Vietnamese Family

Vietnamese Family

Traditional Vietnamese Family

There are a lot of differences between Vietnamese family to the European family: From the family size to the role of each member of the family and it's also different from the past to now.

Vietnamese family in the past

More than 30 years ago, Vietnamese family was very big. A couple could have about 5 to 10 children!!! Five kids were not really big. Eight kids were very normal. Take an example, my parents ( more than 60 years old) have 10 children. And most of my aunts and uncles also have from 5 to 10 children. Moreover, some of my parents' neighbors have even 12 children. Especially, in the center of Vietnam the family's size is bigger than the other places. In a typical family,there were three generations: grand parents - parents - children. The roles of family's members were also different. Still keeping the tradition: the man had the main role, the family didn't have the balance. Any decision just could be made by the grandfather or father. The children didn't have the power to make their own decision. The women always listened to the men.

Reason

Vietnam had independence in 1975. We were invaded by the Chinese for a very long time. After that the French and then the American. In the war, we couldn't develop our country. When the war finished, Vietnam was a very poor country. In addition, Vietnam had to build the country from nothing. The country faced with hunger, illiteracy and poverty. With all the difficulties, we didn't have a good health care or pregnancy care. The government had some strategies to reduce the amount of children in a family. However, it wasn't popular to all the villages or countryside areas.

One more reason was people's thinking. Most of old people thought that having more kid was having more happiness. And another thinking was: "every kid was a child of God. God gave birth, so God would take care of the kid." In addition, they preferred boys to girls.

Vietnamese family at Saigon

Result

The country was not developed, so the family couldn't have enough condition for a big family. The economic at that time was agriculture. Most people were farmers or the husband could work something else and the wife was housewife. The income that a couple made weren't enough to raise 5 to 10 kids. The clearly result was the living condition was really bad. Serious result was the children couldn't go to school. The children didn't come to school, or they went to school for the primary and stopped. There were not a lot of people could come to high school or university. Preferring boys to girls made some family have many kids. Women didn't have any voice. Therefore, the men in the past used to drink, smoke a lot and behave badly.

Vietnamese family in present day

With a lot of campaigns and changes in the social life after the war until now,Vietnamese family has changed.

Modern Vietnamese family size

Unlike a big family as in the past 30 years. Now, the family just has 4 to 5 members including parents. A couple has about 2 or 3 kids. They don't even care too much if they only have all boys, or all girls. Rarely, we can see a family with 3 generations.

Modern Vietnamese family member's role

Women have their own voice. They had fought for their equality. Women can make their decision together with men. They also find jobs to work. The husband will try to help his wife with housework or taking care of the baby. It's equal in the family's life. The wife tries to balance her work and her family.

However, there is still violence in family. The man drinks and hits his wife sometimes. Some couples end with divorce but some try to keep the family, even they are not happy. The excuse is: because of the kids. They don't want the kids don't have father, or mother.

Modern Vietnamese family: Better result

More and more children can go to school and finish university or college. The family's life is better. It makes the country develop because each family is a cell of the society.

More about family and culture in Vietnam

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• Vietnamese Hat Asian conical hat known as Non La

Vietnam Currency

Vietnam Currency: Dong

Vietnamese Dong (VND)

The Currency of Vietnam is the Vietnamese Dong, its abbreviation is VND. The exchange rate of the Vietnamese Dong between the Euro is 28.000VND = 1�, and the exchange rate with the American dollar is 20.000VND = 1$.

The standard of living in Vietnam is 3 to 4 times cheaper than in Europe or America. Prices in Vietnam use tend to be thousands of Dongs, that's the reason in Vietnam there are almost no coins.

Currency Exchange

Where to get Vietnamese Dong in Europe?

Unfortunately there's no bank or exchange center that has Vietnamese Dong outside Vietnam. However you can exchange Vietnam Dong contacting any traveler who came from Vietnam or oversea Vietnamese people. How to contact with people to exchange Dongs?, quite easy, just use our forum:

http://vietnamcambodiaforum.com/general-vietnam-forum/

Where to exchange Vietnam Dong into Euros in Europe?

Pretty much the same problem as before, you will need to contact an individual to exchange currency. You can use our forum:

http://vietnamcambodiaforum.com/general-vietnam-forum/

Where can I exchange Euros or Dollars for Dong in Vietnam?

You can exchange currency in any Vietnamese Bank or currency exchange center, also you can exchange currency in some jewelry shops.

However the best option is, by far, an ATM. The bank fee is quite low and the exchange rate is the official.

Why I can't get Vietnam Dong in my bank?

The Vietnamese Dong doesn't quote outside Vietnam, it's Vietnam policy to keep Vietnam wealth within the country. However you can place international bank transfers if you can justify the reason. For instance, if a relative lives abroad and you have a paper, bill, etc to justify the transfer. For the foreigners who work in Vietnam, they are allowed to transfer the whole amount of their payment roll if you have a proper reason (ex: mortgage, loan, etc).

ATM in Vietnam

ATM in Vietnam have the same symbol as in America ATM, ATMs are usually limited to 2.000.000VND (around 80$) per transaction, but there are some others that will allow us to get 6 even 8 million Dong (around 400$).

Credit card in Vietnam

Credit cards in Vietnam are not that popular, but in shopping malls and tourist areas they accept Visa, mastercard and American Express. Our recommendation is to use local currency (Vietnam Dong), it's more convenient to pay in small shops or street markets.

Curiosities regarding Vietnam Dong

Vietnamese Dong Notes

Almost all the currency are notes. Vietnam Dong notes start in 500VND and the biggest note is 500.000VND, all of them have Ho Chi Minh, national idol, face printed on the back part. Vietnam Dong notes have several places all over Vietanm, for instance, printed on the 100.000 VND note is the Temple of the Literature of Hanoi, on the 20.000VND note the Japanese Covered Bridge of Hoi An, on the 50.000 VND note Hue Cidatel and on the 200.000VND notes Halong Bay.

Pictures of Vietnam Dong

These are the pictures of all the Vietnam Dong notes.

500VND Vietnam Dong note

500VND Vietnam Dong note

1000VND and 2000VND Vietnam Dong note

50.000VND Vietnam Dong note

100.000VND Vietnam Dong note, printed the Temple of the Literature of Hanoi

500.00VND Vietnam Dong note, the biggest note in Vietnam

History of the Vietnamese Dong

The Vietnamese Dong is the official currency of Vietnam since May 3rd 1978. In Vietnamese it's written as �?ng. This currency is issued by the National Bank of Vietnam.



Before the reunification there were 2 currencies:

• The currency of the North of Vietnam, the Dong, which replaced in 1946 the French piastre, after the revolution against the french.
  
  


• In the South of Vietnam, the currency is dated from the year 1953, the name was indistinctly Dong or Piastre. After the fallen of Saigon in 1975, the currency name changed into "Liberation Dong".
  
  

There are also two more rare notes: 5.000VND and 20.000VND.

Vietnam coins are manufacturer in Finland, their value is 200VND, 500VND, 1.000VND, 2.000VND and 5.000VND. These coins are from the year 2003, but they are rarely used due to the Vietnam inflation.

Related to Vietnam Currency

• Moneda de Vietnam versi�n en Espa�ol


• Street Markets in Vietnam shopping places in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnam Currency

Vietnam Currency: Dong

Vietnamese Dong (VND)

The Currency of Vietnam is the Vietnamese Dong, its abbreviation is VND. The exchange rate of the Vietnamese Dong between the Euro is 28.000VND = 1�, and the exchange rate with the American dollar is 20.000VND = 1$.

The standard of living in Vietnam is 3 to 4 times cheaper than in Europe or America. Prices in Vietnam use tend to be thousands of Dongs, that's the reason in Vietnam there are almost no coins.

Currency Exchange

Where to get Vietnamese Dong in Europe?

Unfortunately there's no bank or exchange center that has Vietnamese Dong outside Vietnam. However you can exchange Vietnam Dong contacting any traveler who came from Vietnam or oversea Vietnamese people. How to contact with people to exchange Dongs?, quite easy, just use our forum:

http://vietnamcambodiaforum.com/general-vietnam-forum/

Where to exchange Vietnam Dong into Euros in Europe?

Pretty much the same problem as before, you will need to contact an individual to exchange currency. You can use our forum:

http://vietnamcambodiaforum.com/general-vietnam-forum/

Where can I exchange Euros or Dollars for Dong in Vietnam?

You can exchange currency in any Vietnamese Bank or currency exchange center, also you can exchange currency in some jewelry shops.

However the best option is, by far, an ATM. The bank fee is quite low and the exchange rate is the official.

Why I can't get Vietnam Dong in my bank?

The Vietnamese Dong doesn't quote outside Vietnam, it's Vietnam policy to keep Vietnam wealth within the country. However you can place international bank transfers if you can justify the reason. For instance, if a relative lives abroad and you have a paper, bill, etc to justify the transfer. For the foreigners who work in Vietnam, they are allowed to transfer the whole amount of their payment roll if you have a proper reason (ex: mortgage, loan, etc).

ATM in Vietnam

ATM in Vietnam have the same symbol as in America ATM, ATMs are usually limited to 2.000.000VND (around 80$) per transaction, but there are some others that will allow us to get 6 even 8 million Dong (around 400$).

Credit card in Vietnam

Credit cards in Vietnam are not that popular, but in shopping malls and tourist areas they accept Visa, mastercard and American Express. Our recommendation is to use local currency (Vietnam Dong), it's more convenient to pay in small shops or street markets.

Curiosities regarding Vietnam Dong

Vietnamese Dong Notes

Almost all the currency are notes. Vietnam Dong notes start in 500VND and the biggest note is 500.000VND, all of them have Ho Chi Minh, national idol, face printed on the back part. Vietnam Dong notes have several places all over Vietanm, for instance, printed on the 100.000 VND note is the Temple of the Literature of Hanoi, on the 20.000VND note the Japanese Covered Bridge of Hoi An, on the 50.000 VND note Hue Cidatel and on the 200.000VND notes Halong Bay.

Pictures of Vietnam Dong

These are the pictures of all the Vietnam Dong notes.

500VND Vietnam Dong note

500VND Vietnam Dong note

1000VND and 2000VND Vietnam Dong note

50.000VND Vietnam Dong note

100.000VND Vietnam Dong note, printed the Temple of the Literature of Hanoi

500.00VND Vietnam Dong note, the biggest note in Vietnam

History of the Vietnamese Dong

The Vietnamese Dong is the official currency of Vietnam since May 3rd 1978. In Vietnamese it's written as �?ng. This currency is issued by the National Bank of Vietnam.



Before the reunification there were 2 currencies:

• The currency of the North of Vietnam, the Dong, which replaced in 1946 the French piastre, after the revolution against the french.
  
  


• In the South of Vietnam, the currency is dated from the year 1953, the name was indistinctly Dong or Piastre. After the fallen of Saigon in 1975, the currency name changed into "Liberation Dong".
  
  

There are also two more rare notes: 5.000VND and 20.000VND.

Vietnam coins are manufacturer in Finland, their value is 200VND, 500VND, 1.000VND, 2.000VND and 5.000VND. These coins are from the year 2003, but they are rarely used due to the Vietnam inflation.

Related to Vietnam Currency

• Moneda de Vietnam versi�n en Espa�ol


• Street Markets in Vietnam shopping places in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnamese Rice with Squid recipe

Vietnamese recipe: Rice with Squid

The Vietnamese Rice with Squid recipe is soft meal to eat when you have an stomachache, the original name of this recipe is Ch�o m?c.

Details of Vietnamese Rice with Squid recipe

• Preparation time: 30 minutes.


• Difficulty: easy.


• Price: 8�.

Ingredients to prepare Vietnamese Rice with Squid

These are the ingredients to prepare the recipe of Vietnamese Rice with Squid for 2 people:

• 200gr of rice


• 100gr of squid


• Shrimp 50gr


• 100gr of mushroom (optional)


• 1/4 onion


• A bunch of coriander


• A bunch of onion leaves


• Bunch of bean sprout


• 1 lime


• 1 chili


• Black pepper


• Chicken powder


• Fish sauce


• A piece of ginger (optional)


• Salt


• Olive oil

How to prepare the recipe of Vietnamese Rice with Squid

• Clean the squids carefully. Remove the dark skin of the squid, eyes and gallbladder (wash the squid with a little white wine to make the smell better).


• Keep the squids dry, then cut into small parts.


• Shrimp: remove the shell, the head from the shrimps. Wash them. Depending on how big the shrimps are, you can cut the shrimps into 2 parts or keep the whole shrimp.


• Put shrimps and squids in a bowl and put ONLY fish sauce, keep the mixture in about 15 minutes.


• Wash mushrooms and cut them into small pieces.


• Cut the onion into small slices.


• Wash the rice, then keep them dry and after that roast the rice for a moment until you hear the smell of the rice but do not let the rice burnt.


• Put rice into the pot, pour about 2 litters of water and cook until the rice become soup (soft rice). Remove the foam to make the soup better.


• While waiting for the rice to be well-cooked, take a pan and pour a little of oil into the pan. Wait for it to be hot and put shrimps and squids in the pan. At this time, you can put a little of salt and chicken powder into the pan. Then add mushrooms into the pan. Cook for 5 minutes. If you want the onion to be cooked, put the onion slices into the pan and cook for a moment, then stop the fire.


• When you see the rice is cooked, put the shrimps, squids... mixture into the pot. Cook for another 10 minutes. Put salt, black pepper as you wish.


• Wash the bean sprout, onion leaf and cilantro. Then cut onion leaf and cilantro into small pieces.


• Cut the lime, ginger and chili into smaller parts.

Vietnamese rice with Squid and Shrimps

How to serve the Vietnamese Rice with Squid

• Put the hot soup in the bowl and put onion leaf and cilantro on top of it.


• Bean sprouts are put in the dish with lime, ginger and chili. People will put them into the soup whatever they want to.

Tips for the Vietnamese recipe of Chao Muc

• If you have the kind of onion which is small and has purple color (in Vietnam we call: c? h�nh huong or h�nh t�m). You should roast the rice and the onion together, the smell is much better.


• In Vietnam, people also cook with dry shrimp and squids.


• The rice must be the good rice which has good smell. In Vietnam, people can mix the normal rice with sticky rice to have better smell.

Chao muc: Vietnamese recipe of Rice and Squid

More Vietnamese Recipes

• Arroz Caldoso Vietnamita versi�n en Espa�ol

Vietnamese Rice with Squid recipe

Vietnamese recipe: Rice with Squid

The Vietnamese Rice with Squid recipe is soft meal to eat when you have an stomachache, the original name of this recipe is Ch�o m?c.

Details of Vietnamese Rice with Squid recipe

• Preparation time: 30 minutes.


• Difficulty: easy.


• Price: 8�.

Ingredients to prepare Vietnamese Rice with Squid

These are the ingredients to prepare the recipe of Vietnamese Rice with Squid for 2 people:

• 200gr of rice


• 100gr of squid


• Shrimp 50gr


• 100gr of mushroom (optional)


• 1/4 onion


• A bunch of coriander


• A bunch of onion leaves


• Bunch of bean sprout


• 1 lime


• 1 chili


• Black pepper


• Chicken powder


• Fish sauce


• A piece of ginger (optional)


• Salt


• Olive oil

How to prepare the recipe of Vietnamese Rice with Squid

• Clean the squids carefully. Remove the dark skin of the squid, eyes and gallbladder (wash the squid with a little white wine to make the smell better).


• Keep the squids dry, then cut into small parts.


• Shrimp: remove the shell, the head from the shrimps. Wash them. Depending on how big the shrimps are, you can cut the shrimps into 2 parts or keep the whole shrimp.


• Put shrimps and squids in a bowl and put ONLY fish sauce, keep the mixture in about 15 minutes.


• Wash mushrooms and cut them into small pieces.


• Cut the onion into small slices.


• Wash the rice, then keep them dry and after that roast the rice for a moment until you hear the smell of the rice but do not let the rice burnt.


• Put rice into the pot, pour about 2 litters of water and cook until the rice become soup (soft rice). Remove the foam to make the soup better.


• While waiting for the rice to be well-cooked, take a pan and pour a little of oil into the pan. Wait for it to be hot and put shrimps and squids in the pan. At this time, you can put a little of salt and chicken powder into the pan. Then add mushrooms into the pan. Cook for 5 minutes. If you want the onion to be cooked, put the onion slices into the pan and cook for a moment, then stop the fire.


• When you see the rice is cooked, put the shrimps, squids... mixture into the pot. Cook for another 10 minutes. Put salt, black pepper as you wish.


• Wash the bean sprout, onion leaf and cilantro. Then cut onion leaf and cilantro into small pieces.


• Cut the lime, ginger and chili into smaller parts.

Vietnamese rice with Squid and Shrimps

How to serve the Vietnamese Rice with Squid

• Put the hot soup in the bowl and put onion leaf and cilantro on top of it.


• Bean sprouts are put in the dish with lime, ginger and chili. People will put them into the soup whatever they want to.

Tips for the Vietnamese recipe of Chao Muc

• If you have the kind of onion which is small and has purple color (in Vietnam we call: c? h�nh huong or h�nh t�m). You should roast the rice and the onion together, the smell is much better.


• In Vietnam, people also cook with dry shrimp and squids.


• The rice must be the good rice which has good smell. In Vietnam, people can mix the normal rice with sticky rice to have better smell.

Chao muc: Vietnamese recipe of Rice and Squid

More Vietnamese Recipes

• Arroz Caldoso Vietnamita versi�n en Espa�ol

Where to eat in Hanoi

Eating in Hanoi

Hanoi is famous with the old town (ph? c?) which is near Hoan Kiem Lake. Along with the name "old town", everything here seems to be "old". Hanoi was 1000 years old in 2010. Houses in the old town are tiny. Even the hotels are small, too. The buildings are allowed to have 5 floors only. People said that in some areas, they couldn�t see the light during the daytime.

Hanoi Old Town

Eating in Hanoi is not difficult because there are many places for eating from big restaurants to small vendors. However, eating well is not that easy. We went to many places and some of them are expensive but the food are not value for the price.

Hanoi

Eating in Hanoi: Yin & Yang restaurant

Recommended by a person from the hotel, we went to Yin & Yang restaurant which is located in 78 M� M�y street (near Hoan Kiem Lake, see Hanoi city map). The first impression was not very good because it was empty (but yes, it was 9:30pm already). We entered and the waiter was very polite and friendly. We ordered but we didn�t expect the food would be fantastic.

Eating in Hanoi

By waiting, we looked around the restaurant. There are two rows of chair. Some of them are sofas which are very nice in red color and comfortable with soft material. For a long day working, sitting here is a good idea. There are tables for 2 people, 4 people and so on. We also can hold a small party here. For the hot weather like in Hanoi this time (summer), Yin Yang has air condition so that you will feel relax.

Restaurant in Hanoi

The food came in beautiful decoration. The leaf-form dishes make the food more attractive. However, the most important is the food: it is really good! We had the chicken wings that they did it nicely outside and delicious taste. The beef was also outstanding.

What to eat in Hanoi

One more thing is the manager here. His name is Long. He came to the table which was next to us to show the guests how to make spring roll. Then he talked to us. He�s a very friendly man who can speaking English very well. He told us the restaurant is quite new. They opened 2 months ago, meant April 2011.

Where to eat in Hanoi

We talked to him for a moment and promised to come back. And in fact we really want to come back. We returned there the next day. This time we had fish and pork. They were also great again. Long invited us to drink a kind of Vietnamese wine. How nice he is!



Yin&Yang is one of the best restaurants we have ever been to. The location is good, the food is delicious and the price is reasonable. Once when you come to Hanoi, don�t miss this great restaurant YIN & YANG.

Contact Yin & Yan restaurant in Hanoi

If you want to contact them, you can write an email to this address: yin.yanghanoi@gmail.com

Related to Hanoi

• �D�nde comer en Hanoi? (versi�n en Espa�ol)


• Hanoi City Map street map and tourist map of Hanoi (Vietnam)


• Keangnam Hanoi Landmark Tower Hanoi skyscraper and tallest building all over Vietnam