in the footsteps of the production of incense sticks

In Vietnam, the outdoor drying of thousands of incense sticks attracts tourists. A woman marvels: “It’s really extraordinary and then incense is part of our culture in Vietman.” From now on, tourists and employees rub shoulders because production must continue at all costs. In the “Long Hoa” company, Tran Cong Trua’s family has been making these small burning sticks for 100 years. This place has become a must thanks to a shot by photographer Nông Thnh Toàn.

A traditional production

The 20 Hours teams traveled to Quang Phu Cau, the “incense village”. Here, nearly 3,000 families live from this ancestral trade. Vietnam is a major producer for the domestic market and for export. In Tran Cong Trua’s workshop, manufacturing is traditional and the machines from another age. The sticks are sorted and calibrated, before the stems are colored. Last step to get this perfume of Vietnam: the incense paste prepared to coat the uncolored part of the sticks. In Vietnam, incense is especially part of the spiritual life.