Did You Know

Interesting Facts about Vietnam

Trivia, oddities, and curious tidbits about Vietnam.

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Did You Know?

14 curious facts about Vietnam.

When a child loses a tooth they throw their lower tooth on the roof and throw their upper tooth under the bed.
Vietnam's central highlands and the mountainous regions of the north are home to over 50 different ethnic groups, referred to as the Montagnards (the French term for highlanders).
For centuries, upper-class Vietnamese girls had their teeth blackened at puberty. White teeth were thought to be vulgar, and blackening was believed to prevent tooth decay. The practice stopped when Vietnam was colonized by the French, who found black teeth unattractive.
Although the Vietnamese wear Western-style clothes, women still wear the country's traditional costume on special occasions. The ao dai is a long, high-necked tunic with a slit at the side. Women wear silk pants underneath and delicate sandals called guoc.

The famous conical hat worn by farmers throughout Vietnam has a long history. Traditionally made of palm leaf, the non la hat has been worn since the 13th century to keep off the sun.
At the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Hieu Ngan Tran became the first Vietnamese to win an Olympic medal. She took a silver in the women's competition for the martial art tae kwon do.
One traditional remedy is cupping. A small glass cup is heated, then placed on the skin with the open end downward, causing small blood vessels to break. The treatment is believed to draw “poisonous wind” (trúng gió) out of the system.
Education in Vietnam is often by rote. In addition, students are expected to stand when they deliver answers to questions.
In Vietnamese, the family name is written first, the middle name second and the “first” name last. Sometimes refugees change the sequence of their names to comply with Western customs. Women usually keep their maiden name.
The Vietnamese sometimes used the art of geomancy before erecting buildings, especially tombs and temples. A geomancer is skilled in examining the landscape to discover the best location and orientation for buildings, based on the shape of the land, influence of the planets and the earth's magnetic energy.