Craft village visits and workshops — not just to watch, but to make.
At Mế, tradition is not behind glass: guests sit with artisans to pound five-colour sticky rice, dye a scarf in indigo, or weave a small rattan ring to take home. Children love it most — and adults are surprised to find they do too.
Workshops run for groups; book a day ahead so Mế can invite the right artisan and prepare materials.
Together with local artisans, Mế is reviving four ancestral crafts — each will become its own hands-on corner of the living heritage.
The mother villages of these crafts lie along one road in Cao Bằng: Phúc Sen forging village (a National Intangible Heritage craft, ~160 forges still burning), Phia Thắp incense village, Dìa Trên paper village. Mế will point the way — see the craft-trail route.
For school groups, Mế writes a full learning script: morning at the Kim Đồng Memorial, afternoon workshops, evening campfire.
Book a workshop one day ahead — an artisan will be waiting at the dye vat and rice mortar.
