Vietnamese culture is the product of an extraordinarily rich and turbulent history: over a thousand years of Chinese domination (111 BC to 938 AD), several centuries of independent Ly, Tran and Le dynasties, French colonial rule from 1858 to 1954, the Vietnam War from 1955 to 1975, and reunification under the Communist Party in 1976. Each of these layers has left deep marks on architecture, language, cuisine and daily life.
Confucianism remains the bedrock of family and social values: respect for elders, filial piety, primacy of the group over the individual, and the ancestor cult practised in almost every household. Mahayana Buddhism (Chinese-influenced, unlike Thai Theravada) coexists with Taoism, Confucianism and local folk religions in a pragmatic and unapologetic syncretism. Pagodas, ubiquitous in cities and villages alike, are spaces of community life as much as devotion.
The ao dai — the long silk tunic split at the sides over wide trousers, worn for formal occasions — remains Vietnam's most recognisable sartorial symbol, worn by women at ceremonies, weddings and sometimes daily. Men wear a version of the ao dai for ceremonial events.
The Vietnam War is ever-present in the collective memory. Related sites (Cu Chi Tunnels 70 km from Ho Chi Minh City, the War Remnants Museum in the same city, the DMZ around Dong Ha) draw millions of visitors. These visits can be emotionally intense: the War Remnants Museum collections are among the most powerful and difficult in the world on the subject of modern warfare.
In everyday interactions, the smile is as generous as anywhere in Southeast Asia, but humour is more direct and curiosity about foreigners more forthcoming: expect to be asked your age, marital status and salary — not out of indiscretion, but out of genuine interest. Learning a few words of Vietnamese (xin chào for hello, cảm ơn for thank you, không for no) is invariably met with delight.
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- Northern Vietnam — Hanoi, Ha Long Bay and Sapa rice terraces — The historic capital, the emblematic karst bay and the terraced paddies of the Northwest minorities.
- Central Vietnam — Hoi An, Hue and the central coast — The lantern town, the imperial citadel and the beaches of the old Cochinchina.
- Southern Vietnam — Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta — The pulsating southern megalopolis and the labyrinthine waterways of the Mekong.
- Hanoi, the millennial capital — The 36 guild streets, the Temple of Literature and pho at dawn.