Composer Hoàng Việt and a Radical Romance Across the North-South Border
In a country fractured by ideology, Hoàng Việt's love for his wife Ngọc Hạnh persisted like a secret melody carried across closed borders by weak radio signals, and letters that had to circle the glob...
The Cultural Depths in Contemporary Hip-Hop Dance ‘129BPM: Động Phách Tách Kén’
Have you ever witnessed a live performance so powerful that it still lives in your mind weeks later? “129BPM: Động Phách Tách Kén” is not your usual hip-hop breakdance battle, but a contempo...
WWF-Viet Nam’s “Elements of the Mekong Delta” Networking Dinner Shines a Light on Climate-Resilient Products
As part of a project aimed at empowering communities in the Mekong Delta that are facing serious threats from climate change, WWF-Viet Nam assists local households in raising plants that are more resi...
New 'Số Đỏ' Movie Announced, Directed by Phan Gia Nhật Linh, Starring MONO
Another classic of Vietnamese literature is heading to the big screen in the near future.
Thi Nguyễn in Loạt Soạt
Revisiting the Delicious Satirical Society of 'Số Đỏ' by Vũ Trọng Phụng
Published in 1938, Dumb Luck, or Số Đỏ, remains one of Vietnam's most popular and controversial novels. Vũ Trọng Phụng was fined by the French colonial administration in Hanoi in 1932 for his stark po...
From Abroad to My Favorite Bún Riêu: A Brief History of Trứng Vịt Lộn
I pride myself on being a child of Hanoi, but only after nearly 20 years, did I realize that trứng vịt lộn is not exactly an authentic topping in Hanoi-style bún riêu.
Severine Phương Trần's Debut Exhibition in Saigon Celebrates a World of Colors
Step into Severine Phương Trần’s first-ever exhibition in Saigon, where you can explore the artist’s inner world of vibrant colors and different emotions. To fully enjoy this exhibition, it is best to...
From Germany to 'King of Rap' Runner-up: How Tuimi Becomes a Hip-Hop Breakout Star
Tuimi, a Vietnamese German singer and rapper, has become one of the most notable female voices in the local hip-hop scene and been making big waves since her return in 2019.
For Hội An Residents, Learning to Live With Floods Is a Fact of Life
The water reached my shoulders, and when I stepped into the street I suddenly felt the current trying to pull me into its invisible grasp. A familiar feeling that set off an alarm inside my head: “Be ...
Hanoi's Soviet-Style Khu Gia Binh and Life Amid Vietnam's Growing Pains
Hanoi is often known in Vietnam as the land of a millennium-old civilization, a living archive of past Vietnam life. Each tiny alley within the capital can evoke a strong sense of nostalgia in visitor...
Hẻm Gems: Amid Saigon's Heat, a Wintry Ambiance in Xocoati's Cozy Cocoa Drinks
Amidst Saigon’s year-round scorching heat, I crave coziness — a feeling that often comes with snuggling under heavy blankets in my Hanoian winter. I was searching for some comfort and “winter vibe” sp...
In Taiwan, a Vietnamese Baker Creates Bánh Mì Thịt From Scratch
“We’re going to Taipei on VietJet Air,” an acquaintance said to me. An international flight on Vietnam’s notoriously delayed airline didn’t sound like the best idea ever. But who would expect that I w...
The Sound of Revolution: How Socialist Realism Shaped Vietnam's Musical Identity
In the depths of my childhood memories lies a peculiar ritual: my grandfather feeding me baby powder while Vietnamese revolutionary songs, or “nhạc đỏ” (red music), played in the background. Without t...
Khôi Phạm in Vietnam
Cold War History With a Side of Nem Rán in Prague's Little Hanoi
Across English-speaking countries such as the US and Australia, the Vietnamese diaspora established close-knit “Little Saigon” towns whenever they settled down, founding large markets, starting financ...
From Cheap Flicks to Local Identity: A Brief History of Vietnamese Horror Films
Horror films have been a part of Vietnamese cinema for a long time, since the heyday of the country’s film industry. But the genre's journey has been challenging. For one, its track record includes ma...
Ngõ Nooks: Slurping Thick Noodles and Seafood at Bánh Canh Ghẹ Út Còi
A whiff of the ocean hits you before you even step foot onto the street. In this curious corner between Quang Trung and Nhà Chung, a new form of restaurant exemplifies the vitality and variety of Hano...
Keeping Cool in Thủ Đức With This Humble Abode’s Well-Ventilated Design
Thick multi-layer brick walls, shaded areas, water features, and natural ventilation allow this private home to stay cool amidst the city's stifling heat.
Khôi Phạm in Music & Arts
5 Albums to Put on While Driving Home at 12am Pretending You're in an MV
It’s 12:03am in Saigon. You've just finished a movie at the last screening of the day. The asphalt in the parking lot is coated in a layer of golden light from the streetlight. You walk gingerly to yo...
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.
In Nam Định, a Village Goes All out in Festivities to Honor Their Holy Ancestor
Comprising a range of ceremonies and traditional activities reflective of Vietnam’s rice-growing culture, Keo Hành Thiện Pagoda’s annual festival is a momentous occasion for locals to pay respect to t...
Synths, Dreams, and French Culture: Inside Vietnamese Duo Coïncidence's 1st EP
“When we finally finished the project, I was just like ‘Yay, we’re done!’ Then I went to sleep to go to work tomorrow. I guess life just goes by like that,” recalled Thông, a member of Coïncidence, re...
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 (...
Saigon's VOH Radio Building, a Marvel of Architect Lê Văn Lắm's Modernist Intuition
In the middle of the 20th century, Vietnam grew to become one of the world’s prominent centers of modernist architecture. Saigon at the time was an economic and cultural heart of the region, with many...
Rare Black-and-White Album Depicts a Historic Flooding in 1952 Hanoi
The extreme weather patterns in recent years might make you worry that Vietnam’s drainage network is buckling under the pressure of rapid urbanization, but looking at these rare photos taken of a floo...
Group Exhibition ‘In Absence, Presence’ Awakens Multi-Sensory Experience
Looking upward, downward, left and right, we follow an invisible yet powerful flow of energy in the dark, then carefully gaze at the artworks as if they are living entities. To enjoy this multi-sensor...
Tử Mộc Trà Nurtures Her Family Bond With Textile Into Installation Artworks
Tử Mộc Trà, whose real name is Phạm Thùy Dương, is a young artist born and raised in Hanoi. Her artistic pursuit was nurtured by an innate sense of creativity, family traditions, and her time spent on...
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.”
Modular Shading, Sliding Doors Blur the Line Between Interior, Exterior at Bà Rịa House
Located 130 kilometers from Saigon, this humble housing project in Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu is a prime example of living enough rather than living large. Even though the family owns a lot spanning a total area...
In Action Together During Traveling Art Week Nổ Cái Bùm 2024
Taking place in Đà Nẵng and Hội An earlier in August 2024, the traveling art week Nổ Cái Bùm 2024 became a platform for local artists to showcase artworks, and attracted the attention of many local an...
Thi Nguyễn in Food Culture
Chè, Bánh, Chả, Nem: The Curious Lives of Vietnam’s Regional Food Names
Realizing the word that one is using refers to an entirely different object in another region is a situation many can relate to. The last time this happened to me, it almost cost me a bowl of Hanoi’s ...
5 Iconic Buildings in Saigon That Showcase Vietnamese Modernist Architecture
Take a stroll along any random street in downtown Saigon, one is bound to bump into a hodgepodge of architectural styles. Sleek but boring international-style skyscrapers, tranquil Buddhist pagodas, a...
Khôi Phạm in Food Culture
From Kuy Teav to Hủ Tiếu: How a Phnom Penh Classic Became Hủ Tiếu Nam Vang
Originally from Cambodia, made popular by Chinese vendors and enjoyed by local diners, hủ tiếu Nam Vang captures the essence of Vietnamese history in one hearty bowl of noodles.
How Hanoi's Infectious Rats and Impish Locals Bamboozled the French in 1902
When facing a bubonic plague epidemic, is it wiser to delve into sewers and cull infected rats yourself or offer payment to Vietnamese for deliveries of severed tails instead? For Hanoi’s French colon...
Explore the Realm of Sơn Mài Paintings via Nguyễn Xuân Việt’s New Solo Exhibition
What does it mean for an artist to preserve and continue the legacy of traditional Vietnamese lacquer across generations? Through this solo exhibition, Nguyễn Xuân Việt showcases his vast expertise an...
A New Reading Space in Trà Vinh Creates Comfort From Recycled Materials
“A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us,” according to famed Czech writer Franz Kafka.
The Unbearable Lightness of An Giang's Bánh Bò Thốt Nốt Chảo
Some simple delights can capture the flavor of an entire region.
This Trung Thu, Learn How to Make Lion Heads From Huế's Lân Artisans
Often seen as the heart of Central Vietnam, Huế is the birthing ground for many traditional crafts. Artisan products from the ancient city often exude its inhabitants' elegance and rustic quality. Amo...
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...
Saigon Powerlifter Lê Văn Công Earns Vietnam's First, Only Medal at Paralympics
Even though Vietnam’s delegation finished the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris without any medals, our Paralympics team managed to clinch one bronze from powerlifting.
Aprxel Builds Her Ethereal R&B Dreamscape With 2000s Nostalgia
“High school was when we all had lots of thoughts and reflections. And I felt like I didn’t fit in with the world around me at that time, so I turned to music as my companion,” Aprxel reflects on the ...
Women in Post-Đổi Mới Vietnamese Cinema: From Archetypal to Multifaceted
In Vietnamese cinema, the female figure has long been employed to deliver macro-level messages rather than just mundane narratives.
Vy Trịnh Takes Us 'On Da Dream' via Her Solo Exhibition at Galerie Quynh
Tough-looking, yet elegant metal ribbons spark, spill, move and occupy all corners of the empty space: up and down, left and right, and in countless directions. Through a new series of sculpture works...
Ngõ Nooks: This Modern Co-op Serves up One of Hanoi's Best Skewer Bánh Mì
Hợp Tác Xã Thịt Xiên is more than just a bánh mì eatery, it’s a place to rekindle your childhood nostalgia and take in the ambiance of the street.
A Visual Timeline of Hội An's Historic Chùa Cầu Through the Eras
With the recent makeover of Hội An's Chùa Cầu sparking divisive chatter, it's a great time to gaze at the iconic Japanese bridge through the decades.
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.
On Grappling With the Problematic Legacy of 'Miss Saigon' in 2024
Having been abroad for more than a year, I was excited at the mere mention of Vietnam anywhere, so I was even more delighted when I learned of the popular musical Miss Saigon. Posters of it were plast...
Khôi Phạm in Saigon Hẻm Gems
Hẻm Gems: An Alternative Cao Lầu in Saigon for Full-Topping Eaters
If I have to use one word to describe the food philosophy of Saigoneers, it would be maximalist. Those who have had the gluttonous joy of hunkering down on a plastic chair on the sidewalk and demolish...
Hẻm Gems: A Long-Anticipated Bowl of D10's Pre-Eminent Mì Vịt Tiềm
Rarely have I gone into a meal with such anticipation.
Nam Cao's Radical Sympathy and Pursuit of Happiness Are Still Relevant Even Today
What messages would a young writer living in colonial times want to impart to the youth of the 21st century?
This Terracotta Workshop Makeover Sings the Praises of Vietnam's Red Bricks
A Quảng Nam brick kiln that's been operating for over twenty years has received a makeover that allows guests to get a more intimate look at the traditional craft of making terracotta.
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 ...
Chùa Cầu's Makeover Draws Ire of Netizens for Looking 'Too New'
Hội An's 400-year-old bridge, best known as Chùa Cầu, was finally uncovered recently after more than a year and a half of renovations, leaving many unimpressed.
'Slow/ed/ing Architecture': When Architects Ruminate on Architecture Together
The super cute duo that make up the design studio “Exutoire” are Bùi Quý Sơn and Paul-Antoine Lucas. Life and work partners, they moved back(ish) to Vietnam from Oslo last year, and are currently prep...
New Exhibition on Painter Lưu Công Nhân Is a Trip Through Time
The solo exhibition allows the audience to time travel to the world of the late painter Lưu Công Nhân. From watercolor sketches to large-scale paintings, old documents, and even a typewriter on displa...
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.
Huế Becomes 1st City With Dedicated Lanes on Pavements for Bicycles
The growing popularity of biking as a recreational activity in Vietnam has been acknowledged officially by urban planners in Huế.
Minh Thúy, Muse of 'Em Thúy' by Famed Painter Trần Văn Cẩn, Passes Away
Even though both the painting’s creator and muse have left us behind, a part of their life will live on with us in an important relic of Vietnam’s 20th century history.
A New Company Headquarters Brings a Green Respite to Industrial Đồng Nai
Hammocks, koi ponds and mature trees are not typically associated with industrial parks.
Traces of Movement, Memory and Heritage in Duo Exhibition 'Entrusting to Emptiness'
An exhibition that brings the audience through the transition between day and night, and movements between dream and memories. There is no beginning and no end, and all elements above somehow reflect ...
In 'Vietnam Retropunk,' a Young Illustrator Dreams of a Cyberpunk Hanoi
To Đặng Thái Tuấn, the talent behind illustration project “Vietnam Retropunk,” whimsical depictions of robots and animatronics sprouting out from everyday objects and activities embody the space in be...
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...
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.
Khôi Phạm in Music & Arts
The 1st Vietnamese Song With 1bn Views on YouTube Is About Ducks
It’s not Hoàng Thùy Linh’s catchy dance track ‘See Tình’ or the crossover Mekong Delta hit ‘Con gái miền Tây,’ the first Vietnamese song to amass one billion — or bill-ion, if you will — on YouTube is...
Sấu Ushers in a Hanoian Summer of Sweet-and-Sour Nostalgia
A former coworker called me to playfully nag me about my previous plan to visit Hanoi: “Are you waiting for all the sấu to drop before making a move?”
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...
Gỏi Đu Đủ Reflects the Mekong Region's Culinary and Cultural Wisdoms
As the cicadas begin to sing in the tamarind canopies along Pasteur Street after the first monsoon rain, vivid scenes from my formative years flash by in my mind. My cheeks became flushed and my eyes ...
A Pilgrimage to Sơn La, Vietnam's National Mận Capital, as a Devoted Fan
There’s a kind of sweet, sour, and slightly tannic fruit that never fails to make our mouths water every summer.
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.
Brian Letwin in Travel
The Quiet Calm of Hiding From the Heat Under Phan Rang's Grapevines
The punishing mid-day sun dictates the pace of life in the corridor between Phan Rang and Cam Ranh, where locals escape to their living rooms or hammocks, and tourists seek the cooling breeze of the b...
How the 1st Quốc Ngữ Newspaper Shaped the Foundation of Vietnam's Modern Journalism
Stopping at the intersection of Saigon’s Trần Hưng Đạo and Trần Bình Trọng streets, the tranquil mausoleum of scholar Trương Vĩnh Ký remains hidden amid the daily commotion. Few realize that the visio...
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
'Longings' Brings 22 Stories by Vietnamese Female Writers to the World
Where are all the female writers?
Ngõ Nooks: Bingsu, Folk Crafts, and Hanboks at Hanoi's Hayoon Cafe
“What inspired you to open a Korean cafe?” I ask Giang, the manager of Hayoon Cafe in Nam Từ Liêm, a popular Korean district in Hanoi.
Khôi Phạm in Rewind
For a Horror Film About an Ageless Portrait, 'Mười' Hasn't Aged Well
It’s undeniable that Mười: The Legend of a Portrait has left a lasting impression in the minds of a generation of Vietnamese, as the first collaboration between Vietnam and South Korea’s cinema indust...
Linh Phạm in Trích or Triết
The Life, Death and Legacy of 7 Pillars of Vietnam's Quốc Ngữ Literary Wealth
When I first started as a writer, I noticed that I couldn’t write in Vietnamese very well, despite the fact that I was born here. Most of my English vocabulary comes from books, so in order to improve...
