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The fireplace was considered a sacred part of the home, as every Vietnamese family worshiped the Kitchen God.

People living in Vietnams northern delta typically built their homes with the front door facing south, as advised by the old saying, " Marry a good-natured wife and build a house turned towards the south" the kitchen should ideally lie to the left, in the eastern quadrant, separate from the main building with its door facing west. This direction prevents southern and eastern sea winds from blowing into the kitchen and causing the cooking fire to flare up and burn down the house or make the family uneasy.

Fine drizzle has bleached the sky since early last month and Hanoians yearn for a hot beverage to warm their hands. No better place to hold a hot mug and people watch than Nha Tho Street.

Before the economic reforms of 1986, drinking tea was limited to sidewalk stalls with a few wooden stools, a teapot kept warm in a rattan basket, peanut and sesame candy jars and a bamboo pipe to smoke Tien Lang tobacco. These sites were popular meeting places for men, who paid five Vietnamese cents for a big cup of hot green tea and sat to chat for hours. For a long time, a cup of tea stayed at a low price. Then the price inched upwards: 5 cents, 1 Vietnamese dime, 2 Vietnamese dimes, then up to 5 Vietnamese dimes. Yet, people did not abandon the sidewalk tea stalls.

In Vietnamese tradition, four my stoical creatures a considered symbol of the royal court and are tired closely to cycles such as the four seasons and the four compass directions - the dragon, unicorn, tortoise and phoenix.

In particular, the dragon and phoenix were the highest symbols of royalty and considered good omens for life, marriage, luck and prosperity. According to the first Chinese dictionary, written by Xu Shen in 100 AD, among 389 species of scaled replies, the dragon is the greatest and most powerful.

Dragons are the symbol of royalty, closely associated with the image of the emperor.
The phoenix was honored as greatest of all the feathered species, the symbol of the sun, the South and of Summer, In terms of gender, the dragon is associated with the element of the Yang (male), while he phoenix expresses the element of the Yin (female); thus the phoenix is the symbol of the empress.

Hung temple is honored as the birthplace of the Vietnamese people. Hone to an annual festival and many legendary relics, it holds a special place in Vietnam’s heart

According to legend, the Vietnamese people came into being when a dragon, Lac Long Quan, married a fairy, Au Co, who then gave birth to 100 children. Lac Long Quan took 50 children to the sea and Au Co took 49 children to the mountains, leaving her first born son to act as emperor, with the name Hung Vuong.

To honor their ancestry, many Vietnamese make a pilgrimage to Hung temple, a series of temples and pagodas worshipping the Hung kings and their royal families. The temple runs from the foot to the top of the 175 – metre high Nghia Linh Mountain in Vietnam’s northeastern Phu Tho Province, on strictly protected forest land 10km from the centre of Viet Tri City.

Dalat, one of the most charming and “European” of Vietnamese of it passed through its many historical buildings.

If you didn’t know you were in Vietnam, the pine forests, cool mountain air had charming villas of Dalat might make you think was in the Alps, halfway around the globe.

It’s easy to understand why Dalat was chosen as a highlands resort site by the French colonial government at the beginning of the 20th century. Famed architect Ernest Hebrard was tasked to design the city plan, and by the early 1930s, Dalat had become tourism, recreation, sport and game hunting region, as well as an educational and research centre.

One of the best ways to get a sense of Dalat’s history is through the architecture that remains from colonial times. Instead of a uniform style, the homes and public places of Dalat reflect the variety of backgrounds and tastes of the original builders and inhabitants.

Simultaneously modest, elegant and slightly provocative, the yem silk bodice has been a staple and a symbol of Vietnamese women for centuries.

The yem (breast cloth) id perhaps the most typical item of Vietnamese women's clothing. A diamond or square-cut piece of cloth placed diagonally on a woman's chest, form or in a V form, it has been worn for centuries by women of all classes.

Traditionally worn under a blouse or overcoat, the yem is on one hand is a symbol of modesty. As one17 century observer, the Italian priest Cristoforo Borri remarked of Vietnamese women:"clothes they wear could be probably the most covert in Southeast Asia."

On the other hand, great pride and care was taken in the beauty and design of the yem. As Vietnam became one of the finest producers of silk in the world, much attention was given to the bodice, which was made in many colors for different occasions and for different social strata.

Ceramics interior design is very in. Each work pottery incorporated into a space retains an element of fire, earth and the artist’s talent.

When entering a luxurious hotel restaurant or mansion, one is often surprised to find rustic pottery, reminiscent to many in Vietnam of familiar childhood memories. The curves of the molded clay sometimes seem deep enough to bare the artist’s soul and sometimes simplistic enough to be formed by a child’s hands.

Pottery décor is by no mean s cutting edge, as day id used in both ancient and contemporary design. Decorative pottery, however, has taken a modern twist by blending the new with inspiration from rural styles. The lines on a Phu Lang pottery vase for example, are sophisticated adaptations of mountainous patterns. The clay mosaics that adorn swimming pools, villas and offices are talented hands; the material is born from the earth, bearing both the heat and coolness in the layers.

When settlers arrived in Vietnam’s southern Mekong Delta they found a wild and fertile land. Lanh Nguyen from Vietnam Heritage Travel reports on the development of their distinctive cuisine and culture

Some rivers in southern Vietnam are immense, their water clouded with red silt. Tiny canals run in all directions. Different topographies have given rise to all manner of boats and junks. Young girls row tiny sampans across the waves. Large wooden barges move slowly towards Cai Rang Floating Market

Long ago, settlers pushed down dark canals in the marshes of U Minh Ha and U Ming Thuong. Learning on their swords, they stood before the vast forests around Chau Doc and Long Xuyen, listening to the cries of tigers. In this wild land they struggled to survive, break new ground and till their fields.

Once a bustling trading port, the town of Hoi An in central Vietnam inspires artists and writers with its beauty.

In Hoi An, Ancient, winding roads call for hesitant steps. This is a place to wander and to backtrack, to go slowly. I advance, turn and come back to where I started my path a series of triangles. Each street corner and wall is wrapped in damp moss; each roof sprouts weeds that catch my eye. Straight lines and tight angles are rare in Hoi An, a town in central Vietnam that flourished as a trading port from the 17th to 19th century. All of the old houses are of different heights, their verandas offering places to rest. Low and tall roofs from different triangles against the sky, and beams of sunlight fall upon patches of moss on the ground.