I remember it was midday when we went to visit the place, seems that all went for their lunch break. Only few staff were there so I thought to walk around and do some photos.
It's really an interesting village to see when in Chiang Mai. Here, you will see handcraft umbrellas that was beautifully coloured works of art, as well as fans (Chinese-style hand fans that is). The artwork is beautiful and fascinating to watch. I would plan to spend 1-2 hours here, watching and learning.
I dig in a bit about the Bo Sang's umbrella and I found that the traditional umbrellas are made from Saa paper (processed from mulberry bark) and the only information I could find on the history of Bo Sang’s umbrella making indicates that a wandering Thai monk brought the process to his town (Bo Sang) from Burma and the locals embraced the art, making umbrellas in the fall once field work is done for the season. The umbrellas are used as parasols in the sun and even as rain umbrellas because they’re coated with special oils to protect the paper.
This area of Chiang Mai is famous for handcrafted and painted umbrellas and fans, as well as the making of a handmade paper called saa paper. According to our tour guide, this factory was visited by HRH Princess Diana in 1988 alongside the famous Shinawatra Thai Silk factory nearby.
Just after walking around the area of designing the umbrellas. I went to approached one artist who's doing the paint designs. I was so amazed by the skill of the artist - he painted an intricate butterfly with blue flowers design on my umbrella and it took him for about 15 minutes.
Awesome, isn't? Now, im looking forward to join their festival.
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