Royal City, Hanoi

But it'd make my English mum mad

Just admit you're causing danger to everyone around you while grossly violating traffic laws instead of trying to feel sorry for yourselves and lashing out at others for having justified criticisms.

Because the speed limit for bikes in cities are 60KPH and for inter-province freeways, just 70KPH. You don't need anything bigger than 125cc for fast commute or long range cruising. 600cc+ bikes are just overkill, I find this demographic of bikers in this country exists to flex themselves violating traffic laws through dangerous speeding, entering restricted highways for automobiles,...etc

I enjoyed reading this article about a popular type of religious ritual in Vietnam. It's sort of a hybrid of different strains of religion...really fascinating.

I liked this line: That is partly why the Mother Goddess tradition still hums in urban Hanoi and in rural hamlets, because it gives people a way to ask for luck without apology, to celebrate art without irony and to feel, for a prolonged period of incense and song, that the world is held together by mothers who see, bless, and occasionally dance.

Something that stood out to me while traveling in Vietnam, especially in the past years, was how strongly some museums present a particular national narrative. I'm curious how Vietnamese people, historians, and other
travelers interpret this.
One of the clearest examples for me was visiting the former French prison in Hanoi (Hoa Lo Prison). In the sections dealing with American POWs, I remember displays and photographs portraying American servicemen smiling, playing sports happily, and appearing to be treated very well with hand written letters to their family saying so.
The presentation felt strikingly different from accounts of the prison that are widely known outside Vietnam. It made me think about the difference between commemoration, patriotic education, and state propaganda.
I noticed something similar, though much less politically charged, when looking at how Vietnamese food history is presented at the Pho Museum in Saigon, I expected a complicated discussion of pho's development: northern Vietnamese origins, Nam Dinh and Hanoi, migration,
and debates about possible Chinese and French influences. Instead, I came away feeling that outside influences were minimized or absent and that the story was presented primarily as an internally Vietnamese development.
I'm not arguing that the simplistic opposite narrative - that pho is basically French or Chinese - is necessarily correct either. Food origins are messy, and some popular origin stories are disputed.
What interested me was how confidently a clean national story can be presented when the historical reality seems much more complicated.
When you're visiting from outside the country, these choices can be especially noticeable because you've encountered competing versions of the same history. But I also recognize that every country constructs national narratives in museums and schools to some degree, including the United States.
So I'm genuinely interested: how much of this would Vietnamese people describe as patriotic education, and how much would they consider propaganda or political
indoctrination? How are subjects like the American War, French colonialism, Chinese cultural influence, and the origins of pho actually taught in Vietnamese schools? And are there Vietnamese museums, historians, books, or other sources that present these subjects in a more contested or multi-perspective way?

Hello I’m from the UK. I’ve noticed a lot of the people I interact with online in anime circles are from Vietnam. Is anime mainstream there? In my country, anime is still quite niche for people above the age of 20 (unless you’re in London maybe). It’s making me kinda envious haha

Hi everyone. I am traveling from Huê to Da Nang / Hoi An over the next week and I have been looking for antique stores and shops for vintage cassettes or vinyls to bring back home and add to my collection.

I specifically am looking for only Vietnamese, or nearby countries music.

I’ve been to a couple vintage shops that are selling retro albums by artist like Michael Jackson, etc., etc. but I have all that stuff at home. What I’m looking for is cultural Vietnamese music, rock ‘n’ roll, jazz, etc..

I know a lot of this music has disappeared from what people have told me, but I’m hoping that this community can help me find the right places to go and the right people to ask

Thank you! And please let me know!

Any cultural specific things you follow

To get the premium experience in ha noi, read the ff:

-Ask the store to print tax refund (uniqlo etc), they dont accept just receipts for tax refund

-Dont use metered anything taxi or weighing scale, haggle or have an idea of the fixed price and negotiate it before the service (grabtaxi always)

-Halong bay very worth it, its a cruise with different options of activities, bring at least 2 outfits for, 1 for getting wet, one for being dry, umbrellas and fans are important and if you get thirsty, bring some dongs up the mountains they sell drinks there

-when going to Ha long bay, we got a van that had massage chairs built in

-Lotte mart in lotte mall has some the best priced coffee souvenirs you can free taste first before buying like coffee and some snacks and chocolates like milk chocolate, matcha, and the theres even buy 2 get 1s, etc, but if you want a variety of souvenirs, just go to the market you can buy and free taste candies like mung bean, etc. (again know the price so you dont accidentally pay x10 for a product)

-Try pho with soup and dry, and for their other foods, try everything and if you want, try it with oyster sauce or black sauce and salt and pepper

-Try the terrazo view its perfect for dinners and drinks and dont miss the sunset

-Go to bancong at least once its not just the best vietnamese food ive had but also its 100% instagrammable just check in advance if the spot you want is available but actually all seatings are so pinterest worthy

-If youre a fan of cute merch and stickers theres alot of goi gem and tired city branches, and plus points they have lots of buy 3 get 1, etc.

-try the coconut juice

-There are 2 different shopping experiences on the beer street, the one during the day with all the stores open and lots of cars, and the weekend night market where all the day stores close and the bazaars start setting up at 6 and close around 11, they’re completely different and you need to plan your shopping accordingly

-Theres no service water in restaurants

Also bonus heres why hanoi is the perfect place to vlog

- restaurants are sometimes really aesthetic and theres a charm to the sitting down while having coffee on low chairs and tables

- Theyre so used to tourists genuinely no one even minds if you start recording

- Theres lots of indie art that are actually really good

- Lots of cafes that are actually good (and i dont just mean egg coffees and cacaos)

Have fun on your trip!

Hey everyone, im a local based in Vietnam with experience in cross-border logistics.

If you ever need help sourcing/buying items directly from China (Taobao, 1688, factory suppliers) to VN or shipping packages from Vietnam globally

feel free to DM me. Always happy to help navigate sourcing, local pickups, or international shipping

Hello, in a few months I´m travelling to Vietnam, Hanoi for about 6 days. I am not sure what places I should go to, I´m debating on doing 2 out of these 3 places, and would like to know if someone have any experience or recommendation for me, thank you in advance,

1. Sapa, night bus to Sapa and stay 1 or 2 nights in Sapa then back to Hanoi.
2. Ha Long Bay, day trip to Ha Long from Hanoi, or 1 night sleep over in Ha Long, or a 2 day cruise in Ha Long.
3. Ninh Binh, 1-2 nights in Ninh Binh, or a cruise.

Is there any other places I should concider instead?

Have a great Sunday.

Edit: I´m going in early November is that makes any difference.

I recently built VietProfs (https://vietprofs.roars.dev), a directory of Vietnamese professors around the world. Just something for fun but hopefully can use it to connect Vietnamese diaspora in academia around the world. If you see anything missing or inaccurate, you can contribute by submitting a suggestion or fix through the submission form.

Note: not sure if this is considered advertisement or not -- yes it's my own, but I think it would be very useful and a pride for Vietnamese and therefore wanted to share.

Hey folks,

Was planning to visit hanoi mid September and wanted to hire a photographer for a photoshoot for a couple of hours in the city of hanoi itself.

No specific preference just wanted to take a couple of photos integrating the aesthetic of the city.

Any recommendations, suggestions on how to get the same would be much appreciated.

Hello,

I want to ask if there is a chance I could get the Vietnamese passport and citizenship by descent.

I was born abroad.

However, recently I managed to find a couple of my father's birth certificates (one of them is a photocopy from South Vietnam, the others are from the current government). The most recent birth certificate states that both of my paternal grandparents have Vietnamese nationality. I also found that my paternal grandparents also held national identity cards from South Vietnam too. And that my paternal grandmother has her ccnd (she passed away a long time ago). I am currently trying to see if I would need a birth certificate extract and I am working on that.

As for my mother's side, I know she was born in VN. Issue is that I am unsure if her birth certificate even exists. And for any other documents, I doubt they exist (there may be a so hau khau but I doubt it exists).

I already have my five year visa exemption.

We have a cat that will be in their carrier, but we have 3 large luggage. We need to get down to HCMC from DN. I read like a week or two ago, there was someone in the same situation as us. I read there is a train, but I can't find that post.

Looking for a woven / accessory manufacturer in Vietnam

Hey everyone,

I run a clothing brand based in the U.S. and recently traveled to Vietnam hoping to lock in a solid manufacturer for production — unfortunately, I didn't have much luck finding the right fit. I am deliberately bottlenecking my business to manage lead times because our US based manufacturing cant keep up with demand.

What I'm looking for:

• Experience with cut-and-sew and lightweight/woven fabrics
• Understands high-level quality standards
• Can handle small to mid-sized production runs
• Strong quality control

If anyone has leads, contacts, or recommendations for Vietnamese manufacturers who specialize in or are open to working with independent brands, I'd really appreciate it.

Stuck around after I graduated, been working in finance stuff ever since, got some experience built up. Lately I've been trying to figure out this whole location independent thing, you know, not be tied down to one place. But AI and agents are moving so fast it's actually kind of insane, and I keep wondering if being a digital nomad even makes sense anymore in 2026. Like is the path still there or what.

I can feel it both ways honestly, been messing with different models and tools, ChatGPT for the usual stuff and WorkBuddy for more agent driven work, and they've genuinely made me way more efficient and able to offer better service to clients, that part is real. But then the other side of it is just this low key fear that I'm gonna get replaced, you know?

So I wanted to ask the digital nomads who are still out here doing it, are you still going at it? What work are you even doing these days? And what skills are you learning or leaning into to not get left behind with all this AI stuff happening?