Located on the bank of the Huong River, the 300-year-old Thanh Tien paper-flower making village in the central province of Thua Thien- Hue city is busy preparing for the New Year.

Nguyen Hoa, 51, said that all villagers, from children to the elderly, know how to make paper flowers. This year is paper lotus the most popular. Traders go to the village to buy paper flowers so villagers don’t need to go anwhere anymore.

Tran Minh Hien, 50, said paper flower making is a traditional job, and the skill is transferred from generation to generation.

Artisans said every lunar September-October, villagers begin choosing the best bamboo trees to process into splints to make pedicles.

They have secret methods for to dyeing papers with natural substances. But nowadays, most producers buy ready-made colored papers.

Thanh Tien paper flowers are hand-made.

The prices are cheap, from VND2500-3000/branch and VND7000-9000/lotus.

The number of families making paper flowers in Thanh Tien Village has fallen from 100 to 30.

Thanh Tien artisans have to struggle to survive in this traditional trade because of the competition from the producers of artificial flowers from China.

PV