11 Interesting facts in Vietnam

This is your chance to get some interesting information about Vietnam while you can enjoy below fun facts. This will definitely bring you enjoyment and pleasure.

      1.      Nguyen and uncle Ho

Ho Chi Minh and Nguyen (pronounced “win”) are the two most common names you see everywhere in Vietnam.

Nguyen is the most popular family name in Vietnam, used by around 40% of the population and is also the birth name of the famous Ho Chi Minh.

Ho Chi Minh led the fight for independence against the French and the Japanese. During the subsequent US war, he was regarded as such an important symbol of unification that in 1976, Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City.

      2.      The currency is dong

Another interesting fact that made you giggle…as soon as you found out the name of the Vietnamese currency, It have alot of zero number and you can check the Urban Dictionary’s more explicit meaning in English slang, the dong was another fascinating currency large and growing if you want to collect in to your collection

     3.      White is beautiful

In the West, tanned skin is usually regarded as more ideal then pale white, usually a sign a holiday, hence the popularity of tanning / sunbeds. In Asia, particularly Vietnam, the complete opposite applies.

White is considered the ideal skin colour and any form of tanned skin frowned upon because it’s a sign of being a labourer working in the sun.

As a result, whitening products are big business across the country and the Vietnamese cover up as much as possible when in the sun, whether they’re working the fields or at the beach!

      4.      The breast  milk fruit

The breast milk fruit was your new exotic fruit discovery in Vietnam and an interesting fact that made you giggle. It’s in actual fact a juicy and sweet fruit called ‘star apple’ (vu sua).

It gets its nickname because as you peel it, a few white milky drops dribble out!

      5.      An actual kichen god

Vietnam is the only country we know that has its own deity for the kitchen! His name is Ong Tao and for us foodies was an interesting fact to discover.

According to legend, Ong Tao makes his appearance just before the Vietnamese New Year (Tet) festival. During this time he rushes up to heaven to give his annual report to the God of Heaven on the activities of the family. This report determines the fate of each household in the new year.

Legend also has it that he wears a robe because he forgot to do up his trousers properly before rushing off.

     6.       Coffee paradise

European Coffee Federation statistics, Vietnam is the world’s second largest coffee-producing nation after Brazil, producing 16% of the world’s total coffee (Brazil’s is 40%).

Coffee in Vietnam is incredibly tasty, cheap, and the iced version a refreshing drink to cool you down during the warm, humid months.

      7.      The most popular are motorbike

In Vietnam, motorbikes are everywhere! According to the Ministry of Transport figures from 2013, of the 90+ million population, 37 million were registered with a motorbike and only 2 million with a car.

Owning a car is incredibly expensive because the tax is around 100-200%, so it’s a luxury reserved for the very wealthy. The tax for motorbikes is far cheaper, making it a more affordable means of transportation for everyday folk.

So on your first arrival in Hanoi or Saigon, the first interesting fact you’ll most like notice is that literally everything is done/carried on the motorbike.

      8.      Vietnam is shaped like the letter S

Your first interesting fact about Vietnam is its shape on the map. You will love our funky shaped countries especially ones that resemble glamorous high heels (Italy).

      9.      Vietnamese foods

 Vietnam has a very wide range of noodle, namely: Pho, vermicelli (Bun), grass noodle (Mien), rice noodle (Banh Da) – this one even has 2 different versions: the white and the red ones, ka tieu (Hu Tieu) popular in the South, egg noodle (Mi Van Than) and instant noodle. Speaking of Pho alone, there are somewhat 20 uses.

Vietnam is not the only country to have dipping sauce, but no other places can beat Vietnam in term of the variety of sauce. Vietnam has more than 30 kinds of sauces, from fish sauce, shrimp sauce, crab sauce….to some rare sauce like frog and crab egg sauce. And Vietnam is also the only country to add sauce to the broth. Others only use sauce to enhance the taste for the dishes.

     10.  Tet in Vietnam

Tet Nguyen Dan is the ‘Festival of the First Day’.

It celebrates christmas, birthdays and New Year together. The whole nation celebrates turning a year older together!

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The Ancestral spirits are welcomed and families reunite in the hope that the coming year will bring good fortune upon everyone.

     11.  Language Vietnamese

There are some interesting facts about Vietnam related to their national language Vietnamese, here they are:

The language has six different tones. The meaning of a word can change with the tone used to utter it. This factor makes it pretty difficult to learn the language.

The script of the language has twenty nine alphabets, which are very much similar to the English language’s alphabets.

The language is not related to other languages, making it linguistically unique. English is gaining popularity and would be a second language.