Have you ever wondered how your Hanoi ‘bia hoi’ glass is made?
Friday, October 02, 2015, 14:02 GMT+7
Have you ever stopped for a second while drinking bia hoi (draft beer) on Hanoi streets to wonder how the glasses used to severe the beer are made?
Tuoi Tre News would like to introduce a series of photos depicting the making process.
The glasses were first made in a village in Nam Truc District, Nam Dinh Province, which is around 100km southeast of Hanoi.
The Xoi Tri Village is currently has three traditional handicraft glass manufacturing factories.
Pham Ngoc Han, a factory owner, said his family has made glasses for over 30 years and his factory is capable of producing around 25 glasses per month.
The main materials for making the glasses are broken glass pieces which can be bought at a very cheap price of VND 20,000 (US$0.89) per 10kg.
“This kind of glass has become a symbol of the Hanoi lager,” Han said. “The beer selling shops have chosen the glasses and placed orders for them for years.”
The owner said he and his employees take turns in their shifts to work 12 hours per day and the profit they earn can just cover their daily necessities.
Han said as China’s crystal products have flooded the Vietnamese market, his factory only has chances to produce this kind of glass when Chinese people do not want to make it due to low profits.
“And then it becomes what we can lean on to live,” he added.
Pham Ngoc Han, the owner of a glass factory, works with his employee. Photo: Tuoi Tre
Han and his employees are seen blowing to shape melted glass. Photo: Tuoi Tre
The team leader (R) at the factory. Photo: Tuoi Tre
A worker is pictured blowing through a tube to shape the melted glass. Photo: Tuoi Tre
His trousers get scorched by the fire. Photo: Tuoi Tre
The last step: cutting and cooling down the glasses. Photo: Tuoi Tre
A female worker picks up glasses after they are shaped and buries them in ash to cool down. Photo: Tuoi Tre
A worker drinks water with the glass he has made. Photo: Tuoi Tre
Bia hoi glasses are ready for serving. Photo: Tuoi Tre
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