Ho Chi Minh City: From Western Aesthetics to Local Customs

As the economy takes off, towering commercial and office buildings rush to the heart of the city. The Western architectural aesthetics retained from the colonial period are not suitable for the crisscrossing cables on both sides of the streets, which look like an artist's accidentally straying into an incongruous installation art. It turns out that this Vietnamese custom and folkways can awaken the people's simple and down-to-earth spirit.

Stepping into the Mekong River, putting on a fancy bamboo hat and boarding a bamboo raft, the female boatman pushed the oars skillfully and steadily, and she was just short of humming a leisurely song. The reward for the labor was precious. The tip was handed over with the awkward Vietnamese word "cảm ơn" pronounced like "gratitude" in Taiwanese. Suddenly, there was no barrier between language and culture, and it was extremely cordial.

I don’t know how to describe my love for Southeast Asia, why it still brings me comfort despite doing everything in one small corner.

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Post by Yu Xuan Chu | Jan 26, 2024