Duong Thanh Phan, a Ho Chi Minh City native, came up with the idea of doing woodburning on bamboos straws in 2018.

The 40-year-old said he started woodburning out of passion but decided to turn his hobby into a profession when he realized the value of bamboo art. 

Phan initially only wanted to wood-burn bamboo pens, but increasing demand pushed him to open his own workshop to produce bamboo pens.

Currently Phan’s Nha An Lanh shop offers bamboo and fire-carved bamboo pens, as well as lucky bamboo sticks, bamboo dragonflies, bamboo books, keychains, and more.

According to Phan, an engraved pen is valuable because it promotes Vietnamese culture using traditional symbols, such as bronze drums, ancient lac birds, images of the Vietnamese countryside, and messages.

“[My art] looks simple, but it’s definitely not easy to create a wood-burned bamboo pen,” Phan said.

“A [woodburning] artist needs to concentrate or they can hurt their hands. Meticulousness is also required in this craft.”

Ordinary bamboo pens at Phan’s shop sell for VND30,000-40,000 ($1.27-1.69) while wood-burned pens range from a few hundred thousand dong to several million dong depending on a customer’s requirements.

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