Conical Hat Maker Sustains Tradition

THUA THIEN-HUE — One of Hue City's most endearing images is that of the beautiful girl wearing an Ao Dai (traditional robe) and a conical hat, singing folk songs while floating down the Huong (Perfume) River on a wooden rowing boat.

For many people, Hue's conical hats have long been treasured symbols of the once imperial city (situated in Thua Thien-Hue Province), shields against sun and rain, and, for one particular woman, a personal "weapon' in times of distress.

Tourists visiting Hue City often prefer the conical hats made by disabled Tran Thi Thuy for her incredible handiwork.

Born into a conical hat making family, Thuy's future has always seemed inevitably connected to the tradition despite being born with a crippled hand.

When she was young, she usually helped her mother to make hats. She made it day by day as a basic game, with the first product when she was ten.

She hard working from the basic step to fluently, her mother said: “my daughter is the most skilful artisan in the family”.

When the former royal city was recognised as a World Cultural Heritage site by the UN cultural agency UNESCO in 1993, tourists began flocking to the city in drones, turning conical hats into favourable souvenirs.

Once upon visit Thuy’s workshop, an Australian tourist asked her to make him a hat with her name embroidered inside. Not long after, another tourist group also from Australia request their own hats with her name inside.

Since then, Thuy’s conical hats have become famous to the globe.

"Thuy, famous for making hats with only one hand, is known as one of the best hat makers in Viet Nam due to the extraordinary quality and craftsmanship of her work,"

Beside that Vietnam Travel Depot also offer a related tour Half Day Conical Hat Making & Ancient Bonsai Garden in Hue. For more information about Vietnam Travel Depot, click here or phone: +84 8 6290 6577 or hotline: +84 909 602 370.

More related programs to Hue:
3 Days - 2 Nights True Local Experience
World Heritages - Treasure Of Vietnam 5 Days
Hue - Paddling the Perfume River (3 days 2 nights)
Ancient Royal City Discovery (3 days 2 nights)