Silk from the Nhue River helps weave a friendship between Vietnam and Myanmar

At Hanoi’s Van Phuc silk village, the wives of Vietnam’s and Myanmar’s leaders explored a shared craft tradition that officials presented as a bridge between the two countries.

On the morning of Sept. 5, Ngô Phương Ly, wife of Vietnam’s General Secretary and President Tô Lâm, accompanied Kyu Kyu Hla, wife of Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing, to the village in Hà Đông district. Their first stop was the temple dedicated to the craft’s ancestors, which preserves the memory of Van Phuc’s more than 1,000-year-old silk-making tradition.

Artisan Lê Thị Kim Thư explained the process, from growing mulberry trees and raising silkworms to weaving the village’s distinctive patterned silk. The two visitors also joined students from weaving families in threading silk bracelets. The children were not performing for visitors, the article noted. They were showing one of the ways they help their parents after school, illustrating how the craft passes naturally through community life.

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The loom feels very close and familiar to me because it has been part of the lives of Myanmar people for thousands of years.

Beside an old loom, Kyu Kyu Hla said it felt familiar because looms have been part of Myanmar people’s lives for thousands of years. They produce the fabrics used for traditional Myanmar garments such as htamein and paso. Ngô Phương Ly said both countries are known for traditional handicrafts, especially silk weaving, and that women in both countries help preserve these cultural traditions.

She also pointed to lotus silk, an innovation from Myanmar that has been introduced in Vietnam, where lotus plants grow across the country. The material has been used to make áo dài celebrating Vietnamese women’s beauty. Van Phuc now has more than 200 households and serves as a production, exhibition and tourism center, with its silk products reaching domestic and international markets.

The two visitors later spent time at Vụn Art cooperative, where more than 40 workers with disabilities create patchwork silk paintings from recycled pieces. The article frames their work as evidence that people can create beauty despite life’s imperfections.

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The two countries are not only similar in their weaving traditions, but also contribute to enriching each other’s cultural values through exchange and sharing experience.