Hoi An Silk Village- The Live Museum Of Hoi An Silk

Introduction

Hoi An Silk Village is a place where the silk weaving industry of Hoi An will be displayed and preserved. Quang Nam Silk Company has financed and rebuilt it with the goal of restoring a traditional craft community.

It is also a site where would reenact the life of weavers and the 17th-century origins of The Silk Road on the sea. It would serve as an introduction to both domestic and international tourists visiting Hoi An Ancient Town.

Hoi An Silk Village, located approximately 1km from Hoi An town center, is a must-visit destination for many travelers who have been to Hoi An.

History of Hoi An Silk Village

Silk Village in Hoi An is a destination that symbolizes the heyday of silk of the whole nation. In the 17th century, ships of Japanese, Dutch, and Spanish merchants arrived here to acquire pure raw silk as many different kinds of silks. As a result, Hoi An silk has followed in the footsteps of traders who traveled The Silk Path on the sea to become known across the world.

Hoi An Silk Village is more than just a place providing silk items that are made from the traditional manual weaving method for more than 300 years ago. It is also a gathering site to restore the silk weaving industry of Quang Nam, which is on the verge of extinction.

How to get to Hoi An Silk Village Vietnam?

The Silk Village of Hoi An is situated at 28 Nguyen Tat Thanh Street, Hoi An which is roughly one kilometer from Hoi An center. Due to the short distances, you can consider traveling by bicycle or cyclo. You would have a chance to travel around Hoi An Town and view its gorgeous scenery at the same time.

In addition, for around VND 120,000 per day, you can rent a motorbike to visit the Hoi An Silk Village as well as many other far destinations, such as An Bang Beach, Bay Mau Coconut Forest, and so on. You can also easily get here by taxi or by tram.

Best time to visit Hoi An Silk Village

Hoi An has a lot of rain and sometimes storms from late August to early January. As a result, you should avoid traveling to Hoi An Silk Village during these months. With the remaining months, we believe that it is an excellent opportunity for you to visit the village.

As most of the activities are inside the house, you can visit either in the morning or afternoon. If you wish to enjoy the buffet at Hoi An Silk Village restaurant, you can come here at midday or in the evening to savor all the traditional cuisine of Hoi An Silk Village.

What to do at Hoi An Silk Village?

Visiting a traditional beam house

When you first enter Hoi An Silk Village, you will be struck by the old Hoi An people’s traditional beam houses. The homes in this village have been gathered from all across the province for an exhibition at the silk village.

The place to worship Ba Chua Tam Tang is at the huge house in the center. Her true name is Doan Thi Ngoc, and she subsequently became a queen known as Doan Quy Phi. She is the first individual to find a method to bring Hoi An Silk Road to the world. She also has made significant contributions to the preservation and development of silk weaving in Hoi An.

In addition, the traditional house also showcases traditional silk produces from Vietnam 54 ethnic groups.

Visiting the strawberry garden with ancient mulberry trees

As you leave the traditional house, you will come upon a big strawberry garden with hundreds of years old mulberry trees. They are searched and collected from everywhere before being harvested and planted in the Hoi An silk village.

There are both Vietnamese and ancient Champa strawberry cultivars.

Discovering how to raise silkworms for silk

When visiting Hoi An Silk Village, you will learn how to raise and care for silkworms of various sizes, from premature to mature individuals. The Vietnamese people will cultivate silkworms in huge baskets, collect leaves to feed the silkworms until they are mature enough to wrap their own cocoons, and then leave them alone.

In the Champa people’s traditional technique of growing silkworms, they will place the silkworms on mulberry trees so that the silkworms may feed themselves. And the people just collect cocoons.

Silkworms may appear to be little worms, but they have a powerful appetite for eating. They can feed continuously for three days and then rest for the next one day. Silkworms develop quite fast because of this. Each silkworm’s life cycle lasts around 40-45 days from its birth to death.

Touring the silk nursery

After the silkworm wraps, the cocoons will be harvested again to begin the next step, which is the silk nursery. Yellow and white will be the two cocoon colors, and the same hue will create two distinct silk colors.

The cocoons will be then boiled constantly in a saucepan of boiling water at a temperature of about 80 degrees Celcius to soften and supple the silk fibers. Next, draw them together into big silk strands in order to weave (including many small cocoons forming)

Touring the silk weaving room

After drawing, silk will be cooked at a specific temperature and for a specific amount of time (depending on the quality of silk artisans want to produce in order to adjust the cooking time).

The silk is connected to the frame one by one once it has been cooked. The craftsmen then begin the silk weaving process. Here, you may see how gorgeous and high-quality silk textiles with distinctive designs are made. All looms from ancient Champa times to modern-day looms are on exhibit to show visitors at Hoi An Silk Village.

You will then realize why real silk is so expensive, partly as the quality of the silk is super nice and cool. In addition, because the artists have put in a lot of time and effort to create such completed silk. In reality, only individuals who are truly dedicated to their work and like it, are able to be associated with this traditional profession.

Visiting the showroom of silk products

Eventually, you will be taken to a showroom filled with one-of-a-kind items created by the brilliant artisans of Hoi An Silk Village.

You will learn how to tell the difference between silk cloth woven on antique looms and modern ones. Besides, learning about such silks which have a lengthy and short making time, so you can tell the difference in quality.

Eating at Hoi An Silk Village Restaurant

After one day-long visit, you can consider enjoying a buffet meal with delicious Hoi An dishes at Hoi An Silk Village restaurant such as pancakes, Cao Lau, Quang noodles, Banh Beo, rose cake, etc.

The restaurant is unique as you will dine outside and the meal is served in bamboo baskets by girls wearing traditional clothes. When eating on the street vendors with unique delicacies from the homeland, we ensure that you will find it hard to forget such a memorable experience.

Through many ups and downs of the history, Hoi An Silk Village has been considered as a living museum of a traditional craft village in Quang Nam. More precisely, numerous cultural treasures filled with the souls of Vietnamese people can be found here. And the locals have been wishing to send such precious value to travelers from all over the world.