Vietnamese incense village shines in Belgian media

The incense-making village of Quang Phu Cau in Hanoi’s countryside, which has become viral on Instagram, has been featured on the La Une channel of Belgium’s French-language broadcasting organisation RTBF.
A screenshot of the programme (Photo: VNA)
A screenshot of the programme (Photo: VNA)

The January 25 televised programme began by emphasising the significance of beautiful photos in the era of social media, leading viewers to explore the small Vietnamese village of captivating colours, which it called an Instagram phenomenon.

Every year, Quang Phu Cau village, adorned with thousands of incense sticks drying outdoors, attracts a diverse array of tourists from around the world. Sarah Vanmalderghim, a Belgian tourist, said the site reflects a perfect combination of traditional craftsmanship, while Catherine Caro from the Philippines was delighted by the place’s beauty and colours.

The programme showed that local incense sticks were traditionally in red and pink. To please visitors and cater to Instagram trends, additional ones like yellow, green, and leafy green have been introduced. Tourists need to pay around 2 EUR to access designated "photo-hunting" areas, with elevated observation points already in place to serve them.

The channel rounded off its programme by underscoring the significance of this traditional craft village, where bamboo sticks are an indispensable part of the local culture.

VNA