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The gentle sun caressed my face as I awoke on a mild February morning in 2014. “Just another day,” I mused, but the usual bustle of Saigon’s streets was eerily quiet. It was Tết, and I was about to embark on my first traditional holiday season in Ho Chi Minh City. Fast forward to 2025, and once again, the mild morning sun of January will herald the Year of the Snake. While the quiet streets of Saigon have transformed, the culture and traditions of Tết remain a cornerstone of Vietnamese life. With the completion of a zodiac cycle, I find myself back where I started, reflecting on the changes Ho Chi Minh City has undergone in the last 12 years and what the Year of the Snake signifies for expatriates in Vietnam. Swiss tourists embrace the 2025 Vietnamese Tết Festival at the Youth Culture House, Ho Chi Minh City, January 13, 2024. Photo by Quang Dinh / Tuoi Tre To be frank, my initial Tết experience in Vietnam was less than ideal. As a teacher, the extended holiday left me w...

THE HANOI TIMES — The Vibrant Tay Phuong Pagoda Festival has been recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage of Vietnam, a well-deserved honor that coincides with the 10th anniversary of its 34 statues being designated as national treasures. This annual celebration, which spans from the new year to the 6th day of the 3rd lunar month and continues until the month’s end, is held in Hanoi’s suburban Thach That District. It’s a unique festival that blends cultural and religious activities, honoring heaven and earth with traditional Buddhist rituals and energetic folk games. Pham Xuan Tai, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports, presents the decision to include the Tay Phuong Pagoda Festival as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. Photo: Cong Phuong/The Hanoi Times Nguyen Manh Hong, Chairman of the Thach That District People’s Committee, emphasized the festival’s significance, stating that it holds a profound historical value and plays a crucial...

ADB Country Director for Vietnam Andrew Jeffries and leaders at the press conference. Photo: VNA After a strong performance in 2022, Vietnam’s economic growth is expected to moderate at 6.5% this year and further expand at 6.8% in 2024, VNA citied Asian Development Outlook (ADO) released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on April 4. Vietnam’s economic growth will be constrained in 2023 by the global economic slowdown, continued monetary tightening in advanced economies, and spillover from global geopolitical tensions, said ADB Country Director for Vietnam Andrew Jeffries. However, he held that Vietnam’s growth support policy with monetary easing, a large amount of public investment to be disbursed in 2023, and the reopening of China will help the country counter these headwinds. The ADO highlighted that the global economic slowdown deepened in the fourth quarter of 2022 and will likely continue in 2023. Falling global demand is expected to weigh on industrial growth, ...

It is time for residents and visitors to save the moments with photographs during these days of late March and early April when Hanoi streets don a romantic coat of Hoa Ban (Orchid Tree flowers), Hoa Sua (Dalbergia Tonkinensis flowers), and Hoa Phong Linh (Yellow Tabebuia flowers). The Bun Flower is a lesser-known variety of flowers, though. Only three Bun trees have been found in the capital city thus far.  The Bun tree, also known as Bach hoa or Man man (Capparaceae), blooms only once a year in late March or early April. The brilliant flowers are pure white at first, then turn bright yellow in full bloom, releasing a mild sweet fragrance. The first Bun tree found in Hanoi several years ago is planted in front of the Cultural House of Dinh Thon Village, My Dinh Ward, Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi. The tree, with a large old trunk and two broad canopies, is said to be over 300 years old. The second Bun plant in Hanoi w...

View more from VietExplorer: Trekkers can enjoy a spectacular sunset on Muoi Mountain Preparations for National Party Congress basically completed Changes in revolutionary homeland Vietnam – one of fastest growing economies: WB Tourism on track in the world’s largest cave: AFP Pristine beauty of Ta Xua primeval forest How many goal landmarks left for Lionel Messi? American comedian on relocating to Vietnam, where his father fought a war, video Hanoi plans to open another pedestrian street Google’s campaign to promote Vietnam Tourism 8th Party Congress: Keeping up reform, boosting modernisation, industrialisation Hanoi ready for 13th National Party Congress A 72-year-old freshman with great willingness for learning Festival marks 44 years since Saigon-Gia Dinh named after President Ho Chi Minh Son Tung M-TP, first Vietnamese artist to enter Billboard’s LyricFind Global chart Ninth Party Congress: Upholding national strength, speeding up industrialisation, modernisati...

Once a craft village for copper casting since the 15th century, the Ngu Xa area is now better known as the capital’s funky cultural-cuisine rendezvous. Visitors to Pearl Island – Ngu Xa night food street and pedestrian area in Truc Bach Ward, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi. Photo: Duy Khanh The Pearl Island – Ngu Xa night food street and pedestrian area in Truc Bach Ward, Ba Dinh District, draws more than 3,000 visitors on weekends and about 2,500 on weekdays, according to the People’s Committee of Truc Bach Ward. The city’s new food and entertainment hub After only three months of trial, the Pearl Island – Ngu Xa area has developed into a captivating culinary destination of Hanoi, according to Nguyen Dan Huy, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Truc Bach Ward. “Diverse culinary and cultural events have all been held in such a short time, including the ‘Spring Culinary Competition’ involving eight renowned restaurants in the city; folk art and music perform...

A large number of activities on the theme of “Colors of the Cultures of Vietnamese Ethnic Groups” will be held until May 3.  A series of activities take place at Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism in Hanoi’s outlying township of Son Tay. Photo: sovhtt.hanoi.gov.vn The event is part of activities to celebrate Vietnam’s Ethnic Groups Cultural Day (April 19), which honors the cultural values of ethnic groups and the country’s cultural diversity. Visitors can experience the cultural spaces of ethnic groups in the northwest and northeast regions, play folk games, and enjoy art performances by the Mong ethnic people from Son La’s Moc Chau District, which was recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2018. The native cuisine and goods of the Mong, Dao, Thai, Muong, Kho Mu, and Tay ethnic groups are also available to visitors. The event will also feature cultural activities to showcase tourist destinations from other provinces and citi...

Hanoi authorities on April 4 asked local travel agencies not to send visitors to neighborhoods along the railway in the inner districts of Ba Dinh and Hoan Kiem. Foreign visitors enjoy coffee and beverage along the railway that crosses Phung Hung Street in Hoan Kiem District. Photo: Hoai Nam/The Hanoi Times To ensure the safety of visitors, especially foreign visitors, the Hanoi Department of Tourism says that travel agencies are not allowed to arrange trips to the so-called “railway café streets”. The tourism department also asked businesses to inform their customers not to visit, take pictures of, or consume food or drinks in restricted areas. The bureau also advised all companies and organizations to follow the laws on railway safety. Violations will be dealt with by the department’s inspection department. In Hanoi, “railway café streets” have gained popularity as places where people can enjoy a drink while watching trains pass by. In Hoan Kiem and Ba Dinh distri...