At the pottery workshop of Mrs. Nguyen Hong Hop, the staffs are busy pouring soil into the mold to shape the buffalos. For nearly 20 years, Ms. Hop’s family rented a land area of about 2,500 m2 to live and build a pottery workshop. The pottery workshop operates all year round but is busiest at the time of the Lunar New Year. Every day, Mrs. Hop’s workshop produces about 1,500 products
After more than an hour of sun drying, the buffalo was formed and removed from the mold, then dried again for another two hours before being placed in the furnace. Every day, the workshop uses up nearly a ton of raw clay.
On average, a kiln can heat 3,000 products per day. Workers in the pottery kilns in Tan Uyen town mainly come from northern provinces such as Thai Nguyen, Hanoi, Hai Duong … and work on the Tet holidays
Most raw products will be brought to the processing factories in Thuan An city (Binh Duong) for decoration.
At the workshop of Mrs. Vo Thi Thanh Ha in Lai Thieu ward, every day about 2,000 pigs and buffalo are imported. Staffs are busy painting and decorating each product to deliver.
The paint commonly used to paint the products is powder coating because it has a firm grip and dries quickly. The painter once finishes the painting, will coat the golden buffalo with glitter. According to Ms. Ha, the most difficult part is drawing the buffalo’s eyes, nose, and horns because it requires high skills to create soulful products.
Close to Tet, every day, many traders go to factories in Lai Thieu ward to collect pigs and buffaloes for sale in Ho Chi Minh City. According to factory owners, their products are also exported to Laos and Cambodia.
According to vietnamtimes.org.vn
