Khôi Phạm

in Vietnam

6 Saigon Streets That Were Named After Lesser-Known Female Historical Figures

Any place is a great learning opportunity if you know where to look. A brisk walk in Saigon can be amazing fodder for history aficionados to exercise their brain muscles — just look at street titles and the amazing people they were named after.

in Vietnam

How Did Vietnam Start Celebrating International Women's Day on March 8?

In the hyper-commercialized world we now live in, it might be impossible to associate anything but overpriced flower bouquets and corporate sponsorships with International Women’s Day (IWD), but the widely celebrated occasion actually has a rich history of over 100 years of the women’s rights movement.

in Saigon

A Collection of Illusory Saigon Nightscapes From 1938 by Eli Lotar

A rare glimpse into colonial Saigon after sunset.

in Hanoi

The Rickety Last Days of Hanoi's Tramway System in the 1990s

Vietnam residents are rightfully celebrating recent advances in public transit.

Uyên Đỗ

in Vietnam

How the National Lottery Reflects Vietnam's Socio-Economic Realities Through Time

For nearly a century, lottery tickets and their strings of lucky numbers have occupied a special role in Vietnamese society: both as a lifeline for dreams of better fortune and as a mirror reflecting the socio-economic realities of the times.

in Vietnam

The Vintage Charm of 1995 Vietnam on Kodachrome Film Slides

While editing a retrospective of my recent work from Vietnam in the summer of 2019, I discovered 50 yellow boxes of Kodachrome slides in my basement that were shot in 1995. The images were from my first trip to Vietnam.

Uyên Đỗ

in Saigon

The Forgotten History Behind Saigon's CEE Colonial Substations

Woven into the fabric of modern-day streets, the aging electrical substations of Saigon stand as quiet witnesses to a historical era shaped by the complex legacy of French colonialism.

in Hanoi

Hanoi's Soviet-Style Khu Gia Binh and Life Amid Vietnam's Growing Pains

Hanoi is often known in Vietnam as the land of a millennium-old civilization, a living archive of past Vietnam life. Each tiny alley within the capital can evoke a strong sense of nostalgia in visitors, as those locations encapsulate both wartime memories and charming quotidien moments. There’s one special place in Hanoi that has contributed to the city’s languid pace of life amid the nation’s rapid developments — khu gia binh.

Back Heritage

in Vietnam

Drone Video Reveals The True Epicness Of Hanoi’s Long Biên Bridge

The Long Biên Bridge is one of Vietnam’s most iconic structures for a reason. Not only is it an amazing feat of engineering, but it’s huge, categorically huge.

in Vietnam

24 Aerial Photos Of Old Đà Lạt

Blessed with a cool climate and rolling hills flanked with pine trees, Đà Lạt, the brainchild of Alexandre Yersin, was founded as a sleepy French vacation town where development and nature struck a de...

in Vietnam

21 Rare Images Of Hanoi’s Street Markets Taken Between 1991 and 1993

From 1990 to 1993, German photographer Hans-Peter Grumpe traveled across Vietnam, taking about 1,600 photos in 20 provinces around the country. One of his stops was in a developing Hanoi whe...

in Vietnam

[Video] Take A Road Trip Across 1945 Vietnam

While road trips have become an extremely popular activity for foreigners living in or visiting Vietnam in recent years, it was also a common activity for these demographics in the period preceding th...

Tim Doling

in Saigon

Old Saigon Building Of The Week: The “Y” Bridge

Built by the French during the latter years of the colonial era, Chợ Lớn’s “Y” Bridge became the focus of several important battles during the two Indochina Wars.

Tim Doling

in Saigon

2014: A Turning Point For Conserving Saigon's Historical Buildings?

In the future, 2014 may be remembered as a watershed year in which a popular urban conservation movement emerged to champion the cause of Hồ Chí Minh City’s fast-disappearing built heritage.

in Saigon

40 Nostalgic Photos Of 1961 Saigon From Life Magazine

When Life Magazine photographer, John Dominis, traveled to Saigon in 1961, he spent most of his trip photographing daily life in the city. With his camera, he captured downtown Saigon’s busy streets, ...

in Saigon

12 Old Pictures of Christmas in Saigon

The brightly lit Christmas decorations of downtown Saigon seem to getting more elaborate each year. In the 1960s, though still a popular holiday in the South, Christmas was decidedly analog. The diffe...

Tim Doling

in Saigon

Date With The Wrecking Ball: The Vietnam Railways Building

Featured earlier this year as a Saigoneer "Building of the Week," the 100-year-old Vietnam Railways Building at 136 Hàm Nghi is the latest of Hồ Chí Minh City's historic buildings to be threatened wit...

in Saigon

Travel Back In Time With These 15 Photos Of 1929 Saigon

1929 could be referred to as the beginning of Saigon’s Golden Age. Built on the backs of exploited Vietnamese laborers, the French had carved out what was then called the Pearl of the Orient, a Europe...

in Saigon

17 Sky-High Photos Of 2002 Saigon

These images, taken in 2002, provide not only a wonderful bird's eye view of Saigon, but also capture its transition into a modern city.

Tim Doling

in Saigon

Date With The Wrecking Ball: The Nguyen Van Cua Imprimerie de l'Union Building

Located close to the Saigon Post Office, the unassuming two-storey white shophouse building at 49-57 Nguyễn Du was once the headquarters of one of the most successful colonial-era printing companies.

in Saigon

[Photos] Saigon Then & Now: Part 2

We’re back with another set of our “Then and Now” photos which contrast old images of Saigon with their present day counterparts. For a much larger collection, head over to the Saïgon-Chợ Lớn Then & N...

in Vietnam

50 Old Photos of Cần Thơ

Now the 4th largest city in Vietnam with 1.2 million people, Cần Thơ is the “capital of the West” and the central of hub of commerce in the Mekong Delta.

in Saigon

Icons of Old Saigon: André Pancrazi's Café de la Musique and Grand Hôtel des Nations

One of many French settlers of Corsican descent who made names for themselves in colonial Saigon, André Pancrazi is remembered as the proprietor of two old Saigon icons – the Café de la Musique and th...

Lee Starnes

in Vietnam

[Photos] The Vietnamese Soldiers Of WWI

Whereas the story of World War I traditionally filters through the lens of the major European powers, colonial ties produced a transcontinental story with the militaries of France and Britain comprise...

Tim Doling

in Saigon

Old Saigon Building Of The Week: 93-95 Đồng Khởi

One of the most elegant old colonial buildings in the centre of the city, 93-95 Đồng Khởi – originally 93-95 rue Catinat – is believed to have been constructed in the period 1900-1910.

in Vietnam

24 Late 19th Century Photos Of Vietnam

These 24 photos taken between 1880 and 1898 show Vietnam just as France was settling into their role as colonial occupier.

in Vietnam

20 Beautiful Old Maps of Hanoi

Unlike Saigon, Hanoi has been a major urban center for over a millennia, so while the oldest maps of Saigon date back to around 1790, those of the capital go back far further.

in Vietnam

40 Striking Photos of War Seen From the Perspective of the North

Photos of U.S. troops in rice paddies, anti-war protests and skies full of Iroquois helicopters have become ubiquitous images of the American War, incubated by countless blockbuster films, documentari...