On the occasion of Vietnamese Women’s Day, let’s take a look back at photos of the graceful Ao Dai on the streets of Saigon taken in 1961 by US Life magazine photographers. … [Read more...] about Ao Dai of days gone by
Vietnamese ao dai for babies
Foreign readers wish for health, then wealth in the New Year
Foreign readers wish for health, then wealth in the New Year (02-01-2009) For the first Your Say column of the new year, Viet Nam News chatted with foreign expats on the street and with international friends abroad about their expectations and wishes for 2009. Here is their wish list: Jenny v. Sperber, German: My brother-in-law was very ill last year, but he didn't give up - and has recovered! I realise once more that health is fundamental for living a happy life. So I wish for 2009 that all the people suffering from illness don't give up hope and keep on challenging themselves. Life can be much more wonderful. I wish we can take one more step towards tolerance and accept other people's lifestyles, beliefs and needs more readily. Why do so many people want to impose their ideas on others? I wish that environmental issues become more important all over the world. My 6-year-old little niece, Lotta, wishes that nobody will cross the street while the traffic light is red. Sam and Thomas … [Read more...] about Foreign readers wish for health, then wealth in the New Year
A prayer for peace, a history of war
US journalist and peace activist travels around Vietnam and is overwhelmed As we made our way in the darkness of the Vinh Moc tunnels, I ran my hands over the well-worn rock of the narrow passageway. Every few yards, light from someone's small flashlight would illuminate tiny caves. These, our guide Truc explained, were dwellings for entire families. Half-way through the length of the tunnel, we came upon a cave with life-size figures in it. A woman lying on a cot, another woman bending over her, a baby in her arms. This was the maternity room. Seventeen babies were born underground: as US artillery bombarded Quang Tri, seventeen new lives emerged. St. Augustine said that hope has two beautiful daughters: anger and courage. These seventeen babies were born of hope. I remembered in college seeing a grainy, black- and-white French film about the tunnels, unsteady camera shots of an operating theater, school and living quarters deep underground. We all marveled at the determination … [Read more...] about A prayer for peace, a history of war
10-year-old Vietnamese-American girl finds her Vietnamese mother
VietNamNet Bridge - Convincing her American adoptive parents to return to Vietnam with her to find her birth mother, during the search process, Jolie Nhung Thi Hoang LaBarge always wore Vietnamese ao dai and occasionally babbled a few sentences in Vietnamese. In late March, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien, Chairman of the Association for Da Nang's Victims of Agent Orange, former director of the Da Nang Center for Orphans was moved to tears when she knew that Jolie Nhung Thi Hoang LaBarge had returned to Vietnam. "I was choked because so far, of dozens of orphans in the centers who were adopted by foreigners, this is the first child returning to Vietnam with the longing to find her birthplace," said Hien. According to Hien, Jolie Thi Hoang LaBarge's birth name was Hoang Thi Nhung. On the night of July 31, 2002, an officer of the Da Nang Center for Orphans found a 3-day-old girl abandoned in front of the center's gate. The center named the baby and got the day the baby was found as her … [Read more...] about 10-year-old Vietnamese-American girl finds her Vietnamese mother
The long dress, a symbol of Vietnamese culture
(VOVworld)-The long dress or ao dai is a tight-fitting silk tunic worn over pantaloons. Although there has never been an official document designating the "ao dai" as the national dress of Vietnamese women, the tunic is worn by Vietnamese women for any important or formal occasion such as a national holiday or a traditional festival. The beautiful tunic has always been a source of pride for Vietnamese. Images of ao dai are found on Dong Son bronze drums and other artifacts dating back thousands of years. In the early 20th century, most urban Vietnamese women wore tunics made with five panels called "áo ngũ thân", the five panels, reflecting the five elements of oriental cosmology. The áo ngũ thân had a loose fit and sometimes had wide sleeves. The áo ngũ thân had two flaps sewn together in the back, two flaps sewn together in the front, and a "baby flap" hidden underneath the main front flap. The gown appeared to have two-flaps with slits on both sides, features preserved in the … [Read more...] about The long dress, a symbol of Vietnamese culture