Thủy Xuân

Thủy Xuân lies in the hills south of Huế, along the road that leads to the tombs of the Nguyễn emperors. The city has always burned a great deal of incense, in pagodas, at household altars and at the many shrines of a former capital, and this village became one of its suppliers over the last century or so. Pine forest and the pilgrimage traffic to the tombs and pagodas nearby gave it both materials and customers.

Today the roadside is lined with bundles of incense fanned open into bright circles to dry, and many visitors stop for photographs. Some of this display is now arranged for them, and you will be asked to pay or buy. Behind it, though, the work is real: households split bamboo for the cores, mix the paste, roll the sticks by hand and dry them on racks. Some of the same families make conical hats, as much of the Huế countryside does. The scent is what the household is known for, and recipes are kept within the family; the colour of the stems is the same everywhere.

Good incense is judged by the nose rather than the eye. The paste should be dense and evenly rolled, without bare patches on the stick, and the scent should be woody and warm when burned, not sharp or chemical. The agarwood blends cost more and smell quieter. The dyed stems are traditional colour, not a sign of quality.