How is Vietnam typically perceived by people from other countries?

Question

How do foreign people usually think of Vietnam?

Answer 1

Vietnam is often viewed with a mix of curiosity, fascination, and admiration by people from around the world. Here are some common perceptions and impressions that foreigners may have of Vietnam:

Natural Beauty: Vietnam is known for its stunning landscapes, including picturesque rice terraces, breathtaking mountains, serene beaches, and lush forests. Foreigners often appreciate the country's diverse and scenic natural beauty.

Rich History and Culture: Vietnam has a long and rich history, with a vibrant culture shaped by influences from various dynasties, colonial periods, and indigenous traditions. Foreigners often recognize Vietnam's cultural heritage, including its traditional music, dance, architecture, and festivals.

Resilience and Spirit: Vietnam's history of overcoming challenges, particularly during times of war and conflict, has earned admiration from people around the world. The Vietnamese people's resilience, determination, and spirit of unity are often acknowledged and respected.

Delicious Cuisine: Vietnamese cuisine is highly regarded globally, known for its fresh ingredients, delicate flavors, and balance of herbs and spices. Dishes like pho, banh mi, spring rolls, and Vietnamese coffee are celebrated for their unique and enticing flavors.

Warm Hospitality: Foreign visitors frequently mention the warm and welcoming nature of the Vietnamese people. The hospitality, friendliness, and helpfulness of locals often leave a positive impression on travelers.

Bustling Cities and Vibrant Street Life: Cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are known for their bustling streets, vibrant markets, and a lively atmosphere. Foreigners often appreciate the energetic ambiance, street food culture, and the blend of old and new in urban Vietnam.

Economic Growth and Development: Vietnam's economic growth and development in recent years have been remarkable, attracting the attention of foreign investors and business professionals. The country's emerging market status and potential for growth are often acknowledged.

War History and Reminders: Due to the Vietnam War, Vietnam holds historical significance for many foreigners. Some may associate Vietnam with war-related sites like the Cu Chi Tunnels or the War Remnants Museum, which provide insights into the country's past.

It's important to note that perceptions can vary greatly among individuals, and these observations represent general trends rather than universal opinions. People's perceptions of Vietnam may also be influenced by their personal experiences, cultural background, and exposure to Vietnamese culture, history, and people.

Answer 2

I lived there for 7 months as an IT university student in ho Chi Minh City. But I travelled all over after Uni semester ended. I was over there with my Viet gf that I'd met in Australia and had been with for a year.

The education system was so different. Much less funded, the architecture looked like a high school, and the learning was very much by wrote.
Students get marked for creative efforts on a one to ten scale. My gf at the time hated art because she got a 4/10 mark for an artwork in early high school. She still draws like a five year old. Bit sad.

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General culture Ho Chi Minh

Vietnamese coffee was first given to me at 7pm. It's 5x stronger than coffee I'm used to. Didn't sleep a wink.
There was a huge health focus on food. Fast food was actually two to three times more expensive than normal healthy food. It was treated like a luxury food for rich folk. I love this so much.
People were more reserved overall, and communicated and were comfortable with silence. I really learned to love silence, it was a game changer for me.
Sexually the Vietnamese were more reserved than Australia. I get so tired of the root rat culture around it here. So going there was a huge relief because I didn't feel like I needed to pretend I was interested in that. I had a gf already and she lived with her family and I lived nearby. So I could talk with people and didn't try to have sex, I think they appreciated it. It was way easier for me for sure.
Motorbikes are crazy. Scooters everywhere. Busses are not going to stop before hitting you. Rules are more heuristics. Danger at any moment. At first I really hated how chaotic and risky it was and hated how people wouldn't let others in or wait their turn like in Australia. But I adjusted and I really loved it by the end.
It was a dangerous place at times, but more like broken glass dangerous (so only dangerous if you didn't take care to avoid it). The poverty can be so bad too. Like nothing I've seen in Australia came close. But the people did not react to it like I expected. There was this pride in where you were in life, and people were so emotionally stable about most things. “Ah bike got stolen? That sucks, what you want to eat?”. Worse could happen.
I got my phone stolen once (trom) but wasn't mad for too long. I just stopped worrying about things.
This was a fun part. I got money cheated out of me countless times because I'm unable to bargain. Eventually I decided I was fine, it was not out of malice and the only reason I was upset was because I hadn't accepted that it was a part of their culture to bargain. And I was mad because I was not very good at bargaining.
I'm a white foreigner. You get treated differently. Usually overcharged because they figure I have more money to give. And I hate to admit this, but they are right. I do and the cost of 20 thousand more really is negligible to me even though I wasn't earning anything while over there. And by paying a bit more and not making a fuss, I missed good bargains but got the chance to talk with people I would never get a chance to understand and get to know. Even if that's in broken Vietnamese.
I learnt to listen to the poor. This sounds bad, but the poverty is so pervasive that you find yourself not even seeing these people. So I started to speak with them. I'm a powerfully built man so I felt safe so I just did it. I was rewarded with kindness and understanding and consideration. You will never regret this choice.
Chinese New year is insanely important. Everything shuts for a week and everyone goes home to their hometown. HCMC was a ghost town, went from bikes shoulder to shoulder to being able to play soccer in the street.

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Language

The language is beautiful but very hard to first learn all the sounds to. But once you do, everything is written how it's spoken.
English doesn't have that correlation between written and spoken, you would see Vietnamese people say their name and they write it down. No need to ask for spelling. I was in awe.
The word for help is very close to the word for rape. Please help me. Funny times.
People have 4 names. FatherSurname MotherSurname ExtraName GivenName. And while each individual name was quite common, the combinations of the common names were usually unique. Most of my friends had a common pool of 6 names, and I'm taking a lot of friends. Knowing all their given names became so important to identify which Thanh you were talking about.
Foreigners don't often try to learn the language. When I answered people in their language they would yell in surprise and get really excited. I've been dragged around many a public place by a stranger showing me off to their friends nearby. I worked to stay humble by their attention and I always had a wonderful time.
Culture and language can NOT be seperated. In Vietnam you do not say you hate something, you say you DON'T LIKE it. Subelty was a huge part of communication over there. I felt I had made a breakthrough when a friend asked if I wanted to do this expensive thing, and I smiled and started singing Khong Co Tien, Khong Co Kem (no have money, no have icecream).
The language has a system of pronouns that change based on who and what you are and who and what you are talking to. They don't just have “you”. An older woman would call me “em” (child or girl who's younger than you), or maybe “Tay" (westerner/foreigner) or because the woman might be a few years older but likes the traditional role of older men maybe Anh (man who's slightly older than you). Ok and I'd call her “di” (aunt) or “ba” (married woman) or if she fit the definition Chi (woman slightly older than you) and lastly she might like to be called em (girl who is younger than you or child) just so it sounds traditional.

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Travel

Different areas of Vietnam are VASTLY different. Even the dialect from north to south to centre to west can be unintelligible despite being the same language.
Rural Vietnam is disorienting when you come from the city. It's barely believable that you are in the same country.
Ha Noi has so much more history. It's a great place to visit, but try not get I to a “discussion” on if the north or south is better. You run out of daylight.
Da Nang feels like Newcastle Australia. A very beachy vibe and a wonderful atmosphere of laid back seaside. I loved it the most, but if you are in HCMC there's a similar place about an hour or so South that's not as good but also a very nice beachy place to visit (vung tau). But in the city part it's very very different and unique in its own way.
Hoi An is near Da Nang and it's a old city with canals and is mainly for tourism now. The lanterns are beautiful, and sitting on a little boat on the river listening to music of guitar while this young crazy and drunk Viet student tell me how much he likes me and foreigners (it was a bit creepy). Very fun experience, he was harmless so I didn't worry. Bit of a goofy guy :)
Hue was my gf hometown. And it's so different. The people were so different again. The food was interesting and unique. I met some of her family and we rode bikes into the jungle, we found a part of the river with lots of huge stones and we swam there and cooked some meat on a Little fire we made, it was a wonderful day. There was a visit to the imperial city, which was like stepping into a Mulan movie. Not that I'd mention the Chinese, as since Vietnamese have strong feelings on the Chinese. Not everyone but the ones who do react badly care a lot.
Ha Long bay was stunning. No other word. It's like a god had placed the mountains in the water. You just have to see it. We also went to an island I the area that was about 2h by boat. That was pretty cool. But we did have about 3 million extorted from us at that point. Part of the game. But in the north there's a huge performance around how much trouble you are in that can be quite lengthy, then they say that ok ok I can help you but you have to help them first (give money). In the south they say you did the wrong thing but if you give some money I'll let you go. Corruption is a sad reality of life in any government position in Vietnam, but it's not the fault of the individual but the systems that force them to do so in order to survive. I never took it personally once I understood.
Sa Pa was probably the weirdest place to visit. It's rural in the sense of feeling like it's almost 200 years ago. The local ethnic group literally still do the dowry thing and live in huts and farm rice. But not in poverty, it's a quietly industrious and simple way of life. And the men speak the ethnic language and Vietnamese and do business to sell their rice and the women learn their ethnic language and English and earn money for tourism. The landscape is stunning. Rolling hills and huge difference between the highest and lowest points. I climbed fansipang mountain which can be done in a day pretty much. Great experience.
Also traveled out to the west. Very different again. I know I'm not being descriptive but his is where a lot of coconut farming is done as well as a lot of pagodas (though pagodas are fairly common). Got to see a lot of coconut Industries. Vietnam style. And the vegetarian food out there is always amazing, as there's so many pagodas out there and the monks who live there do not ready meat. So they're very good at cooking vegetarian cuisine.

Not sure what else to say. It's probably already too long. Happy to chat in comments if I have rushed anything and poorly worded something.

Answer 3

I think that Vietnam is populated with an astonishing people. The French learnt this at Điện Biên Phủ - there are not a lot of people who would carry artillery over mountains, after all.

My opinion is that a Vietnamese child must learn about hard work and making money at about the same time they learn to eat rice. They are a beautiful and placid people, until they become tenacious.

I further think that if it wasn’t for an astonishingly ignorant US State Department and presidency, then the letters written to President Truman by Hồ Chí Minh would have been taken seriously; both the US and Vietnam would have been spared a great tragedy.

The very concept of a Vietnamese communist is something of a contradiction in terms.

I also think that this is the sexiest national costume on the planet.
Also, this is the most surprising thing I can serve to guests:

Those would be my thoughts about Vietnam.

Answer 4

I have a positive view of vietnam actually. Vietnam is one of my favorite countries and I tend to visit it.

What comes to my mind of vietnam is:

The History

I have learned about the vietnamese dynasties, french rule, japanese occupation, VietMinh, the first indochina war between the VietMinh and the french, the vietnam war and the third indochina war.

The most thing what I think of vietnam from history is the first indochina war and the vietnam war

The vietnam war is really a interesting topic I learned and it teaches me of how the Vietcong and the VietMinh liberated all of vietnam from french and american imperialism and reunified the country into one country the socialist republic of vietnam in 1976.

Cities

I tend to admire and love cities such as saigon and hanoi. I do love vietnamese cities so much.


Cuisine

I basically do admire the vietnamese cuisine but I haven't eaten it before. I know Vietnam has the best food but I might one day basically try it.

Lastly Friendship

Zambia and Vietnam have a good relationship! We zambians think of vietnam in a different way and the relationship that we have with vietnam.