1. General Information 2. Climate & Weather 3. People & Culture 4. Local Customs 5. Currency 6. Things to Know 7. Visas & Passports 8. Customs Regulations 9. Travel to the Country 10. Travel Within the Country 11. Camping 12. Dining & Drinking 13. Entertainment 14. Phone Numbers 15. Visitor Information 16. Useful Phrases 1. […]
Read MoreVietnam Information
Vietnamese Traditional Clothing
People in Vietnam wear cotton clothes. Styles differ in northern and southern Vietnam. Many people wear sandals made of old tire rubber(North). (South) Many men and women wear western styled clothing. Some women still wear the traditional au dai. In most rural areas women wear loose white-shirts with skirts. Men in rural areas wear western […]
Read MoreVietnamese Names
Vietnamese personal names are usually composed of three elements appearing in the following order: first, the family or clan name (ho), such as Nguyen, Tran, Le, etc.;second, the middle name(chu dem or chu lot). ‘cushion world,’ such as Van, Dinh, Huu, etc,; and third, the personal or given name (ten). Example: Nguyen Van Nam, in […]
Read MoreSuperstition in Vietnam
Saigon – What is the best way to keep a child healthy? An old Vietnamese grandfather believes the charm of a certain necklace wards off evil spirits and he may give it to his grandson to protect the boy. An employee fails to show up for work on the third day of the lunar month […]
Read MoreVietnamese Religions
Religion has exerted a deep influence on Vietnamese culture and the Vietnamese concept of life. The attitude towards life, death, and the world beyond bears a deep imprint of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. Buddhism The predominant religion in Vietnam is Buddhism, which is also on of the world’s great religions. Buddhism was introduced into Vietnam […]
Read MoreThe ‘Other’ Vietnamese Flag
Like the Stars and Stripes, the Vietnamese flags is laden with symbolism and historical meaning, which makes Vietnamese American feel a great emotional bond with its “colors”. Visit any Little Saigon around the world, and one is likely to see a flag displaying “three horizontal red stripes on a golden yellow background” fluttering proudly against […]
Read MoreVietnamese Ethnic Groups
Vietnam is a multi-nationality country with 54 ethnic groups. The Viet (Kinh) people account for 87% of the country’s population and mainly inhabit the Red River delta, the central coastal delta, the Mekong delta and major cities. The other 53 ethnic minority groups, totalling over 8 million people, are scattered over mountain areas (covering two-thirds […]
Read MoreVietnamese Culture
Four great philosophies and religions have shaped the spiritual life of the Vietnamese people: Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism and Christianity. Over the centuries, Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism have melded with popular Chinese beliefs and ancient Vietnamese animism to form what is known as Tam Giao(or `Triple Religion’). The Vietnamese language (kinh) is a hybrid of Mon-Khmer, […]
Read MoreCultural Differences
Learning the cultural differences between Westerners and Vietnamese (From the Vietnamese point of view) Western Vietnamese Affection 1. Touching between people of the same sex is not acceptable It is quite acceptable. One can see two men or women in the street holding hands 2. A man and a woman may hold hands […]
Read MoreVietnam Human Rights Report 2007
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – 2007Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and LaborMarch 11, 2008 The Socialist Republic of Vietnam, with a population of approximately 84 million, is an authoritarian state ruled by the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV). The CPV’s constitutionally mandated primacy and the continued occupancy of all key government […]
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