Saigon (Ho Chi Min City), Vietnam
- At December 24, 2023
- By Jessica
- In Travel
0
Last night we had dinner at an outstanding Vietnamese restaurant followed by a traditional show at the Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater. The performance, mua roi nuoc, dates back to the 10th century when, after a harvest, the ponds and rice paddies served as stages for impromptu shows. Backed by a Vietnamese orchestra, singers tell the story being acted out by the puppets, which are controlled by a series of long wooden rods and strings. Often the plays have a rural theme relating to Vietnamese folklore and spiritual beliefs.
We have been getting some contradictory information from different guides. Yesterday, we heard that individuals cannot own land in Vietnam. According to Google: Private ownership of land is not permitted in Vietnam and the people hold all ownership rights with the State as the administrator. However, the laws of Vietnam allow ownership of a right to use land. This right is called the Land Use Right (“LUR”).
Vietnam, Day 3
In 1978, as Vietnam was trying to recover from the "American War," Cambodian Khmer Rouge, supported by China, attacked Vietnam. In 1979 China directly attacked Vietnam in the North. When Nixon and Kissinger opened up relations with China, communist Vietnam didn't trust China anymore and further allied with Russia. After Mao died in 1976, Deng wanted to teach the Vietnamese a lesson and teamed up with Cambodia to invade Vietnam. China considers Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Taiwan to be its satellites. The Vietnamese pushed back both invading forces using American super weapons left behind. The Vietnamese occupied Cambodia until 1995. Today, half the Cambodian population is Vietnamese.
Last year the Vietnamese changed the color of the passport from green to blue as a symbol or message that the government is moving closer toward democracy. There is dissent within the communist party, according to our guide.
We visited Chinatown. More than 1 million Chinese live in Vietnam. Our guide said that there is a civil war brewing in China between the Cantonese speaking southerners and the Mandarin speaking northerners. Has anyone else heard about this?
