Xuân Phương

in Hanoi

In Suburban Hanoi, With Summer Comes the Red-Purple Cascade of Mulberries

In suburban Hanoi, this is the season when mulberry branches heavy with bright red fruits dangle in the summer wind.

in Saigon

After Saigon Police Bust Major Pet Theft Ring, the City Rallies to Help Care for 400 Cats

After an extended investigation, the Hồ Chí Minh City Police Department has busted a major cat theft and distribution ring that operated across multiple southern provinces.

in Saigon

A Visit to Lê Minh Xuân, a Rare Craft Village Making Incense Sticks Amid Saigon

From inside the workshop, artisans carry bundle after bundle of freshly made incense sticks into the courtyard amid the morning mist. A gentle scent of spices linger in the air.

in Saigon

As Thanh Đa Faces Redevelopment, Writer Dạ Ngân Reflects on What Will Be Lost

To me, my trip to Cư xá Thanh Đa in summer 1982 was a serendipitous encounter. It was Saigon’s largest-scale residential complex in the first half of the 1970s, with nearly 4,000 separate units housing about 50,000 inhabitants. Cư xá refers to a residential quarter reserved for gainfully employed citizens, with a vision to establish a model community with a high quality of life. Here, in their three-bedroom apartments, civil servants, professors, doctors, and military leaders ranked major or higher lived in pride of being a part of a cư xá like that.

Uyên Đỗ

in Saigon

How Saigon's Free Water Coolers Quench Thirst and Spread Kindness

In recent years, stories about climate change's impacts on the lives of Vietnamese people have been increasingly making the news.

in Saigon

Inside the Covid Memorial Park at 1 Lý Thái Tổ, Saigon's Brand-New Green Space

As part of Saigon’s latest initiative to increase green space coverage in the city, a number of abandoned land plots were converted into public parks, including a Covid Memorial Park that’s become a beloved destination for Saigoneers seeking a space to jog, reflect, or just simply touch grass.

Uyên Đỗ

in Saigon

All Aboard Bus 146, Home of Plushies, Rubber Chickens and a Side of Humanity

“Cute” doesn’t seem like a fitting descriptor for any mode of public transport, but a bus in Saigon is driving straight into the heart of Saigoneers for being the quintessence of “smotheringly adorable.”

in Saigon

Saigon Set to Make Bus Service Free for All to Cut Congestion, Air Pollution

Saigoneers without private vehicles might be happy to hear that the city is planning to make the municipal bus system free to ride in the near future.

Back Stories

in Saigon

[Photos/Video] Saigon Floods Aren't Over Yet

After Tuesday evening's epic rainstorm (sort of) subsided, Saigon began its return to normal. Traffic jams dissipated, floodwaters receded and we all invested in a good raincoat or, at the very l...

in Vietnam

Uber Launches Free Rides for Drinkers

We've all swung by the bar for a quick happy hour cocktail and, several hours and many drinks later, realized that it's 11 o'clock and we somehow have to get home.

in Vietnam

Thai Nguyen Woman Heals People By Walking On Their Bare Bums

A woman in northern Thai Nguyen province who claims to be a healer is drawing as many as 600 patients to her doorstep everyday with some pretty unorthodox techniques.

in Vietnam

Morning News Roundup: Economists Deny Prediction About Additional 2% VND Devaluation

Economists deny prediction about additional 2% VND devaluation [Vietnam Net] Over 84% of population to have health insurance by 2020 [VOV] Rivers in Ha Noi seriously polluted [Vietnam News]

in Vietnam

Ha Tinh Officials Reprimanded For Not Drinking Bia Sai Gon

Seven Ha Tinh officials are in hot water after they were caught violating the province’s administrative recommendation that government employees consume only locally-produced Bia Sai Gon.

in Vietnam

[Photos] Saigon Turns Into Swimming Pool After Torrential Downpour

No matter where you were yesterday afternoon, chances are you felt the effects of the torrential downpour that turned up just as you were about to head home from work.

in Vietnam

Morning News Roundup: Vietnam To Allow Firms To Make Military Uniforms For Other Countries

Vietnam's economy likely to lag behind neighbors in 20 years: report [Thanh Nien] Airfares in Vietnam expected to drop with new pricing rule [Thanh Nien] Power prices stable for 2015 [Vietnam News]

in Vietnam

Man Fined VND3 Million After Letting His 6-Year-Old Son Drive Truck

Police in Quang Ninh province have fined the parents of a six-year-old boy VND3 million for permitting their son to drive a truck.

in Vietnam

[Video/Photos] Planes Grounded As Tropical Storm Rages In Central Vietnam

Nearly 30 flights were cancelled yesterday morning as tropical storm Vamco approached central Vietnam. Travelers departing from or heading to Danang found themselves stranded as wind speeds in the cit...

in Vietnam

Morning News Roundup: Nearly $8 Billion Invested In HCM City’s Eastern Region

Ha Noi departments face large budget cuts [Vietnam News] Clean water prices to increase [Vietnam News] Vietnam Airlines named among Top 10 most improved airlines [DTI]

in Saigon

Another Plane Damaged After Stair Car Collision at Tan Son Nhat

If you think the streets of Saigon are dangerous, just be thankful you're not driving at the airport. In the latest of a series of vehicle collisions, a stair car drove into the left wing of a Jetstar...

in Vietnam

Homemade Bomb Kills One, Injures Three In Hanoi

An explosion rocked Hanoi's Dong Da District last Friday evening when a homemade bomb went off inside a four-storey house.

in Vietnam

[Photos] Fish Are Suffocating in the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe Canal

Last week, following an afternoon of heavy rain, social media users captured the sight of thousands of tilapia fish gasping for breath in the murky waters of the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe Canal. 

in Vietnam

Weekend News Roundup: Cash Banned For Foreigners' Property Trade In Vietnam

HCM City seeks Japanese loans for two metro projects [VOV] Vietnam’s online advert market explodes [VOV] Da Nang to dredge Han River for international yacht race [SGGP]

in Vietnam

American Singer Gets Backlash for Commenting on Litter in Vietnam

Drive around town and you're guaranteed to run into at least a few signs encouraging Saigonese to keep things xanh – sạch – đẹp, or green, clean and beautiful. The city sidewalks, however, hold more t...

in Vietnam

Morning News Roundup: Vietnamese Green Technologies Market Forecast To Experience USD50 Billion Growth By 2030

Ministry proposes increase to special consumption tax [DTI] Vietnam's transport development in a mess [Vietnam Net] Downpours submerge southern Vietnamese localities, some areas under 1.5m of water ...

in Vietnam

[Video] Vietnam Is World Shuttlecock Champion 8 Times In A Row

It's official: Vietnam is the best in the world at kicking shuttlecocks.

in Asia

Chinese Developer Builds Villas On Shopping Mall Roof

In many of Asia's ever-expanding cities, that availability of prime real estate is increasingly rare. So what do you do when you've run out of good locations? Build your house atop a shopping mall, of...

in Vietnam

Hanoi Street Gets, Loses Unusual Name

Ướp lạnh, or chilled, is a welcome word in Vietnamese. Drive down the street on a hot day and even the phrase bia ướp lạnh is a divine sense of relief. There aren’t, after all, many things better than...

in Vietnam

Tiger Bites Off Woman’s Arm In Central Vietnam, Zoo Tries To Cover It Up

A woman in Nghe An province is missing her arm after it was bitten off by a tiger in a central Vietnam zoo late last month.