Photo: Bao Dan Toc

Vietnam is a multi-ethnic country with 54 ethnic groups and nearly 4,000 years of history, which built up a great culture of diversity and uniqueness, especially traditional costumes. You can know more about the beauty, elegance and characteristics of local people when you look at their traditional costumes. Vietnamese traditional costumes have been affected by many cultures in the world from the past to present.

1. AO DAI (Vietnamese Traditional Dress)

There is no doubt that the Ao Dai is very well-known in Vietnam and the world because this is the most popular traditional costume of Vietnam. 

Over the years, Ao Dai went through lots of transformations, affected by Western culture. During French colonialism, a French-trained artist named Cat Tuong, or Le Mur, made a revolution for this outfit design. He combined the western dress style with the traditional ao dai, making it much more fitted and in true colonial style, requiring a tight-fitting corset. During that period, Ao Dai was promoted as the national costume for the modern era. It had many different styles throughout the decades until its appearance in modern time as the simple, colorful and graceful Vietnamese national dress. The modern “Ao Dai” consists of long trousers and a two-flap dress (from waist down, the dress splits into front and back flaps).

Photo: Bao Lao Dong

Nowadays, Vietnamese are familiar with Western clothing, but this traditional Vietnamese dress is still a symbol showing the beauty of Vietnamese culture and remains a very popular garment for formal occasions such as weddings or the New Year celebrations.

For men, since the era of Lord Nguyen, rules to wear “Ao Dai” are not as strict as for women. Nowadays, men occasionally wear it for special events but it’s less popular than for women.

2. NON LA (Conical Palm-Leaf Hat)

Non La (Vietnamese conical palm-leaf hat) is a part of Vietnamese costumes for females. While traveling along Vietnam, a common sight you can come across is that Non La is taken by local ladies, walking along the sidewalk. This conical hat is very handy in a tropical country like Vietnam, especially useful in the countryside. It protects farmers from rain or sunny weather.

Like many other traditional costumes of the country, Non La has its own origin, resulting from a legend which pertained to Vietnam wet rice growing culture. Once upon a time, an elegant goddess descended from the sky to protect human-being from a heavy deluge. She wore a giant hat made of four round shaped leaves stitched together by bamboo sticks. That hat was so large that the people were guarded against all the rain, and brought normal life back to the people. After the Goddess was gone, a temple was built to honor her as the Rain-defending Goddess. Locals tried to make a similar hat to the one that the Goddess had on her head so they went into the forest to find natural and available materials such as palm leaves, bark of Moc tree and bamboo to create the Non La as known today. The Non La has become a daily essential for the farmers on the rice fields, boat men and women on the rivers and local street vendors in big cities.

Photo: Nguyễn Thị Hải Yến

The two most famous types of Non La are the Non La of Chuong Village (30 km southwest of Hanoi) and Non Bai Tho in Hue – the ancient imperial capital of Vietnam. Non Bai Tho literally means ‘poem conical hat’ because each hat has a picture of Vietnamese poem and folklore, written by skillful artisans, which can only be seen under the sunlight. A soft silk tie is attached to the inside of the hat to keep the hat on the wearer’s head firmly.

3. AO TU THAN (Four-flapper Dress)

Before the appearance of the Ao Dai, the Ao Tu Than was worn by Vietnamese women and considered as the country’s most enduring relics. The origin of Ao Tu Than is still a question but its illustration was sculpted on the surface of Trong Dong (copper drum) thousands of years ago.

The basic Ao Tu Than consists of three main parts: the “Yếm” – an ancient bodice worn as an undergarment by women to cover the chest area; a long skirt from the waist; and a flowing tunic worn as the outermost layer. The tunic splits into four flaps, also called “than”: two back flaps sewn together (made up a full flap) and the two front flaps can be tied together by a silk sash tied at the waist as a belt. Originally, Ao Tu Than was dyed with natural colors, like the dye-yam, tropical-almond leaves, or mud. In these modern days, Ao Tu Than is no longer widely used in the local daily life but can be found in several northern-related festivals and events with more vivid colors. Because the bodice and the skirt and the tunic have different color gradients.

Photo: Dong Phuc Song Phu

If you have chance to join in the Lim festival in Bac Ninh Province (1 of the 10 Great Festivals in Vietnam), you can witness the female folk singers wearing this attire with accessories, such as “Khan Mo Qua” – a black crow’s beak kerchief made of heavy fabric, “Guoc Moc” – a pair of wooden clogs and “Non Quai Thao” – a kind of conical hat with fringe hanging at both sides.

4. AO BA BA (The Shirt of Madam Ba)

Although Ao Dai is chosen as Vietnamese national costume, the people in the Mekong Delta (southern Vietnam) have their own traditional clothing – the Ao Ba Ba. This costume is so popular in the southwestern countryside that you can see most of the local people wearing this shirt during their daily activities. While you visit Mekong Delta, you can be impressed by the images of the Ao Ba Ba glimmering under the green coconut groves, in the rowing boats down the rivers, on the monkey bamboo bridges, or between the crowded floating markets.

The Ao Ba Ba is a collarless shirt with a back made of a straight piece of cloth. This elaborate shirt is often paired with long white or black trousers. The colors and materials of this set depend on the combination and the desire of the wearers. Farmers and peasants in the Mekong Delta used to wear black or brown Ao Ba Ba to work on the rice fields because they were both clean and easy to wash. Near the hem, there are two extra pockets that are quite convenient for holding necessary items. Thanks to these conveniences and comfort, Ao Ba Ba is often worn by both men and women in the Mekong Delta in their daily life activities. Particularly in special events or festive occasions, they will choose Ao Ba Ba with lighter colors like white, ash gray. Noble class choose the color of young, pale blue with more expensive fabrics such as silk or satin to show off their richness.

Photo: Collected

Over the years, the basic design of traditional Ao Ba Ba has been kept from generations to generations but refurbished to update new fashion trends.

It’s easily recognized that Ao Ba Ba is usually worn with a checkered scarf (also called bandana). This bandana can be black and white or brown and while, not sophisticated but as a gentle highlight for the wearer’s casual style.

Together with Ao Ba Ba, a conical hat and bandana made up the very distinctive beauty and gentleness of Southern Vietnamese people.

5. Vietnamese traditional costumes of Ethnic groups

In Vietnam, ethnic tribe costumes can vary depending on their own characteristics, but most share a common theme of featuring very colorful and very complicated repeated patterns, with many clashing items worn at once.

5.1 Traditional costumes of H’Mong ethnic group in Vietnam

Traditional costumes of H’mong women are very sophisticated and vibrant, typically made of linen with many highlighted colors and embroidered motifs. A completed outfit consists of a deep V-chest shirt, an overall of two square pieces covering the front and the back, a big belt, a headscarf, leggings, and a truncated cone-shaped gather skirt. Along with the handmade costumes, the women often attach jewelry such as silver earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and rings; which makes them look more beautiful and distinctive. 

Photo: Du lich Ho Ba Be

5.2 Traditional costumes of Thai ethnic group in Vietnam

While you take a trip to Vietnam’s northwestern region (Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Son La, Hoa Binh), you will interact with Thai ethnic group and surely be impressed by the Thai women in their traditional attire: a close-fitting blouse and a black long skirt. The cloth belt which connects the blouse and skirt is made of blue, green or pink cloth. The green color goes well with the white blouse and black skirt.

Photo: kiemsat.vn

In addition, the outfit is paired with a sophisticated brocade headscarf (locally called as “Khăn Piêu”) and a few items of silver jewelry, which make the costume more elegant and demure. Traditionally, the black Thai wear a black blouse with a high collar, while the white Thai wear a white blouse with a V-shaped collar. A blouse has two rows of silver buttons in the front: one with female butterfly-shaped buttons and the other with male butterfly-shaped buttons. The interesting fact is that Thai girls wear a blouse with an even number of buttons, while married women dress up the blouse shirt with an odd number of buttons.

5.3 Traditional costumes of Cham ethnic group in Vietnam

The Cham, who have lived along the coast of central Vietnam for a long time, possess a rich culture profoundly influenced by Indian culture. Although Cham’s costume is not as colorful as other clothings in Vietnam, it still has its own charming beauty.

Both men and women wear long one-piece sarongs or cloth wrappers. Men wear shirts fastened down the center with buttons, while women wear long-sleeved pullover blouses. The waistband is tied across the chest and around the waist. It is the attire’s highlight because it is prominently designed with golden iridescent shades and meticulous detail. The Cham women wear the colorful and charming long dresses in major occasions like the Kate New Year festival, the Ramuwan festival, weddings and the celebration of girls’ reaching adulthood. The white colored one is the sole option for attending religious mass. The Cham wear a dress without split flaps because it makes their walk light, flowing and attractive.

Photo: Bao Dan Tri

Headscarf is an indispensable item as it expresses the culture factor, which means that it’s not easy for strangers to make the acquaintance of the Cham women, who are reserved and only express themselves through their eyes, lips and cheeks. A gentle glance or smile can replace a greeting.

Over the years, the modern Cham long dress has been somewhat modified but still retains traditional features. The dress looks better with 2 intertwined embroidered cloth belts, heightening the seductive curves of the wearer’s body.

6. Summary

Vietnamese traditional costumes have been influenced by western fashion trends and replaced by more modern and convenient clothing styles but traditional charm and main characteristics are still preserved. The Vietnamese people still pride themselves on their unique dressing style and culture. And that elegant beauty remains the attraction for travelers when coming to this stunning S-shaped country.

Source: vietnamtravel.com

The trend of green tourism, combining cultural research or music events is assessed to help the Vietnamese tourism industry develop.

The representative of Southeast Asia's leading tourism platform also pointed out the trends that are and continue to "shape the Vietnamese tourism market" in the next year. Mr Caesar said these predictions are based on the database and user experience on the app.

Tourism associated with events and music nights is one of the outstanding trends in recent times. Group concerts Blackpink in Hanoi "is a good example." The event attracted twice as many bookings on Traveloka App compared to a week before the event. Blackpink's two concerts not only attracted visitors from other provinces and cities in Vietnam but also attracted visitors from Asian countries.

According to estimates of the Hanoi Department of Tourism, during BlackPink's two concert nights, the total number of tourists to Hanoi is more than 170,000, tourism revenue reached more than 600 billion VND. The number of flight bookings to Hanoi at that time increased 10 times.

Photo: VnExpress.vn

The trend of sustainable tourism is also on the rise, which is considered a positive tourism trend. Traveloka's data shows a noticeable shift in travelers' preferences. "Young travelers tend to minimize their impact on the environment, looking for green experiences and places to stay during their trip," Caesar said.

Destinations such as Ninh Binh, Hoi An have seen a significant increase in searches and bookings. These spots are popular for their natural beauty, preserved cultural heritage, eco-friendly accommodation, and engaging experiences with local people. The accommodation demand of visitors to Ninh Binh in the first half of 2023 has spiked by more than 80% compared to 2022.

Tourism associated with cultural exploration is also a central trend in Vietnam. Vietnam's Ministry of Culture and Sports has initiated a project to build a national tourism brand for culture. Specific objectives in the Vietnam Strategy for the Development of Cultural Industries to 2020, with a vision to 2030, determine that cultural tourism development accounts for 10-15% of the US$8 billion in total tourism revenue and strives to 2030, accounting for 15-20% of the US$40 billion in total tourism revenue.

According to the analysis of user data, destinations including Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Phu Quoc, Da Lat, Nha Trang and Hue are visited by many tourists to explore local culture.

Mr Caesar Indra said the platform is also focusing on "enriching destination information" for visitors to learn more deeply about the culture where they travel. For example, when visitors search for the keyword "Phu Quoc" on the application, they can view information about cultural heritages, synthesize appropriate tourism experience activities, and promote cultural understanding right from the local scope.

Source: vnexpress.net

(Photo: Tri Le from Pixabay)

Vietnam joins the UAE in winning the World's Leading Heritage Destination 2023 award ceremony at the World Travel Awards final ceremony.

Vietnam beat other contenders Armenia, Brazil, Egypt, Greece, Japan and Saudi Arabia to win the prestigious award, the World Travel Awards reported Dec. 2. Previously, in 2022, 2020 and 2019, Vietnam was also honored in the category of World's Leading Heritage Destination. In 2021, Armenia won the first prize.

5 destinations including Hanoi, Moc Chau, Tam Dao, Ha Nam, Phuc Quoc also won awards in important categories.

Hanoi won the world's top short-vacation destination for the third time in a row, beating other heavyweights such as Athens, Dubai, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, New York, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo. Tam Dao Vinh Phuc received the World's Leading Tourist Town award for the second time. Moc Chau Son La received the World's Leading Local Nature Destination award. Henan province received the Top Local Cultural Destination award for the first time. Phu Quoc is the world's leading natural island.

A number of tourism businesses in Vietnam were also honored in the final award ceremony of the World Travel Awards 2023 such as Vietravel received the World's Leading Tour Operator award for the 7th time in a row, The Empyrean Cam Ranh Beach Resort in Khanh Hoa received the World's Leading Entertainment Resort award. Sun World Fansipan Legend Lao Cai received two awards for Cultural Tourism and Natural Landscape Resort in the world.

The most important award in this year's final award ceremony, World's Leading Destination, was given to Maldives and is the 4th consecutive time the island nation has been honored in this category.

The World Travel Awards (WTA) is the world's leading award, likened to the "Oscar of the tourism industry", held annually since 1993. The event aims to honor, reward and recognize excellence in the field of tourism. Categories include hotels, resorts, airlines, travel, destinations, parks. In addition to the WTA Asia-Pacific Awards ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City, award ceremonies for other regions continue to take place in Saint Lucia (Caribbean), Batumi (Georgia) and Dubai (UAE).

Source: vnexpress.net

(Photo: VnExpress)

With thousands of years of culture and history, Vietnam is currently a cultural tourist destination attracting a large number of tourists. The types of cultural tourism in our country develop very diversely with many outstanding destinations. Here is the information of the top 10 most famous cultural resorts in Vietnam!

1. Learn what is cultural tourism? Types of cultural tourism

Cultural tourism is simply understood as a form of tourism that involves learning and experiencing typical cultural products in a country or region of visitors during the trip.

The development of cultural tourism is associated with activities to preserve and promote local traditional cultural values, in order to attract and retain tourists.

Photo: Hanoi Times

Visitors will often be interested in exploring many cultural elements of the destination such as festivals, beliefs, customs, historical relics, architecture, art,... Therefore, the types of tourism belonging to the group of cultural tourism are relatively diverse, such as:

+ Festival tourism

+ Spiritual tourism

+ Food tourism

+ Heritage tourism

+ Museum tourism

2. Current situation of cultural tourism development in Vietnam

Vietnamese culture with a history of more than 4000 years is a premise for the strong development of cultural tourism. Our country has 54 brotherly peoples with different customs, lifestyles and beliefs,... is a rich, unique cultural resource imbued with Vietnamese identity.

Cultural tourism activities in Vietnam are organized based on regional characteristics and focus on development in a variety of types, such as:

Heritage tourism: Vietnam currently has 44,000 landscapes and historical relics, of which 3000 belong to the national level, 5000 belong to the provincial level and 8 world cultural heritages are recognized by UNESCO.

Museum tourism: Vietnam has 117 museums preserving, displaying historical artifacts that are testament to the country's thousands of years of development.

Festival tourism: according to statistics, Vietnam has up to 8,000 festivals, many of which belong to the national level. 90% of them are traditional festivals with a history of tens to hundreds of years, such as the Northwest Cultural Festival, Southern Land Festival, Central Highlands Gong Festival, Hue Festival,...

Art tourism: Vietnamese folk art is extremely unique folk songs such as quan ho, paddle, cai luong, ca tru ,...; musical pieces from gourd, flute, erhu, ,...; or water puppet art; Highland gong,...

Spiritual tourism: ancestor worship is one of the beliefs of Vietnamese people. In addition, religions in our country have also developed diversely with 90% being Buddhist, the rest being Christianity and Protestantism,...

Food tourism: Vietnamese cuisine is world famous for its diversity of flavors and countless famous delicacies such as banh mi, pho, Hanoi bun cha, Hue beef noodles, Quang noodles, Lang Vong nuggets,...

In general, in parallel with the development of cultural tourism in Vietnam, the preservation and promotion of traditional and original cultural values are increasingly highlighted. Profits from cultural tourism activities also contribute a significant source of funds to the preservation of cultural products bearing national brands.

3. Typical cultural tourist destinations in Vietnam

Over time, Vietnamese culture has also been integrated and intersected with many other cultures in the world but still retains its inherent identity.

Here are some suggestions for some outstanding cultural tourist destinations in Vietnam that you should spend time exploring.

3.1. Saigon cultural tourism

Following the flow of history, Saigon's culture has a bold Asian-European blend. Here, you will see many French-style architectural works such as Notre Dame Cathedral, City Post Office, Ben Thanh Market ,...; or Chinese architecture in Tianhou Temple, Wenling Assembly Hall, 

Yi'an Assembly Hall,... There are also heroic historical relics of the nation such as Independence Palace, Nha Rong Wharf, Cu Chi Tunnels ,...

3.2. Hanoi cultural tourism

Coming to Hanoi, you can admire the ancient architecture and historical relics such as Hoan Kiem Lake, Opera House, Hanoi Old Quarter, Temple of Literature – Quoc Tu Giam, Tran Quoc Pagoda ,...; explore the National History Museum, Hanoi Museum, Museum of Ethnology,...; Watch traditional water puppet art performances,...

3.3. Southern cultural tourism area in Dong Thap

Phuong Nam cultural tourism area is located in Long Hung A commune, Lap Vo district, Dong Thap province. The project has an area of 17ha, including 5 main items: Nam Bo Museum, Dang Family Museum, Nam Phuong Linh Tu, Nam Phuong Linh Tu Tribe, and the surrounding lang school range symbolizing 5 continents.

The trip to explore Phuong Nam Cultural Tourism Area is an opportunity for visitors to understand more about daily life, material, spiritual culture as well as production methods,... of Southern villagers from the time of emergency, establishing hamlets.

3.4. Cultural tourism in Hue

The ancient capital of Hue is a tourist destination in Central Vietnam with a rich history and unique cultural space in Vietnam. The locality is home to 7 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including both tangible and intangible heritage.

Among them must be mentioned the complex of Hue ancient capital relics, Hue court music, Nguyen dynasty woodblocks, Nguyen dynasty manuscripts, poetry on Hue court architecture,...

Poems at the corridor of the Purple Forbidden city (Photo: thuathienhue.gov.vn)

3.5. Outstanding cultural tourist landmarks – Ha Giang

Ha Giang is not only an area inhabited by ethnic minorities with unique and diverse life and customs, but also an outstanding cultural tourism destination with 3 national treasures; 29 national monuments and scenic spots; 30 provincial monuments and scenic spots; and 21 National Intangible Cultural Heritage,...

The Ba Trieu Temple Festival is held from the 22nd to 24th of the second lunar month (Photo: cand.com.vn)

3.6. Hoi An cultural tourism

The most famous cultural tourist destination in Hoi An is Hoi An Ancient Town – a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Once a busy international trading port in the sixteenth – seventeenth centuries, the culture of Hoi An Ancient Town has a mixture of Vietnamese identity and cultural imprints of many other countries in the world such as China, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, ...

Coming to Hoi An, you should spend time visiting works such as Tan Ky Ancient House, Cau Pagoda, Chinese clubhouses, history museums,... to experience the bold cultural space that is still preserved intact today.

Front of the Precious Heritage Museum (Photo: Réhahn)

3.7. Cultural tourism in Da Lat

Dalat is a young city possessing a unique culture, with the intersection between traditional values and modernity integrated with the world. Cultural tourism in Da Lat is most developed in spirituality, heritage and culinary forms,...

Here, visitors can visit famous historical relics such as Da Lat Station, Bao Dai Palace, Lam Dong Provincial Museum ,...; spiritual works such as Linh Quy Dharma An Pagoda, Linh Phuoc Pagoda, Domaine de Marie Church, Truc Lam Monastery, Da Lat Church,...

Photo: Zing.vn

3.8. Cultural tourism in Lao Cai

Lao Cai is home to 25 ethnic groups with distinct cultures. Therefore, this land has a rich cultural identity, historical traditions, cuisine and traditional arts,... There is great potential for the development of cultural tourism.

The province currently has 53 recognized monuments, of which 31 are provincial and 22 are national; and more than 13,000 artifacts, relics and artifacts of profound historical value.

Photo: Vietnam.vn

3.9. Cultural tourism in Ninh Binh

Once the capital of 3 dynasties of Dinh – Tien Le – Ly, Ninh Binh is known as a land of human spirits with a long history and culture. Therefore, culture is an important tourism resource that the province always focuses on exploiting for development.

The whole province of Ninh Binh currently has more than 1800 relics with key cultural tourism projects put into service for visitors such as Hoa Lu Ancient Capital, Trang An, Bai Dinh Pagoda, Tam Coc – Bich Dong, King Le Dai Hanh Temple, Phat Diem Stone Church,...

Phat Diem Stone Church (Photo: Collected)

3.10. Mui Ca Mau Cultural and Tourist Park

Mui Ca Mau Cultural and Tourist Park, belonging to Mui Ca Mau World Biosphere Reserve, is located in Mui Hamlet, Dat Mui Commune, Ngoc Hien District, Ca Mau Province with a total area of 159.7ha, 120km from Ca Mau city center.

Photo: Tripadvisor

Surely the above information has helped you understand more about what cultural tourism is. Plan to visit prominent cultural destinations in Vietnam to learn and experience for yourself the unique characteristics of the culture in each locality.

Source: vinwonders.com