Twenty kilometres northwest of central Hanoi, Sơn Đồng Commune is quietly responsible for a huge slice of Vietnam's spiritual craftsmanship. The village produces more than half of the country's traditional red-lacquered, gold-gilded wooden statues and ritual objects — the pieces you'll see on altars and in temples, pagodas and communal houses across Vietnam, plus a healthy export trade. The Vietnam Book of Records lists it as the largest craft village of its kind in the country.

The trade here is old. Locals trace it back to the Early Lê Dynasty under King Lê Đại Hành, introduced by General Đào Trực, and it has been refined over centuries into a distinctive gold-inlaid lacquer technique that has now earned international recognition. Sơn Đồng has been named a World Craft Village for Spiritual Wood Carvings and Gold-inlaid Lacquerware and admitted to the World Crafts Council's global network of Creative Craft Cities — the hook that has pushed local authorities to finally get serious about tourism.

On October 22, the commune's People's Committee, its craftsmen associations and Hanoi's Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism met to plot a way forward. The ambition, laid out by vice chairman Trịnh Văn Khánh, is for Sơn Đồng to be more than a production centre: a place where travellers can watch artisans at work, try their hand at the craft and experience village life, with the workshops tied into the commune's wider heritage.

That heritage is substantial for a place its size. After a recent administrative merger, Sơn Đồng counts 23 national historical sites and 14 traditional festivals. Nearly 400 workshops operate here, led by three Meritorious Artisans and a wider circle of recognised masters.

Officials are candid that the visitor side lags well behind the craft side. The plans discussed include organised tours of production sites, better visitor reception facilities, cleaner streetscapes, a stronger range of souvenirs and proper packaged programmes with travel agencies rather than ad-hoc visits. In other words: the raw material for a great day trip exists; the plumbing is still being built.

Why should travellers care? Because craft villages at this stage are the ones worth catching early. Right now you can realistically wander workshops, meet the artisans carving and gilding by hand, and buy directly — no coach crowds, no gift-shop markup. As formal tours and infrastructure arrive over the next few years, that access will become more polished but more curated. Pair a visit with the village's temples and festival calendar and you get a genuinely local Hanoi day out that most itineraries miss. If Hanoi's Old Quarter has left you museum-ed out, Sơn Đồng offers something you can actually watch being made — and, soon, officially learn to try yourself.