Urbanist Hanoi in Hanoi
[Photos] A Game of Trade: Hanoi’s First International Trade Fair Complex
Hanoi has had many names in its life time; among the lesser-known ones is Ke Cho, which literally means "the market people."
Urbanist Hanoi in Hanoi
[Photos] Wander Through the Old Quarter in 1995 Hanoi
What do you miss most about the 1990s?
Marc Dinh in Hanoi
Chợ Âm Phủ and the Embattled History Behind Hanoi's Book Street
19/12 Street was once a mass burial ground for those who died in the National Resistance against France in 1946. The event shaped the history of the city and the relationship that thrived for 71 years between locals, the street and chợ Âm phủ (Hell Market).
Urbanist Hanoi in Hanoi
[Photos] How Did Hanoians Enjoy Tết in 1955?
With Tết less than a month away, now is probably the time to ramp up shopping trips, cleaning tasks and home decoration efforts.
Urbanist Hanoi in Hanoi
[Photos] Black-and-White Shots of Hanoi Street Scenes From 1940
For thousands of years, streets have served a multitude of purposes.
Linh Pham in Hanoi
Street Cred: Pháo Đài Láng, Home of Ông Voi and Where the War Began
More often than not, a country’s independence is won with guns. The location where the first shots were fired for Vietnam is memorialized to this day.
Urbanist Hanoi in Hanoi
[Photos] What Life in Hanoi Was Like in the 1890s
Can you imagine daily life before electricity, light bulbs, plastics, refrigerators, antibiotics, automobiles and telephones?
Urbanist Hanoi in Hanoi
[Photos] Memories of 1973 Hanoi in 22 Film Photos
Taken by an unknown photographer working for the American Department of Defense, these crisp color images capture Hanoi’s 1973 street life on film. Have a look below.
Saigoneer in Vietnam
[Photos] Enthralling Black-and-White Aerial Shots of 1950s Ha Long Bay
It will come as a surprise to no one that Ha Long Bay was much quieter in the 1950s than it is today.
Saigoneer in Vietnam
[Photos] A Visual Excursion to Past Bac Lieu, Home of Cải Lương Master Cao Van Lau
Tucked just below the Mekong's main aquiferous arteries, Bac Lieu Province serves as an interesting case study of how humans can thrive in swampy, steamy surroundings.
Saigoneer in Hanoi
[Video] Vintage Home Movie Takes You Through the Streets of 1950s Hanoi
Beginning with a delightfully kitsch, Star Wars-esque, rolling text introduction explaining how the clip was filmed during Tet in the early 1950s, the footage quickly shifts to grainy, quotidian foota...
Saigoneer in Vietnam
[Photos] A Rare Aerial Perspective of Saigon in the 1920s
Thanks to the prevalence of photographic drones, nowadays it’s a cakewalk to source aerial photos of Vietnam with just a simple internet search.
Saigoneer in Vietnam
[Photos] A Wistful Reel of Life in Vietnam in 1989
Vietnam is evolving fast. It seems like every day in local metropolises, centuries-old buildings are being demolished to make way for new skyscrapers. The photos below, taken by famed photographer Dav...
Saigoneer in Vietnam
[Photos] 20 Photos of Vietnam's Spartan Rural Provinces in the 1960s
Less than a decade before 1975, Vietnam’s rural provinces were still sparsely developed despite Saigon’s rising position as one of Southeast Asia's major cities.
Saigoneer in Vietnam
[Photos] A Nostalgic Look at Da Lat Market Through Time
Built in 1929, Da Lat’s central market is not only a buzzing commercial center, but also an important historical landmark of the sleepy resort town.
Saigoneer in Vietnam
[Photos] Wilbur's Vietnam: Life in Da Lat, Nha Trang and the Mekong Delta in the 1960s
With his role as a picture editor for National Geographic, Wilbur E. Garrett had many opportunities to travel across Vietnam for photo assignments.
Saigoneer in Vietnam
[Photos] Take a Quick Trip to Vung Tau in 1967
Due to its proximity to Saigon, Vung Tau is a favorite location for a quick weekend trip away to unwind. Based on this set of photos taken in 1967 by American veteran Tom Twitty, the sleepy coastal to...
Julie Vola in Vietnam
[Photos] A Final Family Journey Through Vietnamese Landscapes in the 1800s
This is the third and final collection from my family’s photography archives, and it is also the most important to me. Beyond my family’s colonial past, it is this last series of images that have infl...
Urbanist Hanoi in Hanoi
[Illustrations] Paintings of Hanoi’s Old Quarter in the Feudal Era
Depicting an age before the stress of modern life took hold, these illustrations are an endearing reminder of the Old Quarter’s former imperial life over 1,000 years ago.
Julie Vola in Vietnam
[Photos] Family Albums Depict the Everyday Lives of Vietnamese People in the Late 1800s
Following last week’s photo essay on railway construction, this week’s images focus on the everyday lives of people in northern Vietnam.
Julie Vola in Vietnam
An Ancestral History of Northern Vietnam’s Railway Construction
We often see archival images of old Hanoi, but these photos are different - they are personal. The following shots, which come from a collection of five photo albums, are the only surviving record of ...
Saigoneer in Vietnam
[Photos] 36 Photos of Life in Vietnam in 1956
There are many things to love about life in Vietnam in past decades, but over the years, Vietnamese nowadays might have gotten used to a certain standard of living, making it hard to picture a time wh...
Saigoneer in Hanoi
[Photos] The Serene, Laid-Back Vibe of Hanoi in the Mid-1990s
Hanoi in the mid-1990s was a city of rich traditions and a laid-back lifestyle.
Khoi Pham in Vietnam
Street Cred: Thich Quang Duc, the Monk Who Set Himself on Fire
Despite his peaceful nature, Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc is known today as “the monk who set himself on fire,” serving as a symbol of protest against religious discrimination. In today’s ...
Saigoneer in Vietnam
[Photos] Emperor Bao Dai's 1942 Offering of Worship to Heaven and Earth
Throughout Vietnam’s imperial era, ceremonial rituals were an indispensable part of a local monarch’s reign. One such celebration was Nam Giao, an annual ceremony of utmost importance in the king’s ca...
Saigoneer in Hanoi
[Photos] Early 1980s Hanoi on the Brink of Doi Moi
The early 1980s were a complicated time for Vietnam. Still reeling from the end of a war within the country – not to mention border conflicts with Cambodia and China in the later 1970s – Vietnam was j...
Saigoneer in Hanoi
[Photos] Here's What Hanoi Looked Like In 1905
During the French colonial period, Tonkin, or Đàng Ngoài, was the name given to northern Vietnam. Situated in and around the Red River Delta, the word 'Tonkin' is a corruption of Đông Kinh, the name o...
Saigoneer in Vietnam
[Photos] The Bygone Days of 1920s Vinh Long
Across the internet, there is ample documentation of Vietnam’s cities in the days of French colonialism. Turn-of-the-century countryside snaps, however, are a little harder to come by.
