The Long Biên Bridge – “A Misshapen But Essential Component of Hà Nội’s Heritage”
Described by one writer as “a misshapen but essential component of Hà Nội’s heritage,” the Long Biên Bridge has clearly seen better days, but still commands such affection that recent government ...
[Slideshow] The Story of the Hanoi Defense Motorcycle Club
Before the American War was in full swing, the Hanoi Department of Defense founded the Hanoi Defense Motorcycle Club, a collection of young men and women who were trained to do various tricks and “fly...
Slideshow: 15 Pictures of Vietnamese Children During Wartime
Vietnam Net recently published a set of photos from German photographer, Bill Thomas Hardt who documented the horrors of the American War.
10 Sketches of Indochina From the 19th Century
Though already in existence, cameras were not the main tool used by the French to make visual records of their holdings in Indochina during the 19th century. In their infancy during this time, th...
Images of Vietnam in 1992
We may post a lot about Saigon's pre-war past but, for a number of reasons, images from the 1980s and 1990s are hard to come by. Fortunately, VNExpress just published a collection of photos taken by ...
46 Incredible Color Photos of 1915 Vietnam
Considering how rare turn of the 20th-century Vietnam photos are, we were especially excited to come across this Flickr album of 46 colorized photos from 1915. The photos were taken by Leon Busy...
Brian Letwin in Vietnam
How Vietnam Got its Name
Le Minh Khai, a researcher of SE Asian history, found that there was a lot of misinformation on the interwebs relating to the origin of Vietnam’s name, especially in English sources. Khai jumped into ...
Brian Letwin in Vietnam
Street Signs - Ton Duc Thang
In our last addition of “Street Signs,” we took a look at Nguyen Thi Minh Khia. Today, we’ll tackle the name of one of Saigon’s oldest streets, Ton Duc Thang. Ton Duc Thang was born in 1888 in An Gia...
Brian Letwin in Vietnam
Gangsters of Old Saigon: Binh Xuyen
In the final days of French occupation, the struggle for power in Vietnam, and Saigon in particular, was a free-for-all. As French control waned and the influence of Communism was identified as the “s...
Brian Letwin in Vietnam
Street Figures: Nguyen Thi Minh Khai
Nguyen Thi Minh Khai. We’re kicking off our Street Figures series with one of the city’s busiest streets which spans Districts 1 and 3 – Nguyen Thi Minh Khai.
Brian Letwin in Vietnam
Vietnam’s Long Road to High-Speed Rail: Past & Present
While we dream about subway systems in Saigon and Hanoi, another major project is on the minds of engineers and urban planners – high speed rail. Already the standard in Japan, China and Europe, there...
Brian Letwin in Vietnam
Contrasting Past & Present
Old bridge. Photo by Khánh Hmoong If you love old Vietnam photos as much as we do, you’ll get a kick out of these which contrast the present and past of some of Vietnam’s most famous sites.
