Many visitors enjoy the process of arranging incense sticks.
In order to create an incense tree, it has to go through many stages from splitting the bamboo (or crown), sharpening toothpicks, dyeing incense legs, making incense sticks, drying and packing.
According to Mr. Long, foot incense is dyed pink or red depending on the customer’s orders with different purposes. The incense sticks dyed red with larger and longer sizes are used to make incense in communal houses and pagodas. The type of foot incense dyed pink with the right size is used in the family on holidays, Tet or the full moon day, the first day. Each bundle of such incense sticks weighs about 3 kg and is sold at a price of 3,000 VND/kg.
With more than 10 employees working hard, every day, Mr. Long’s workshop can produce 7-8 tons of real incense, 10 tons a day. After being bundled, the incense sticks will surely be dyed and dried by skilled workers
“Perfume is a product with spiritual elements, so every step of the process must be done meticulously and meticulously. The main raw material for making the foot incense is the currant tree. Vau used as the foot incense must be of age and carefully selected, not careless, “said Mr. Long.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Lien (60 years old) said that every day she works from 7 am to 12 am, in the afternoon from 2 pm to 6 pm. Hard work brings her an income of about 300,000 VND/day. Those who have more skills, know the preparations and then dye them, have a higher income, about 500,000 VND/day. “The most difficult part is probably the process of drying the feet of incense, because it depends a lot on the weather, only when it is sunny to dry the incense,” said Ms. Lien.
The bundles of incense sticks that have been dried in the sun are collected by the workers and bundled for the last time. Every day, Mr. Long’s facility brings about 8-10 tons of incense sticks to the market in provinces such as Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Hue…
Workers are hard at work making incense sticks at Thang Binh incense production facility in Quang Phu Cau. Here, depending on the type of incense, the craftsman will choose the appropriate ingredients. Usually incense is made from agarwood, cedar, rosemary, angelica, patchouli, anise, cinnamon, resin, tubers, roots of vetiver, cinnabar…
With the traditional method, when burning incense, the worker must roll it gently and firmly so that the powder adheres evenly to the incense stick. Now, thanks to modern technology, all facilities have invested in machinery to make this process faster, just put incense and toothpicks into the machine and it will automatically compress firmly, helping establishments increase productivity.
The establishments of Quang Phu Cau incense village have been making efforts to improve product quality, build their own brands, apply technology in production and business. Up to now, many products such as incense sticks, incense sticks… of the locality have been certified with 3-4 stars OCOP products, which are well received by consumers. Quang Phu Cau incense is not only popular with Hanoi consumers but also a familiar product at home and abroad.