The special thing about Huong Canh is itsblue clay, the raw material used to make its famous products. This clay is found in the swampy areas, 3-10m below the ground. The advantage of this blue clay is that it is very smooth, pliant and sleek, so the baked products look like they are already enameled. This clay makes Huong Canh ceramics superior in quality, waterproof, and opaque.
We had a chance to talk to Mr Tran Van Hai, an artisan who has been making ceramics at Huong Canh for almost 50 years. Mr Hai shares with us, ‘Our blue clay has a shrinking coefficient of 26-28 per cent, which is very high. Other clays only have it at 11 per cent on average, which is unsatisfactory. Only highly shrinking, highly viscid clay makes high quality ceramics.
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