Paul Christiansen in In Plain Sight
To Appreciate Tao Đàn More, Study the Park's Past, Present, and Future
Shallow shrub and fern roots tussle to send shoots, tendrils and stalks up and outwards, sprawling across uneven ground and grasping at patches of light. A musky, funky, fetid soil stink emanates from...
Paul Christiansen in Culture
An Argument for Why Võng Should Be a Staple Amenity in Every Home
Everyone should have a võng in their home.
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
Examining the Role of Shame in Building a National Identity via Vietnam's Thinkers
“Shame, rather than pride, can be the basis for national identity… individuals may be motivated to move their country in a desirable direction when national shame outweighs pride.”
Paul Christiansen in Travel
Art, Flowers Bloom at Huế’s Hidden Museum, Lebadang Memory Space
People often think that art is distant and difficult to appreciate, but a garden is different; everyone knows how to admire a flower.
Paul Christiansen in Literature
5 Books by Vietnamese Authors Centered on Strong Female Protagonists
Literature, more than any other art form, allows people an intimate vantage point from which to witness the experiences, emotions, and thoughts of individuals drastically different from themselves. Bo...
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
In 'Water: A Chronicle,' Nguyễn Ngọc Tư Wades Into the Mekong via Vignettes
“When you’ve lived to a certain age, you don’t ask whether or not something is true, you ask which truth it is.”
Paul Christiansen in Vietnam
How to Spot a Traveling Vietnamese at the Airport? Boxes With Sharpied Names.
“If you know, you know.”
I Know Where the Caged Bird Sings: The Joy of Saigon's Birdsong Competition
One by one, motorbikes arrived, carrying the tell-tale cages covered with cloth and parked in the gravel lot beside the coffee shop where Saigoneer sat listening to the caged birds suspended above a p...
Paul Christiansen in Saigon
The Saigon Post Office, Benjamin Franklin, and a Source of Unexpected Pride
It’s not hard to find snippets of America in Saigon.
Paul Christiansen in Culture
Are We Living in the Final Days of Cô Mía?
They say a person dies twice: once when their heart stops beating and a second time when people stop mentioning their name. If we alter this phrase a bit to include the last time one’s image is seen, ...
Paul Christiansen in Dishcovery
Saigon's Most Famous Cua Rang Me Is a Tangy Tamarind Party
It started with tamarind, and ended with crab.
Paul Christiansen in Culture
Via Webcomics About Sơn Đoòng, Hai Bà Trưng, a Link to Vietnam Across the Ocean
An enormous chim Lạc snatches Mai from her school library in the present day and lifts her high above Sa Pa more than 2,000 years ago.
Paul Christiansen in Natural Selection
One Nation's Beloved Cá Lóc Is Another Nation's Horror Movie
America has been losing its shit over snakeheads. All summer long my algorithm-led newsfeed has been alerting me to ominous headlines including “‘Horror movie’ snakehead fish that can slither on land ...
Paul Christiansen in Environment
An Octopus? In My Cà Mau Swamp? It's More Likely Than You Think.
Worms live in the ground, birds live in the air, cá lóc live in lakes and octopuses live in the ocean, right? Wrong! Octopus can also live in the river.
Paul Christiansen in Environment
In Awe of the Mekong Delta's Majestic Sluice Gates
A row of impenetrable watchtowers tasked with inflicting ruthless law and order upon a dystopian borderland seething with marauders, bandits and brigands? No. Sluice gates.
Paul Christiansen in Food Culture
Into the Beguiling Backyard Rice Wine Distilleries of Long An
The highway eases into sand and gravel the way history descends into myth and legend when traveling towards Long An. A mere 27 kilometers outside of Saigon, the province feels a world away: the differ...
Paul Christiansen in Architecture
The Pedestrian Bridge That Teaches You the Values of Patience
“We need the sweet pain of anticipation to tell us we are really alive.”
Paul Christiansen in Ton-sur-Ton
Easybadwork's Free Spirits Are Rooted in Nature and the Underground
A sparrow swooping across a special-edition can of Coca-Cola, the illustrations featured in the artworks of Ngọt's Grammy-nominated album boxset, or perhaps even the tattoo on a stranger you pass on t...
Paul Christiansen in Vietnam
Revisiting the Coats of Arms of Vietnam's Major Cities Under French Rule
Did you know that several Vietnamese cities have coats of arms?
Paul Christiansen in Music & Arts
Get to Know the Dynamic Local Art Scene Alongside 'Saigon Art Journey'
“This is not a tour, remove that word from your minds. This is an interacting and exploring journey,” explained Angeline Gong, an experienced art host known by Saigon’s artists and galleries as Z-Gong...
Paul Christiansen in Literature
These 5 Vietnamese Poems Pay Homage to the Complexities of Local Fruits
Fruit and poetry: the two things I love most.
Paul Christiansen in Food Culture
Banana Is a Paragon of Neutrality. I Propose Using It as a Metric to Rank All Fruits.
Line up all the world’s fruits, best to worst, taking into account every rateable aspect imaginable including taste, appearance, price, reliability and seasonality — the banana rests at the exact midd...
Paul Christiansen in Dishcovery
We Should Offer Gỏi Măng Cụt a Full-Time Position in Saigon's Food Scene
The mangosteen salad trend hit TikTok in 2023, creating a demand that led locals to quit their jobs and take on more lucrative full-time fruit-peeling duties.
Paul Christiansen in Travel
The Curious Case of Quy Hoà Leprosy Colony's Park of Busts
A delightfully bizarre place, Quy Nhơn’s Quy Hoà leprosy colony deserves exploration in full, but clustered in a grove of trees on its outskirts in Nhân Ái Park stands a particularly peculiar assembla...
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
'Longings' Brings 22 Stories by Vietnamese Female Writers to the World
Where are all the female writers?
Paul Christiansen in Culture
An Ode to Photo Booths, the Korean Trend Preserving Our Memories in Time
How can photo booths be a new trend if they’ve been around forever?
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
Social Commentary, Empathy in Nguyễn Quang Thân's Short Story Collection
Nguyễn Quang Thân passed away on March 4, 2017, several weeks before I moved to Saigon. So of course I never met him, but I feel like I know him. My first introduction was via An Insignificant Family,...
Paul Christiansen in Music & Arts
At Bùi Chát's Painting Exhibition, a Freedom to Feel Without Preconceptions
Contemporary art can intimidate viewers. People often think they need familiarity with certain histories, theories, philosophies and biographies to appreciate a painting. I have friends who do not hav...
Paul Christiansen in Environment
Charting the Flow of the Nhiêu Lộc Canal From Start to Historical Start
When I fall in love with an album, I seek out the artist's first mixtapes and demos. When I come to admire a poet, I hunt down their early poems and chapbooks. I even linger over the old highlight ree...
Paul Christiansen in Literature
How Nam Cao Almost Ruined My Favorite Canal Cafe
Spoilers for an 80-year-old story that every student in the nation is required to read: the dog dies, the old man dies, his son's misfortunes show no sign of abetting. Simply, misery abounds at the en...
Paul Christiansen in In Plain Sight
On a Boat Ride Through Nhiêu Lộc Canal, a Fish's-Eye View of Saigon
Could your life in Saigon be made into a quirky indie film?
Paul Christiansen in Saigon
The Nhiêu Lộc-Thị Nghè Canal's Comeback Story
Water has no hometown.
Paul Christiansen in Saigon
Our Toxic Relationship With Saigon Traffic: A Diagnosis
There is no way to describe Saigon traffic literally and have it understood by someone who has not experienced it.
Paul Christiansen in Environment
An Homage to the Mekong Delta and Its Bag-Wearing Fruits
Rats, mice, mosquitos, snakes, centipedes, caterpillars, snails, beetles and slugs: the more fertile a region is, the more pests inhabit it.
Paul Christiansen in Music & Arts
On Warmly Welcoming the Whimsy of Wonky Tết Zodiac Statues
Every Tết arrives accompanied by netizens sharing collections of poorly constructed statues of the year’s zodiac animal. Viewing the online collections with colleagues is one of my favorite holid...
Paul Christiansen in Culture
It's Tết: The Liberating Magic of Using Tết as an Excuse for Everything
I hate excuses.
Paul Christiansen in Natural Selection
Crickets Are More Than Just Chirpy Reminders of Our Childhood
Cricket song. You read the words and immediately hear the chirping. That thrilling trill of strummed air. Humans have been hearing that quivering echo since we first came into existence. And over...
Paul Christiansen in Music & Arts
The Haunting Beauty in Một Mét Studio's Vintage Photography Experiments
“With the wet collodion process, when you get your portrait shot, it really cannot lie; it really reveals the story of your life on your face. You will see through your make-up, through the tattoos; t...
Paul Christiansen in Saigon
Did You Know That There's a Mummy on Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm Boulevard?
Why is there a mummy on display in Saigon?
Paul Christiansen in Dishcovery
A Flaky Pâté Chaud That's Been a Saigon Institution Since 1930
It took me 37 years to have my first pâté chaud.
Paul Christiansen in Saigon Hẻm Gems
Hẻm Gems: From Cà Mau, Cô Xíu Brings Bánh Tầm Cà Ri Cay to Bình Thạnh
Recently, I’ve had the Mekong Delta on the mind. This month I made two trips down to research various elements of the watery region, and also spent time reading author Khải Đơn’s tremendous delta-focu...
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
Khải Đơn's Poetry Debut Won't Shy Away From the Mekong Delta's Untold Complexities
Environmental devastation, irresponsible development, economic imperilment, social ills, war legacies and the abandonment of cultural traditions and connections: these multifaceted, interconnected rea...
Paul Christiansen in Film & TV
Meet DeeDee, the Studio Behind Netflix Docuseries 'How to Become a Cult Leader'
With a frantic, rabid fury flickering in his eyes, Charles Manson swerves through technicolor 1960s Hollywood streets, the passengers in his convertible terrified by the crazed maneuvering of a man wh...
Paul Christiansen in In Plain Sight
Shrimp Fishing in Thanh Đa Is Fun Even When You Don't Catch Anything
If it weren’t for shrimps, developing taste buds would have been an outrageous waste of evolutionary time and resources. Truly, without the potential for boiled, grilled, fried, baked or even raw shri...
Paul Christiansen in Natural Selection
An Ode to Lục Bình, Vietnam's Invasive, Destructive, Beautiful Aquatic Jerk
Knotted gnarls of lush stems, leaves, vines; a verdant scrimmage of tangled plant matter kept afloat by buoyant bladders accented by pleats of pink petals that resemble the skirts of ballerinas trappe...
Paul Christiansen in Music & Arts
In Huế, an Interdisciplinary Exhibition Opens Literal and Metaphorical Doors
“I cannot stop opening doors,” Phan Lê Hà said in regard to the physical objects that reappear throughout her creative works.
Paul Christiansen in Environment
Vignette: Local Ox Rampages Airport, Stops Flights, Gets Put in Museum in Huế
Name a famous buffalo.
Paul Christiansen in Environment
Vignette: Behold Vietnam's Oldest Rock, a Memento Mori of Human Insignificance
While lamenting how long it had been since I’d last sent a postcard, a coworker at Saigoneer revealed that she is too young to have ever seen a stamp in person, let alone affixed one to a letter. The ...
Paul Christiansen in Travel
Vignette: On the North-South Train, a Pastiche of the Human Condition
“Heavy with the thick smell of misery and before even leaving the station, the odor of urine would be palpable throughout the car,” writes author Dạ Ngân of the North-South Train in 1989. Back then, a...
Paul Christiansen in Literature
In Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai's New Novel, Saigon's Rhythms Hum in the Background
“I’m always homesick for Vietnam. To write is to return home. That's why I had to bring Vietnam alive onto the pages. I had to hear the people speak, I had to listen to the music, to the language; I h...
Paul Christiansen in Dishcovery
A Simple Americano Goes a Long Way at Quy Nhơn's Lone Coffee Roaster
Saigon is spoiled with cafes. In addition to the street stalls hawking cheap phin coffee, international chains and charming mom-and-pop shops, the last decade has seen a proliferation of third-wave ve...
Paul Christiansen in Culture
Vignette: How Bình Định's Nón Ngựa Gave Me Hope for the Tourism Industry
In 1964, when Đỗ Văn Lan was only 14 years old, a group of American soldiers spent six months at his family’s Bình Định home learning how to make nón ngựa. Once he learned that I am American, he told ...
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
'The Chosen and the Beautiful,' a Queer, Magical, Asian American Gatsby Remix
“The Great Gatsby, but with an Asian American narrator and some of the characters are queer and there’s magic.” This is a fine elevator explanation for The Chosen and the Beautiful.
Paul Christiansen in Music & Arts
Art Exhibition 'Ngẫu Biến' Invites Viewers to Find Their Own Meaning
“When you write, you go inside yourself, when you paint, you go outside,” said poet and painter ng. anhan.
Paul Christiansen in Saigon
The Simple Pleasures of Kite-Flying in Thủ Thiêm
One of the most elegant means to observe the textured heft and untethered strength of otherwise-invisible wind — there is plenty one could say about the poetry of flying kites.
Paul Christiansen in Dishcovery
Nem Cuốn Is the Refreshing Rolls We Need in Saigon’s Sweltering Summers
Even during the summer, when the sun bares its teeth and snarls at passing clouds, one must eat. But lugging a belly stuffed with hot, heavy soup, rice and meat through days devoid of shade sounds hor...
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.
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
A Memoir Ruminates on Saigon in the Now and via Childhood Memories
Born in Saigon in 1977, Tuan Phan and his parents left for America via boat in 1986. Remembering Water includes depictions of the voyage including lengthy stops in refugee camps followed by acclimatio...
As Science Advances and Stigma Fades, Quy Hòa Leprosy Village Seems Frozen in Place
Many of the images conjured by the word leprosy (bệnh phong) can be unsettling to some. Yet, the misunderstood disease exposes the capacity for human care and empathy. Quy Nhơn’s Quy Hoà lep...
Paul Christiansen in Vietnam
In Bình Định, a Museum Retells Nguyễn Huệ's Glorious Life via Vivid Murals
About 45 kilometers from downtown Quy Nhơn stands the Quang Trung Museum (Bảo tàng Quang Trung), one of Vietnam’s finest museums.
Paul Christiansen in Vietnam Hẻm Gems
Hẻm Gems: Quy Nhơn's Unique Take on Bánh Khọt and Peanut Sauce
You’ve probably never had bánh khọt like this before.
Paul Christiansen in In Plain Sight
Notes From the Hiking Trail to Catch the Morning Sun in Quy Nhơn
Do you prefer a view of the beach or mountains?
Paul Christiansen in Travel
Vignette: Letters to Hàn Mặc Tử
Quy Nhơn residents mentioned Hàn Mặc Tử with great pride and reverence whenever I mentioned enjoying reading and writing poems.
Paul Christiansen in Travel
An Awe-Inspiring Bird's-Eye View of Bình Định's Chăm Towers
What if memories were not collections of chemicals and electrical impulses stored in the fleshy recesses of a mind, but physical objects made of brick and stone?
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
Bảo Ninh's English-Language Return and the Magic of Mundane Moments
Of all 20th-century Vietnamese authors whose works were translated into English, none have received more high-profile attention than Bảo Ninh for his wartime novel Nỗi buồn chiến tranh (The ...
Paul Christiansen in Natural Selection
The Ugly Truth of the Life and Impending Demise of the Hoàn Kiếm Turtle
Everyone knows the mythological story of the Hoàn Kiếm turtle.
Paul Christiansen in Saigon
Vignette: For Cafe 81 and the '404 Not Found' Places of Our Lives
We all have them.
Paul Christiansen in Saigon Hẻm Gems
Hẻm Gems: Cà Phê Sữa and Cơm Tấm With a Side of Espionage History
Kimchi is not a common cơm tấm accouterment. The extra helping of chili pepper heat, palate-cleansing bitterness and cabbage leaf crunch doesn't taste out of place beside a fully loaded plate of broke...
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...
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
The Fraught Human-Earth Dynamics in 'Revenge of Gaia,' a Collection of Vietnamese Eco-Fiction
Stories focusing on the natural world and humanity’s relationships with the environment existed before the term eco-literature became popular in the west in the 1970s, but since its coinage, writers a...
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.
Paul Christiansen in Culture
Need a Sign From the Universe? Lương Hữu Khánh Street Has Every Color, Shape, and Size.
Saigon is filled with addresses you aren’t looking for, announcements not aimed at you and signs for businesses you have no plans to frequent. Sign street demands delving into the oft-ignored.
Paul Christiansen in Culture
In Đà Nẵng, a Vintage Money Aficionado Forgoes Professorship for Life in the Night Market
What gives one’s life meaning? For some, it’s faith, family or art. For Trần Văn Nam, it’s money, but not in the way you probably imagine.
Paul Christiansen in Vietnam Hẻm Gems
Hẻm Gems: In Đà Nẵng, Bánh Xèo Bà Dưỡng's Sauce Is Good Enough to Drink
The secret is the sauce. And the sauce is a secret. The owners of Đà Nẵng’s Bánh Xèo Bà Dưỡng refuse to reveal the recipe for the rich, meaty, and multi-faceted sauce that falls somewhere between hex ...
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
'Bronze Drum,' an Entertaining, TV-Ready Reimagining of the Legend of Hai Bà Trưng
Turning a beloved but brief legend based on scant historical evidence into a page-turning novel is no easy task. But Phong Nguyen’s book Bronze Drum succeeds in depicting the upbringing and rebel...
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
Thuận’s Novel 'Chinatown' Targets the Tedium of Migration
Vĩnh, born in Hanoi to a Vietnamese mother who studied in the Soviet Union and teaches English in France, and an ethnically Chinese father raised in Hanoi but now working in Chợ Lớn, dreams of the day...
Paul Christiansen in Natural Selection
The Prehistoric Permanence of Cá Sấu, Vietnam's Farmed Predator
I’ve always hated cá sấu. Not because they’ve threatened my safety or had any real impact on my life whatsoever, but simply because they survived. When a meteor cratered into Earth 66 million years ag...