Dai Bai Bronze Casting Village

Dai Bai Bronze Casting Village is a traditional craft village located in Dai Bai Commune, Gia Binh District, Bac Ninh Province, about 30 km east of Hanoi. Established nearly 900 years ago, it is one of Vietnam's most renowned bronze casting centers. The village is known for preserving manual casting techniques to produce bells, statues, incense burners and household items, maintaining its heritage through family workshops passed down generations.

Visitors can expect a working craft village with family-run workshops and small foundries along village lanes. Artisans demonstrate traditional bronze casting steps including mold making, melting, pouring and finishing. Workshops display finished products such as bells, Buddha statues, gongs, vases and incense burners. The setting is a rural Red River Delta village with communal houses, narrow alleys and active furnaces. Visitors can observe production, interact with craftsmen and purchase bronze items directly.

The village was founded in the 11th century during the Ly Dynasty by Nguyen Cong Truyen, who is credited with teaching bronze casting to local residents. With a history of nearly 900 years, Dai Bai developed into a major bronze casting center supplying bells and statues for pagodas and temples across Vietnam. The craft has been continuously preserved through generations of artisan families.

Dai Bai is recognized as one of Vietnam's traditional craft villages and an important center of intangible cultural heritage in Bac Ninh Province. The village preserves traditional bronze casting knowledge, communal worship of the craft ancestor Nguyen Cong Truyen, and contributes to the cultural identity of the Kinh Bac region. Its products serve religious, cultural and daily life purposes.