Tea pot collector from Vietnam

Some of Vu's teapots collection

Thai Nguyen, Vietnam :

Mong Nong Vu, the tea collector was born and raised in dinh Hoa district, in a province celebrated for its tea Thai Ngu Yen. For mong Nong Vu, tea time has lasted nearly half of his life, he have collection around 300 teapots in various shapes and sizes , some 800 years old.

Vu has spent years researching and collecting the crockery, as well as drinking tea of course. Sometimes he wants a piece so badly, he is willing to fork out a sum ten times his monthly salary.

His job as director of the provincial Centre of Culture and Information, gives him the ideal conditions to pursue his obsession.

"These teapots show that since our ancestors' time, Vietnamese tea culture was different from Japanese and Chinese," he says, "the tradition still influence modern culture."

One of the gems in his collection is a teapot called Ga Than (Holy Cock), made around 800 years ago under Ly Dynasty. It has an interesting design - shaped like the head of a cock.
Other Vietnamese teapots in the collection date from Ly (1010 - 1225), Tran (1225 - 1400), and Le (1418 - 1788) dynasties, many shaped like dragons and phoenixes.
The collection also include teapots from China (since Song, Ming and Ching dynasty) and some have designs following Japanese style.

With his teapots collection, Vu hopes it will help others understand more about Vietnamese tea culture, and appreciate its beauty and complexity. (Vietnam News)