Thanh Ha pottery village is located on the north side of Thu Bon river, 3 km west of Hoi An ancient town center, where it preserves traditional pottery-making techniques dating back 500 years.
If you are a lover of Vietnamese arts, interested in learning about fine arts and crafts, let’s explore this Thanh Ha village together!
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 visit the pottery museum: 40,000 VND/person
- Opening hours: 7 am to 5:30 pm
- Duration to visit and experience: 1-2 hours
- Parking: yes
The small pottery village of Thanh Ha owns a tradition of decorative pottery-making products, including lights, To He (whistle) according to the 12 zodiac signs, yin and yang tiles, portraits, etc. Today, the village has 30 households with about 100 workers working on pottery goods.
Around 2001, Hoi An tourism began to develop, contributing to promoting Thanh Ha pottery products known to many tourists near and far. At the same time, local people also create many tourism products to meet the needs of visitors to explore and experience the craft.
The small alleys and simple roofs of the village become warmer when ready to welcome guests from far away to admire the pottery beauty and creative talents of the locals.
Useful travel information for exploring Thanh Ha Pottery Village
1. Traffic to the pottery village
Thanh Ha Pottery Village stays in a convenient location on the way from Hoi An to My Son Sanctuary, so it is very suitable for tourists traveling by car. Many tourists combine a tour to visit My Son Sanctuary and stop at the Pottery Village on the way back.
The road leading to the village is very open, enough to move by car to the parking lot. However, guests have to walk to weave through the narrow alleys inside here to see each family making pottery.
Vietnamdrive members love going to the pottery village by private boat from the center of the old town. In the afternoon, the boat runs slowly to admire the peaceful scenery by the river. Stop to visit Thanh Ha Pottery Village and watch the sunset gradually fall down the Thu Bon River, you will be captivated by the lovely scenery here.
2. Best time to visit Thanh Ha Pottery Village
As mentioned above, you may have guessed when the best time to visit this pottery village is. Afternoon, from about 4 pm to 5:30 pm is the best time to explore Thanh Ha. At that time, it is not too hot, the number of visitors is not too much, and you will be able to watch the sunset begin to gently hug the village and the river.
For the time of year, the good months to visit this place coincide with the best time to visit Hoi An. You can avoid the hottest months of the year are June, July, August, and September; the months with the most rain are November, December, and January; the rest are the months you can feel comfortable coming to this place.
3. Activities to see and do in Thanh Ha Pottery Village
3.1 Discover traditional pottery making with a turntable
Coming to Thanh Ha pottery village, you will find ancient pottery-making techniques with a turntable. A wooden circle rotates around an axis at a fast speed. One user uses the foot to make the turntable spin and another creates pottery products in a pre-calculated shape.
It is possible for only one person to rotate and create products at the same time, but it is more difficult and the product quality will be affected if the turntable rotation is not fast enough. Thus, some people use an electricity motor can help them to turn a turntable.
However, with the traditional method of making, it takes more effort to do, but in return, the products have the personality and soul of the artists. The beauty from the life of the local people will be portrayed through each feature of ceramic products.
3.2 Hand-made pottery experience
When experiencing in Thanh Ha pottery village, you will be able to make yourself a pottery product from clay with the same manual method as above. This will be an interesting experience for many families with young children.
Feeling the softness of clay, adding the dedicated guidance of local artisans, you will create your first pottery.
Your ticket usually does not include the making-pottery experience. Thus, you see a house with a small sign “visit and experience here”, please pay from 50,000 VND extra for them and they will guide you on how to make pottery.
3.3 Buy pottery products as gifts
In addition to demonstrating the stages of pottery making, the village has many families selling attractive pottery products for you to choose from. You can buy several products to decorate your lovely home.
Products cost from 25,000 VND, depending on the size, depending on the difficulty of each product. When buying, the seller will carefully wrap it with lots of wrapping paper to avoid breakage.
3.4 Take pictures of complete products and peaceful village scenery
Taking pictures is always an exciting activity with every place to visit, and Thanh Ha pottery village is no exception. Lots of opportunities to take beautiful photos such as peaceful village streets, pretty alleys, complete pottery products, water wharf and communal house roofs, banyan trees… and people’s activities.
If taking a boat on the river at sunset, the scenery becomes poetic creating a very romantic moment that is a time not to be missed for a nice photo.
However, the members of Vietnamdrive are very interested in ceramic complete products, always fascinated with unique terracotta works.
3.5 Explore the terracotta museum
The Pottery Museum here, also known as Thanh Ha Pottery Village Park, covers an area of 6,000 square meters. This place preserves the unique products of Thanh Ha pottery village, and is also a place to introduce to visitors near and far the village’s ceramic products.
Thanh Ha Pottery Park has two main parts, one introduces ancient terracotta samples, the other introduces new and modern pottery products.
You will find in the museum many famous minimized architectures in the world, such as the Pizza tower, the one-pillar pagoda, the Notre Dame cathedral, the pyramid, the white house…
Pay attention 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 may be very hot. So you need to arrange a suitable time to come to this place.
+ When buying tickets to visit, there are gifts included with them. Please keep the stub of your tickets to end your exploration, and go to the ticket counter (located at the waterfront, riverside) to receive a small gift of ceramic products.
+ When you experience making pottery by hand, you will get your hands dirty. But there’s clean water somewhere around the area where you try making. Please ask the instructor to show you where to wash your hands. Always be a little careful because the mud can get on your clothes.
+ Because of walking, you should wear low-heeled and soft shoes. You can bring some water if you go in hot weather.
+ If you go fast, you will pass most of the intrinsic beauty of Thanh Ha pottery village. Take it slow, visit a few places, try your hand at making pottery, then you will enjoy all the beauty of this craft village.
+ Ceramic products are fired in kilns covered with clay. Be careful when approaching these kilns, lest they are hot. In particular, some furnaces have turned off the fire, but the cooling time is very long, so do not touch the objects still in the kilns to avoid burns.
Exploring Thanh Ha pottery village is an exciting experience in Hoi An city for those who love to learn handicraft art, want to find a peaceful place in the countryside.
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