Mang Thit Brick Kilns

The Mang Thit district in Vinh Long made bricks and pottery from the clay of the delta for around a century, and at its height something in the order of a thousand round beehive kilns stood along the canals, fired with rice husk - a working landscape of red domes reflected in the water. Cheaper industrial brick and tighter emissions rules ended most of it, and the majority are now cold, some collapsing and some demolished. The province has been developing a plan to keep the surviving kilns as a heritage landscape with tourism attached, which is not yet settled, and how many remain depends on when you go.

What's there

• Round beehive kilns along canals - once about a thousand of them.
• Fired with rice husk - the delta's fuel.
• Most of them cold now - after industrial brick took the market.
• A heritage plan not yet settled - the number falling meanwhile.

When to go

November to April, the dry season. Half a day.

Things to know

Many kilns are ruined or gone and the landscape thins each year. Access is informal, along canal roads and by hired boat. There is no visitor infrastructure. Working kilns are few.

Nearby

Vinh Long is north-west; Cai Be floating market is upstream.