Tile Making

The craft of tile making is practised in Lũng Rì village and other villages in Quang Uyen district of Cao Bang province. The tiles are made of clay and called Yin and Yang tiles as they are semicircular in shape. The production of the tiles is fascinating to watch and you can try making tiles for yourself in our CBT villages. At first the clay is mixed together with help of a buffalo in a large circular basin. The worker pushes the buffalo to walk around the basin and stamp on the clay in order to smoothen the clay mixture. The clay is then cut into a large block. A special tool with a wire is then used to cut a thin layer from the block of clay. The layer is wrapped around a wooden basket that can be turned on its own axis. By turning the basket the layer of clay is being softened with another tool and unecessary edges cut off. Finally the basket is removed and the circular layer of clay left to dry. After drying the layer can be folded and will break into 4 pieces of Yin and Yang tiles. The tiles are burnt in an oven and are finally ready to sell.

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