Tan Chau Silk Village — a charming beauty of An Giang
Clothes of Tan Chau silk was a common dream of any Vietnamese ladies in the 20th century. Coming to Tan Chau silk village in a Mekong Delta tour and touch the silk with your hand, you will understand why this product is so famous. This village is also a must-see destination that you should visit to explore Vietnam culture and the traditional career of weaving silk.
1. Overview
Tan Chau silk village is a pretty village located in the northwest area of An Giang province. This village has been famous for its smooth silk woven from silks with beautiful patterns and unfading color. To make rolls of golden silk, Tan Chau villagers are very careful in every step of making their products, from growing mulberry, raising silkworms, nursing silk, weaving and dying fabrics. This career is a hereditary profession, which has been preserved and transmitted for generations in Tan Chau.
2. The process of making Tan Chau silk
Visiting Tan Chau, you will see a mass green of mulberry stretching from the sandy bank along the river encroaching deeply into the field, from a village to another village. When collecting the mulberry, they do not collect every single leaf like in Quang Nam or Chuong My, Ha Dong — two other famous silk villages in Vietnam. Instead, they cut the all the mulberry tree, close to its root, then, gather them in big brunches and bring them home. After that, the mulberry will be cut into fibers.
Raising silkworms is the hardest work among many steps of making Tan Chau silk. There are hundreds of coal furnaces constantly burning with very big copper pots on the stoves. When the water boils, they put the cocoon silkworm into these pots, pull the silk threads and roll it in a spinning wheel. Visiting Tan Chau, you can ask to try to turn the silk wheel or do a step in the producing process to make Tan Chau silk. It’s one of the most exciting things to do in Mekong Delta tour.
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Standing near the stove, you can smell a sweet perfume of silk. The craftsman stirs the silk in the pot constantly and turns the wheel regularly to make smooth rolls of golden silk until there are only the silkworms’ bodies left in the pot. They do not throw away the chrysalis of silkworms. Instead, they use them to eat with vegetable or fry with rice. The silkworms’ droppings and the leftover of mulberry will be stored to make fertilizers.
The silk will be dyed with diospyros mollis fruit and dried for dozens of times. The resin of this fruit gives the silk a black glossy color which will never fade away. It’s also the secret of Tan Chau silk, making this product well-known all over the country. Nowadays, the weaving technique of Tan Chau is getting more modern thanks to the development of technology, which helps increase not only the productivity but also the quality of this product. Due to this traditional career, Tan Chau village is one of the most attractive destinations you should not miss in your Mekong Delta adventure.
3. Tan Chau Silk — Queen of silk
Tan Chau silk has been a famous brand name is Vietnam for decades. The silk of Tan Chau village is woven from specially made silk, so, it is very smooth, light, and comfortable when you wear clothes made of this silk. Especially, this fabric will not shrink or absorb moisture, so it’s very cool and easy-to-wear in the summer, and warm in the winter. If you have a chance to visit Tan Chau village in your Mekong Delta tour, you should buy a piece of this silk cloth or a set of clothes from Tan Chau silk to wear.
As it’s quite time-consuming and hard to make this product, Tan Chau silk is quite expensive. In the past, only officials and rich families can buy and wear clothes from Tan Chau silk. However, in the 60s to 70s of the 20th century, when the clothing market was very diverse and plentiful, Tan Chau silk was quite cheap.
Recently, thanks to the high quality, Tan Chau silk has become a favorite choice of customers. To meet the demands of the market, besides the traditional black color, the craftsmen in this village also dye the silk with more color.
There are a lot of interesting things to do and explore in this pretty village. So, make sure to visit Tan Chau silk village, explore its traditional career and enjoy your wonderful Mekong Delta tour.
