Pure Passion Turns Dark: The Unexpected Dangers of the Wild Turtle Trade
Seeking a companion during quarantine, Khánh*, a 25-year-old Hanoian, bought a baby turtle through a Facebook group.
How the Ghosts of iPhones Past Haunt Vietnam's Low-Income Communities
The current e-waste crisis in Vietnam is one example of global environmental apartheid.
Thi Nguyễn in Snack Attack
Via Curry Packets, Curry Powder Made Its Way From India Into Vietnamese Homes
Step inside the kitchen of any household in Saigon and chances are that you will find one or two ready-made curry powder packets in a cupboard waiting for the family's next weekend treat of cà ri gà (...
Thi Nguyễn in Snack Attack
In Bánh Củ Cải, a Curious Slice of Bạc Liêu's Teochew Heritage
You know a dish is special when it can spark conversation with a stranger on a bus. Halfway through the scrumptious bánh củ cải (radish cake) from our last-minute trip to the market, I shared the othe...
Hidden in the Heart of D5, an Architectural Vestige of 1970s Vietnam-Korea History
For years now, the verdant pine green pavilion in the heart of Hòa Bình Park in District 5 has been a familiar landmark for denizens of Chợ Lớn.
In Remembrance of Saigon Street Calls Past
Drowned out by the noises of modernization, sounds that once served as the background to a simpler time have begun to shrink, and eventually become lost in the wheel of progress. Tiếng rao, or street ...
Khôi Phạm in Rewind
1735 Km, the 2005 Road Trip Romcom That Could Have Been
In 2005, I was in middle school. I had never had a cellphone nor known what the internet was — our home didn’t have ADSL until ninth grade. Life as a fledgling pupil in Saigon revolved around homework...
For Trans Vietnamese, Healthcare Providers Are Respectful, but Red Tape Still Hurts
Vietnam has been increasingly progressive in protecting and promoting LGBT rights. In November 2015, Vietnam made a big milestone when it granted individuals who have changed their gender the right to...
Paul Christiansen in In Plain Sight
An Ode to Saigon’s Chò Nâu Trees
It’s too cold for chò nâu to grow where I’m from, but we still gave it an English name: dipterocarp.
Linh Phạm in Travel
On a Walking Tour, Mulling Over the Glorious Past and Odious Present of Tô Lịch River
We began our journey in front of a bank where the street Trần Nhật Duật turned into Chợ Gạo.
Paul Christiansen in Travel
How a Film Turned a Historic H'Mông Homestead in Hà Giang Into a Tourist Attraction
The photos don’t do it justice. That’s what you’ll often hear from people who visit Hà Giang to cruise its famed highway loop.
Paul Christiansen in Natural Selection
Thanh Long: How Dragon Fruit Proves Beauty Is Only Skin-Deep
Of all my accomplishments in life, my greatest may be the creation of The Banana Line. This is a ranking tool, based on the belief that if all fruits were lined up from worst to best, taking into acco...
The Nocturnal Thrill of Capturing Vietnam's Elegant Fauna in Wildlife Photography
For most people, walking in the jungle at night would sound like a bad idea. A lack of knowledge and many misbeliefs, unfortunately, create bad assumptions about the wilderness after dark. And snakes,...
A Singaporean-Vietnamese Couple Refreshes Hakka Offal Soup With Trứng Cuộn
When my mother, a native of Singapore’s oft-visited Chinatown, described a pork offal soup stall with meatballs that “tasted suspiciously like that vermicelli dish we had in Huế back in 2013,” I knew ...
Khôi Phạm in Quãng 8
Hồ Trâm Anh Writes Music for Those Who Walk City Streets Yearning for the Open Sky
When I begin my interview with Hồ Trâm Anh, a light shower starts sprinkling over Saigon’s overcast maudlin sky. I apologize if any errant pitter-patter might distract our call, but Trâm Anh brushes i...
Paul Christiansen in Natural Selection
Khỉ Vàng: The Shit-Stirrer, Snack Thief, and Petty Criminal of Vietnam's Forests
I’m not a fucking idiot — That’s what I thought while looking at the sign hung from the door of my hotel room in Đà Nẵng.
A Brief History of Paris by Night, the Anchor of Vietnamese Culture Abroad
If home cuisine could satiate exilic tongues that resist strange flavors, art might condole with nostalgic hearts. Paris by Night is one such therapeutic art, or the hallmark of performing arts for Vi...
Losing Myself (and My Work Stress) in the Wacky World of Jazz Dance
Since I started my foray into jazz dance, the most common question I’ve gotten has been “What, you can dance to jazz?”
What Creating a Sign Language App Taught Me About the Hardships of Vietnam's Deaf Community
In neighborhood communities, deaf children are often bullied by their hearing friends, according to my classmate Nguyễn Tài Minh.
Vietnam's Cultural Diversity via 3 Versions of Sọ Dừa in Kinh, Chăm, Raglai Folklore
On Sọ Dừa’s birth certificate, how should one fill in the “ethnic group” field?
Hẻm Gems: The Secret Realm of Good Vibes Behind the Doors of Passengers Cafe
Like any person born after the year 1990, I am chronically affected by the condition of dawdling at a coffee shop for a supposed boost in productivity and “the vibes” when the clock strikes close to a...
Michael Tatarski in Music & Arts
The Curious Subculture of Vietnamese New Wave
You never know where a story idea is going to come from.
Guilt, Mortality, and Hope in 'Khát Vọng Cho Con' by Poet Du Tử Lê
“We are like fruits forcefully ripened, a generation of premature adults, a generation of misery.”— Du Tử Lê.
Michael Tatarski in Loạt Soạt
A Study of the Mekong Through Stories Told on the River
Much like humanity, great systems of the natural world rely on connectivity to thrive.
Ghosts and Other Myths: How Vietnam Celebrates the 7th Lunar Month
In Vietnamese customs, the lunar month of July contains many special days of worship and celebration, with various traditions.
How Exotic Pole Dance Challenges Both Personal Limits and Gender Stereotypes
Flashing flares of neon lights hug the body of a dancer who’s spinning around a pole in the raucous thrum of music and sensuous gasps. In the mind of the average Vietnamese, pole dancing is often asso...
Hẻm Gems: Hide From the Monsoon Rain at Đặng Thị Nhu's Lost & Found Cafe
Lost & Found Café is a newly opened sister establishment to the popular Lost & Found Bar. Both adopt a pre-1975 Saigon vibe that I, as a Gen-Z Saigoneer who is nostalgic for old Saigon, immediate...
In Seattle, a Vietnamese Jewelry Maker Finds Comfort in the Quirky and Queer
The big, bold, and fun accessories with an air of mystique that Đinh Nguyễn Song Khanh and their spouse, Meiyin, create under their brand XYZ reflect their definition of queer fashion in the US, where...
Đom Đóm: Why the Light Is Going Out for Fireflies in Vietnam
Much like their brief existence on Earth, once-common fireflies are quickly disappearing from Vietnam’s natural and oral histories.
Khôi Phạm in Saigon Hẻm Gems
Hẻm Gems: 60 Years of Guangdong-Style Chinese Food at Chợ Cũ's Chuyên Ký
Besides being the “it” place to obtain imported goods, Saigon’s chợ cũ, or Old Market, is also a treasure trove of hidden eateries.
'My Father’s Bàng Tree': A Poem by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
This poem is featured in Volume 1 of In My Ear, Your Voice Still Flickering // Bên tai tôi, giọng người vẫn chờn vờn, a three-part, bilingual collection of works by more than 20 Vietnamese artists and...
The Trio of 7UPPERCUTS Exist for the Love of Punk and One Another
Founded in 2017, 7UPPPERCUTS signifies a new generation of musicians who are teeming with youthful and creative energy. 7UP’s music, filled with the rebellious spirit of punk rock, not only delivers h...
[Video] Vintage VHS Travelogue Takes You to Đà Lạt in 1992
Get ready for a road trip with nostalgia riding shotgun.
Hẻm Gems: Just a Short Walk From Bến Thành, a Hearty Bún Chả for Lunch
In his essay collection Hà Nội 36 Phố Phường (The 36 Streets of Hanoi), Thạch Lam famously writes "Ngàn năm bửu vật đất Thăng Long / Bún chả là đây có phải không?" The couplet compares ...
Searching for the World's Largest Woodpecker Species in Yok Đôn National Park
You first know she’s approaching by the sound of her wings; her broad shadow flashing across the forest floor. Even from far below, her body looks enormous. At half a meter long, she is roughly five t...
Michael Tatarski in Natural Selection
Mangroves: The Everyday Superheroes Protecting Vietnam Against Climate Change
When you think of ways to combat the inevitable ravages of climate change and sea level rise, what comes to mind?
Wind, Sun and the Ocean: The Aerial Thrills of Paragliding Over Đà Nẵng
Paragliding means heaving in a lungful of air, bracing against a gale’s resistance, letting one’s mind ponder the vastness of the ocean below, floating in the middle of the sky, and — for me this time...
Khôi Phạm in Stories
A Letter From Saigoneer
Saigoneers ơi!
Khôi Phạm in Saigon Hẻm Gems
Hẻm Gems: The Dream of the 2010s Is Alive at Pacey Cupcakes
Pick your favorite cupcake flavor; perhaps a pitcher of hot fragrant tea too. Ascend the dizzyingly steep flight of stairs. Mind your head. Tread gently on the wooden attic floor. There your friends a...
Paul Christiansen in Literature
Touching the Infinite: An Interview With Vietnamese Canadian Novelist Kim Thúy
Why pencils are yellow; the connections between the aviation industry, a centuries-old Central American ballgame and sex; the “true” color of goldfish; the reason we never see Buddha peeing; and the g...
Linh Pham in Culture
The Wall, a Costume, and a Nation's Identity: How the First Áo Dài Came to Be
How does a nation represent itself to the world?
Khoi Pham in Natural Selection
A Eulogy for the Last Wild Cọp of Vietnam
The story of Vietnam and cọp is not one where we will come out looking good.
Saigon Postcard No. 29: Nhâm Dần Limps In
Humans adapted to fields, birds to branches... and yet, in Saigon...
A Tale of Two Rượus
The first time I bought rượu, it was from Lang Giang, my tour guide in Sa Pa. We were staying in a Red Dao village known for its rice liquor production, and that night I received three water bottles, ...
Khôi Phạm in Natural Selection
Lêkima: The Flower Worthy of a National Heroine
Don’t you find it bewildering when you have existed for centuries, and are suddenly thrust into stardom due to a small cameo in a nationalist saga?
Pain, Hazard Clique's 'Big Brother,' on the Trio's Formation and Friendship
If you consider yourself acquainted with the local rap and hip-hop scene, you probably have Pain aka Đại Ca P on your listening radar. As one part of the creative trio Hazard Clique, this charismatic ...
Paul Christiansen in Snack Attack
What's the Deal With Cơm Tấm-Flavored Potato Chips?
A quirky legend surrounds the invention of the potato chip, and its identity has only gotten odder over the years.
Saigoneer Podcast: The Demise of the Saigon Tax Center; Old v. New Photos of Vietnam
It's time for the second season of the podcast!
Spending Lockdown With Your Parents: Does Familiarity Breed Contempt?
The recent periods of social distancing have not only created opportunities for families to spend plenty of time together, but also created a lot of mental pressure when members scramble to find perso...
Vietnam Announces New App to Unify All Previous Covid-19 Apps
One app to rule them all.
How Hanoi Residents and Collectives Look out for the City's Most Vulnerable
“He was so happy to be given rice. And he didn’t have a smartphone or anything like that. I felt I had helped someone that really needed help, and I felt very happy about that.”
Linh Pham in Postcards
Hanoi Postcard No. 11: Saddle Chill Time
Who is better at the art of chilling on a motorbike than the xe ôm?
Saigoneer Podcast: Vietnam's Massive Outbreak; Acts of Lockdown Kindness
Take a break from doomscrolling and listen to the first Saigoneer Podcast episode in two months.
On the Idea of Home: Reflections From Another Covid-19 Summer
I’m writing this to remember another Covid summer. Today, Saigon continues the second round of social distancing.
For Vietnam's Millennials, Sneakers Reflect American Ideals, Self-Expression and Nostalgia
My memories of sneakers date back to when I was halfway through 7th grade, when a pair of Chuck Taylor All Star 70’s was given to me by my parents to commemorate my good end-of-semester results. The s...
Paul Christiansen in Natural Selection
Mèo: A Complicated Love Affair
Of all the Asian and Southeast Asian countries that use the animal zodiac, only Vietnam has a cat in place of the rabbit. One theory for why is that while Chinese has a word for rabbit, it also has a ...
Đỗ Trọng Quý's Art Playfully Tells Viewers to 'Get the Hell out of This Place'
Đỗ Trọng Quý’s first solo show in Hanoi at Mo Art Space (136 Hang Trong), “One Endless Summer,” presents 26 of his most recent works during the past year.
Paul Christiansen in Natural Selection
Cây Đa: A Tree That Contains Multitudes
The Aesthetic Yet Functional Role of Shade in the Genome of Vietnam's Modernist Architecture
Since the mid-twentieth century, Vietnamese architecture has started to be made from industrial materials such as concrete, steel, glass, et.. This resulted in Vietnamese modernism, a branch of global...
Saigoneer Podcast: Vietnamese Brands Abroad; TV Show Pitches
The latest Saigoneer Podcast episode is out now!
Saigon's Young Voice Actors Learn There's More to Dubbing Than Pretty Voices
Voice actors are rarely given enough attention, for they are always working behind closed curtains, giving the movie its "life." Nonetheless, many young people continue to be drawn to this nascent car...
Paul Christiansen in Natural Selection
Cầy Mực: A Critter With Popcorn Pee
I won’t bury the lede. If you are wandering Vietnam’s jungles and suddenly get a whiff of an odor that transports you to the entrance of a CineStar movie theatre, don’t ready yourself for another clic...
Saigoneer Podcast: 'Things We Lost to the Water' Author Eric Nguyen
We hope you had a good, safe holiday weekend!
Saigoneer Podcast: Vietnam's Contemporary Coffee Culture and a Street Food Update
A new Saigoneer Podcast episode is now available!
Linh Pham in Culture
Bình Dân Học Vụ, Vietnam's Revolution Against the Enemy of Illiteracy
O tròn như quả trứng gà / ô thì đội mũ, ơ là thêm râu.
Dầu Gió, a Poignant Link Between My Family Legacy and Traditional Medicine
This is an excerpt from Chapter 2 of the book Pills, Teas, and Songs: Stories of Medicine Around the World by Debby Nguyen, republished with permission. Debby's family of pharmacists and doc...
Saigoneer Podcast: 100th Episode Roundtable!
We are 100!
Her Schedule on Saturday
Imagine that on the weekend a splinter flies into your eye and you have to see the doctor.
Paul Christiansen in Literature
How DiaCritics Creates a Platform for Diverse Vietnamese Voices From Abroad
“Vietnamese communities can sometimes/often demand conformity and tradition of people in order to feel a part of things; I have always seen diaCRITICS as an opportunity to trouble the definitions, pus...
Paul Christiansen in Postcards
Saigon Postcard No. 28: Embrace a New Fashion
What if cải lương tuồng cổ costumes became a new trend?
Year in Review: Saigoneer's Picks for Favorite Hẻm Gems, Art (and More) of 2020
In 2019, when the world was not going through a global public health disaster, dining out seemed like the most natural activity in our daily routine. We drank, we relished, we munched, and we bantered...
Paul Christiansen in Postcards
Saigon Postcard No. 27: Santa Claus Is Coming to Quarantine
Vietnam makes no special safety-protocol exceptions for Santa Claus.
Saigoneer Podcast: Vietnamese Christmas Movies and Author Debby Nguyen
Our second-to-last episode of 2020 is here!
Saigoneer Podcast: Saigon's Covid-19 Cluster; Video Games in Vietnam
We're back!
Vietnam's Art Fondling Epidemic and the Online Vigilante Policing It
There are many clumsy shoe prints beyond the foot-high metal boundary, next to a small sign that screams out in all caps: "PLEASE, DON’T TOUCH THE ARTWORK."
Saigoneer Podcast: Street Art in Vietnam; Puppetry Artist Linh Valerie Pham
A new podcast episode is available now!
