Việt Nam News

Bird cages are produced at a household of Mojosongo. — VNS Photos Ngoc Duy

An overview of the home workshop. The owner here says the household produces roughly 2,500 cages per month, with prices ranging from 100,000 to 2.5 million rupiah (US$10-250) each.

A man prepares to split bamboo tubes into splints to fashion the cages. Bamboo is available around the village.

A woman carefully arranges the best splints to be used for production.

A cage is varnished as workers put together the finishing touches.

Varnishers often have to work in dusty and polluted conditions.

Young boys clean the cages with abrasive paper.

A craftsman carefully paints a cage support.

The painting process requires a scrupulous and patient worker.

It's also tricky to create decorative patterns on a cage frame.

Products are trimmed by local women. Each worker is paid around 20,000-25,000 rupiah ($2-2.5) a day, according to local tour guide Patrick Orlando.

Painted bird cages are left to fry in a small yard before packing or further work is carried out. The finished products mainly serve domestic demand with many sold in the capital city, Jakarta. Most of their competition comes from Chinese products.