Postcard-Ready Vintage Album Highlights a Lonesome Hanoi in the 1920s
Looking at past albums of our cities today, I’m always stricken by a bewildering vastness — every street, every square, every building seemed to have been constructed in a ghost town, serving lonesome phantoms and nonchalant horse-drawn wagons.
French Illustrated Encyclopedia Paints the Slices of Vietnam Life in the 1900s
"To effectively govern colonial peoples, the foremost requirement is a thorough understanding of the very people one rules over," so believed Paul Doumer, the second Governor-General of French Indochina, who spent his career imposing the imperial French government's agenda on studying the culture of their colonized subjects.
Portrait of a Jubilant Saigon on the Precipice of Tết in 1992
Tết in 1992 was an especially fortuitous time to be a foreign arrival to Saigon.
In 1992 Vietnam, the Streets Were Brimming With Love and Life
How has your life been transformed in the past 30 years? Changes might materialize overnight, but some tend to creep up on you at a glacial pace. Through this collection of images from 1992, mull over how Vietnam as a country has grown with every 12-month cycle.
Vintage French Book Illustrations Depict a Quaint Indochina in 1903
In this rare collection of images from 1903 Indochina, life in the peninsula appears as if in a dream, with rows of colonial-style houses in between heritage trees and natural landscapes that weren’t interrupted by concrete.
Did You Know That There's a Mummy on Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm Boulevard?
Why is there a mummy on display in Saigon?
Tàu Cánh Ngầm: The Curious Case of Saigon’s Lost Soviet Hydrofoils
Not long ago, hulking “creatures” glided atop the waters between Saigon and Vũng Tàu. Like the dinosaurs that came before them, they slowly disappeared, until all that was left were their skeletons.
Relive Your Memories of Saigon Water Park via These Photos by One of Its Makers
Although water parks involve a combination of two of the most tedious human experiences, standing in lines and prolonged direct sun exposure, the now-demolished Saigon Water Park was an icon of 2000s Saigon that remains a crucial cornerstone of many city dwellers' memories.
[Photos] The Frenetic Energy of 1960s Chợ Lớn
Comic books and bread, cigarettes and rickshaw rides: Saigon has always reveled in the exchange of goods and services for money.
[Photos] Fly Over Vietnam in the 1930s via These Rare Black-and-White Shots
What if you had a time machine and traveled 90 years into the past with a drone?
[Photos] Immerse in the Small-Town Charm of 1960s Vinh Long
Thanks to its tangled snarl of canals, estuaries, streams and rivers, one associates the Mekong Delta with boats.
[Photos] The Arduous Pilgrimage to Chùa Hương Over 30 Years Ago
Every year, with the arrival of spring comes a grand journey.
These Rare Paintings Depict Life in Vietnam in the 17th and 18th Centuries
Now we can envision Vietnam well before the advent of photography.
[Photos] 20 Photos of Life in Vietnam in 1966–1967
Motorbikes and buffalo carts, marching bands and xích lô.
Last Surviving Imperial Maid of Nguyen Dynasty Passes Away at 102
An important historical figure of the Nguyen Dynasty has left us this week.
[Photos] A Sepia-Toned Tour of 1902 Saigon
Long before Saigon became a maelstrom of motorbikes zipping past bubble tea shops, convenience stores, and cellphone sellers, it was a sleepy town where sampan boats cluttered placid canals, locals sn...
[Photos] A Glimpse of Turn-of-the-Century Indochina
France didn't colonize Vietnam overnight.
[Photos] Getting Lost in Traffic on Late 1960s Chau Van Liem Boulevard
Old photos of Vietnam and cheese: two things you can never too much of.
[Photos] How Did Hanoians Enjoy Tết in 1955?
With Tết less than a month away, now is probably the time to ramp up shopping trips, cleaning tasks and home decoration efforts.
Cột Cờ Thủ Ngữ: Overlooked Saigon Landmark Gets a Makeover
Flanked by a busy road and overshadowed by an unfinished skyscraper, you'd be forgiven if you rarely noticed the Signal Mast (Cột cờ Thủ Ngữ) where Ton Duc Thang and Vo Van Kiet streets intermingle.&n...
[Photos] Black-and-White Shots Depict Quotidian Details of 19th-Century Vietnam
These black-and-white shots are among the highest-quality documentation attempts of Vietnam at the end of the 19th century.
[Photos] The Saigon Zoo's Enduring Serenity in the 1970s
Over the years, Saigon has changed as drastically as a flounder undergoing a metamorphosis that transfers its eyes from one side of its face to the other.
[Photos] The Maritime Idyll of 1965 Phan Thiet
Before it became a weekend destination for workweek-weary Saigoneers, Phan Thiet was an austere fishing town.
[Photos] An Idyllic Slice of 1957 Cambodian Life
Vietnam isn't the only country in the region to change dramatically over the last several decades.
[Photos] The Small-Town Charm of Vung Tau in the 1960s
From remembering fond memories with loved ones to selling products and even gaining clues to a grisly crime, photos have many uses.
[Photos] Views of 1993 Vietnam From Behind the Lens of a Past War Orphan
I have been carrying this film around for over a quarter-century from Hanoi to Saigon to Boston and to New York.
[Photos] Black-and-White Shots of Hanoi Street Scenes From 1940
For thousands of years, streets have served a multitude of purposes.
[Photos] A Collection of Illusory Saigon Nightscapes From 1938
A rare glimpse into colonial Saigon after sunset.