorative lamps, whistles according to the 12 zodiac animals, teapots, yin and yang tiles, portraits, etc. Today, this place has about 100 workers in the ceramic work.
Previously, ceramic products from Thanh Ha mainly served the practical needs of local people and surrounding areas. Since around 2001, when Hoi An tourism developed, the small pottery village has had a wave of positive change.
Thanh Ha ceramics have become products in the tourism sector that attract domestic and international tourists. The results of clay balls have gradually transformed from practical needs to providing souvenirs and decorations. At the same time, the artisans here also offer many products that suit visitors’ desire to explore and experience.
In small alleys, under simple roofs, the locals’ lives are full of excitement, joy, and warmth. They are always ready to welcome friends and tourists to admire the beauty of diligence in each handmade product and the creative talent of ceramic artists.
2. Transportation to Pottery Village
There are two transportation options to move from Hoi An ancient town to Thanh Ha pottery village, including road and river.
Regarding the road: the road leading to Thanh Ha is convenient for traveling by bicycle, motorbike, and car. If using motorized transportation, such as a car or motorbike, you park it in the parking when coming to the beginning of this attraction. After that, you walk on its small roads, weaving through the narrow alleys to reach each family and each small pottery kiln.
Another advantage of this charming destination is that Thanh Ha is on the road connecting Hoi An and My Son Sanctuary. Therefore, many tourists have chosen a tour to visit My Son and stop by here on the way back.
About the river: With the Vietnamdrive team, we would like to travel to Thanh Ha by boat. From the center of Hoi An ancient town, catch a boat up the Thu Bon River to explore this lovely village.
3. Best time to visit Thanh Ha pottery village
The afternoon, from 4:00 to 5:30 pm, is the best time to visit Thanh Ha pottery village. At this time, the weather is usually not too hot, and the number of visitors is not too crowded, so it is convenient for your sightseeing activities.
In particular, if you travel by boat, you can watch the sunset gently caress the small village and see the gentle Thu Bon River entering a peaceful night’s sleep.
During the year, you should pay attention to the hottest months of June, July, and August and the rainy months of November, December, and January. The remaining time is suitable for traveling to Hoi An City and Thanh Ha Village.
4. Main activities for tourists at Thanh Ha pottery village
4.1. Explore traditional pottery making with a spinning wheel.
Making pottery with a wheel is a traditional technique that has existed for a long time in Vietnam. And it has been preserved by Thanh Ha people to today.
With this technique, the artist needs to use a round wooden wheel. This turntable is placed on a stable axis and ensures good rotation speed.
When shaping a product, the smooth coordination of two workers at the same time is often required. One person uses their feet to rotate the turntable to reach the required speed, and the main artisan will use their hands to shape the product according to pre-determined calculations in their mind.
In case, there is only one person, the ceramic artist can still turn the wheel while shaping the product. However, it is much more difficult, and the quality of the product is often not perfect.
Although the traditional production method requires a lot of effort and is not as quick as the modern way, the products have the breath and soul of the artisan in return. Each motif depicted in each artifact exudes the simple, idyllic beauty of the indigenous life.
4.2. Experience making pottery yourself.
Coming to Thanh Ha, you also have the opportunity to create your own ceramic products using manual methods on a traditional turntable.
Under the enthusiastic guidance of a local ceramic artist, you will feel the softness of clay and enjoy your first-hand creations. And who knows, this is also an opportunity for you to discover the long-hidden artistic talent in your skillful hands.
Especially for families traveling with children, this experience will be exciting and give children a lot of fun.
Tickets to visit the pottery village will not include this experience, so to participate in the pottery-making experiment, you need to pay an additional fee of 50,000 VND/person. And, of course, you need to find families who have a sign “Visit and experience here” (“Tham quan trải nghiệm tại đây” in Vietnamese) to participate in this activity.
4.3. Buy ceramic products as gifts.
Coming to the pottery village, in addition to learning and experiencing traditional pottery-making techniques, you can choose many sophisticated and beautiful handmade ceramic products to keep as souvenirs from Vietnam or decorate the house.
The price of ceramic products here is quite flexible, from 20,000 VND to several hundred thousand VND, depending on their size and aesthetics. After purchase, the sellers will package the goods carefully with many layers of protective paper to avoid unfortunate damage or breakage.
4.4. Take photos of ceramic products and peaceful village scenery.
Taking photos is always an indispensable activity in every trip. Coming to Thanh Ha Pottery Village, you will have beautiful pictures for your collection.
The photos can cover peaceful villages, lovely small alleys, water wharves, communal houses, banyan trees, artisans at the wheel, and hundreds of attractive ceramic products.
If you take a boat on the river at sunset, the scene becomes even more lyrical, the perfect background to create many beautiful photos and videos.
Despite that, the writer’s biggest impression when coming to Thanh Ha revolves around pottery products and unique terracotta shapes.
4.5. Explore the ceramic museum.
The ceramic museum, also known as Thanh Ha Pottery Village Park, has an area of 6,000 square meters. This attraction preserves and introduces domestic and international travelers to the unique ceramic products of this village.
The ceramic park includes two main areas: the area storing ancient ceramic samples and another section introducing modern products.
In the museum, you can see many miniature versions of world-famous architectural works in pottery, such as Pizza Tower, One Pillar Pagoda, Notre Dame Cathedral, Pyramid, and White House.
5. Notes when visiting the pottery village
+ The paths leading to households in Thanh Ha village are small alleys, so you have to walk. If you go at noon, it can be hot. Therefore, you need to arrange an appropriate time to get to this place.
+ Each tour ticket often comes with a ceramic souvenir. So, keep your ticket stub so that when you finish your exploration here, go to the ticket counter (located at the river wharf) to receive your gift.
+ When experiencing making pottery by hand, you need to be a little careful to avoid mud from soiling the clothes and belongings you are carrying. At the same time, there is always a water faucet around the pottery-making area for visitors to clean their hands and feet after participating in the activity. So, if you have not seen it yet, please ask the guide here.
+ If you go quickly, you can pass by most of the intrinsic beauty of the village. Take it slow, visit a few places, try your hand at pottery making, and feel the gentle beauty of the craft village.
+ Ceramic products are fired in high-temperature clay kilns. In particular, some furnaces have turned off the fire but take a long time to cool down, so be careful when approaching to avoid unfortunate burns.
Exploring Thanh Ha pottery village is an exciting activity in Hoi An for those who like to learn about handicraft art and want to find a peaceful place in the countryside.
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