Tâm Lê in Saigon
Street Cred: Phan Đình Phùng, My Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather
An unassuming street named Phan Đình Phùng runs through Saigon’s Phú Nhuận District. It is named after a Vietnamese revolutionary who led rebel armies against French colonial forces in the 1880s and 1890s. He is also my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather.
Lycée Marie Curie: The High School That Has Stood the Test of Time
Marie Curie High School, also called Lycée Marie Curie in French or Trường Trung Học Phổ Thông Marie Curie in Vietnamese, is a public high school located in Saigon’s District 3.
Khôi Phạm in Saigon
Old Saigon Building of the Week: The Glitz and Glam of Tự Do Nightclub
While today’s Đồng Khởi Street is peppered with tourist-centric shops and restaurants, just half a century ago, the downtown street was the nightlife hotspot for Saigon’s cool kids to congregate.
Revisit the Colorful, Diverse Universe of Multinational Xe Đò in 1990s Saigon
Saigoneers who spent their formative years in the 1990s will remember an era of secondhand products of mixed origins. This unique feature of daily life also extended into the transportation realm.
The Double-Edged Allure of Indochic in Postcolonial Vietnam
Bordering the Temple of Literature in Hanoi is Nguyễn Thái Học Boulevard, where a number of art shops sit side by side. Among them, tourists and visitors can find an endless supply of varying iterations of socialist iconography, gold-plated replicas of Đông Sơn drums, and faux-impressionist paintings of colonial Indochina. In Mũi Né, a 127-room resort unironically called The Anam Mui Ne boasts its Indochine allure with “Indochine Charm. Modern Luxury” on its home page. Throughout the resort are paintings depicting women in traditional áo dài and scenes of tranquil fishing villages, gesturing toward the bucolic past of Vietnam. In Saigon, numerous cafes and eateries are decorated in encaustic cement tiles with intricate floral, pastel designs, while brandishing French names and wrought iron railings on their balconies.
Uyên Đỗ in Hanoi
A Slice of Life in Coupon-Era Hanoi via Colorful Vintage Lottery Tickets
What can tiny sheets of paper reveal about a whole time period?
Brian Letwin in Heritage
Tàu Cánh Ngầm: The Curious Case of Saigon’s Lost Soviet Hydrofoils
Not long ago, hulking “creatures” glided atop the waters between Saigon and Vũng Tàu. Like the dinosaurs that came before them, they slowly disappeared, until all that was left were their skeletons.
Tim Doling in Saigon
The Surprisingly Recent History Behind Bình Thạnh's Lonely 'Gia-Đinh' Gate
It’s claimed by several tourism websites that a gateway from one of the ancient Gia Định citadels has survived and may be viewed on the Lê Văn Duyệt-Phan Đăng Lưu intersection in Bình Thạnh District, close to the Lê Văn Duyệt Mausoleum. However, a little research into the history of that area reveals that the gateway in question has more recent origins.
[Photos] Take a Ride on Da Lat's Lost Railway
In the early 20th century, although Da Lat was little more than a fledgling hill station, a Swiss-built railway connected the town to the coast. With Thap Cham as its final destination, this 84-kilome...
Plan to Rebuild 134-Year-Old Nam Dinh Cathedral Sparks Public Outcry
One of the oldest, most impressive cathedrals in Nam Dinh Province is about to be rebuilt due to disrepair.
[Photos] On the Cusp of a Tourism Boom, a Pristine Sapa of the 1920s
During the last decade of the 19th century, French colonists occupying northern Vietnam (then Tonkin) decided to conduct a census survey on the region’s ethnic minorities. The first convoys reached La...
[Photos] A Child Wedding of Tay Ethnic Minority in Lao Cai in 1920s
The rare set of photos depict a wedding ceremony in the 1920s between young members of the ethnic minority Tay people in Bac Ha District of Lao Cai Province.
[Photos] Vintage Tourism Posters Showcase Past Vietnam's Natural Landscapes
If you’ve never been to Vietnam before, would these colorful vintage poster entice you to book a ticket?
[Photos] Striking Black-and-White Images of Hue's Imperial City in 1896
Just two weeks ago, we published some monochrome photos of Hue taken earlier this year. Yet in this series, we can browse another black-and-white selection of images from the city, this time from ...
[Video] Rare Newsreels From 1930 Show Harsh Realities of Life in Colonial Saigon
In an extremely rare collection of disjointed clips, Saigon in 1930 appears like the setting of a haunting fever dream.
[Photos] The Small-Town Placidity of Hue in 1966
Neat perpendicular lines of trees that make up the Imperial Palace grounds, the meandering Perfume River hugging central Hue, clusters of red-roofed houses like tiny Lego pieces scattered across a bed...
Brian Letwin in Saigon
From Botany Institute to Amusement Park: The Evolution of Thao Cam Vien Sai Gon
Local parks such as the Jardin d’Espagne and Jardin de la Ville, now Tao Dan Park, were a focal point of Saigon’s early urban development. But no green space carried such significance as the Jardin Bo...
[Photos] 16 Rare Images of 1900s Vietnam as Part of French Indochina
In a mishmash of sketches and grainy photographs, Vietnam’s landscapes in the 1900s feels almost surreal.
[Photos] Old Da Lat's Majestic Charm, Captured in a Series of Timeworn Postcards
In these postcards of early twentieth-century Da Lat, we see a town that’s a far cry from its modern, tourist-packed self: colonial houses line its hills, and barely a soul walks down the narrow footp...
[Photos] 13 Black-and-White Shots of Saigon in 1962
Badass girl power, young love and vintage cars: the streets of Saigon in 1962 seemed much cooler than they are today, when pavements weren't riddled with debris and construction sites.
[Photos] The Ceremonial Tradition of a 1920s Hanoi Funeral
In Vietnam, there is a powerful sense of importance carried within the belief of life after death. This can be seen in the way family members create shrines and pray for those who have passed away, in...
[Photos] 17 Photos of 2002 Saigon as Seen From Above
2002 might not seem like a long time ago, but Saigon’s urbanscapes have grown so much in the last ten years that these scenes offer some surprising insights into our city 17 years in the past.
[Photos] Out and About on Nguyen Hue Boulevard in the Late 1960s
Horse-drawn carriages, flower shops with white-tiled basins and a multitude of parked bikes: these were what used to occupy the length of Nguyen Hue Boulevard in the 1960s before it became the walking...
[Photos] 10 Remarkable Black-and-White Shots of Saigon in 1967
Lush bunches of fresh bananas at a market, a street-side merchant selling embroidered artworks to tourists, and Buddhist worshipers praying at a local temple — these Saigon scenes are rather mundane b...
[Photos] From Bach Dang to An Dong: 25 Photos of 1965 Saigon
A stroll along Ham Nghi, basking in the breeze of the Bach Dang Wharf and unwinding at the Saigon Zoo: George P. Morgan, Jr. followed the typical tourist trail in the city for a day during his time in...
[Photos] A Road Trip Across Vietnam's Barren Landscapes in the 1970s
In 1971, average annual income across Vietnam was less than US$100.
[Photos] Walk Into Saigon's Rarely Seen Neighborhoods in 1966-1967
Did you know that Hung Vuong Street used to run alongside a railway connecting Saigon with My Tho?
[Photos] Vung Tau in 1970: Bars, Beaches and a Bustling Bazaar
Opposite of Saigon’s metropolitan vibes, Vung Tau in 1970 was a quiet town fit for tourism activities, as shown through these film snapshots by Australian serviceman Barry Connors.
