There are scents that follow a person a very long time. Wood smoke clinging to a jacket, earth after rain, leaf mould under a damp forest canopy. The founder of ZUNGZA is Cam, whose real name is Nguyen Diep An Linh, born in Hoa Binh into a farming family, and those scents are the first part of this story.
In a farming household a child's day is spent outdoors. Cam went into the forest, went to the stream, hunted crabs and snails in the small streams around the house, sat in the evening listening to the grown-ups tell stories, and grew up among the sound of insects and the familiar animals in the garden. The Da River runs through that land, and the Da River hydropower lake is wide and changes colour with the season. A child living beside such a great sheet of water usually learns to sit still very early, before even knowing what to call what they are doing.
Growing up, Cam kept the habit of going. Many journeys the length of Vietnam, a tent in the backpack, camp pitched wherever was flat enough, a fire lit as the light went. In the forest, sitting in meditation, lighting fires, reading, and some sessions simply sitting. Cam says that in the forest the things already in your head appear more clearly, because work, information and crowds stay behind for a while. That habit of going into the forest Cam keeps to this day.
From those journeys to a workshop
ZUNGZA was born from that, out of a wish to bring part of the feeling of the forest back to where people live every day. Our workshop is at no. 31, DM6, Van Phuc craft village, Ha Dong, Hanoi, and this is also where we sell in person.
The first product was candles, then essential oils, reed diffuser oils and perfume. Each piece keeps one direction of scent inspired by the old forest, by the mountains and by the sound of pines, three things Cam met often enough to remember by nose and not only by eye.
A few questions you often send us
Who is the founder of ZUNGZA
Cam, whose real name is Nguyen Diep An Linh, born in Hoa Binh, now runs ZUNGZA with the production workshop in Van Phuc craft village, Ha Dong, Hanoi.
Where does the name ZUNGZA come from
ZUNGZA is read with the meaning Rung Gia, the old forest, tied to Cam's journeys into the forest.
What does ZUNGZA make
Scented candle cinnamon cup, glass jar candles, concrete cup candles, essential oils, reed diffuser oils and perfume, all made in Hanoi.
You can read more on the about page, visit the showroom in Van Phuc craft village, or browse the scented candle ranges.