Shaking beef

28 December 2025 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, Bon appétit Reading Time:  7 minutes

© flickr. com - Nick Nguyen/cc-by-sa-2.0

© flickr. com – Nick Nguyen/cc-by-sa-2.0

Shaking beef or bo luc lac (Vietnamese: bò lúc lắc, French: bœuf lôc lac) is a Vietnamese dish that consists of beef that has been cut into small cubes, marinated with fish sauce, soy sauce and oyster sauce, then sauteed in a wok with red onion and bell pepper before being served on a bed of fresh lettuce or watercress with slices of tomato and cucumber. Prior to French colonization, beef was considered a luxury ingredient in Vietnam, as cows were rarely slaughtered for food and were kept as working animals to be used for labor instead. This dish was, therefore, mostly reserved for formal events, such as wedding banquets and anniversaries, although now it has become a common food.   read more…

Nine-dash line in the South China Sea

5 August 2025 | Author/Destination: | Category: General Reading Time:  < 1 minute

South China Sea Claims and Boundary Agreements 2012 © U.S. Department of Defense

South China Sea Claims and Boundary Agreements 2012 © U.S. Department of Defense

The nine-dash line or ten-dash line, also referred to as the eleven-dash line by Taiwan, is a set of line segments on various maps that accompanied the claims of the People’s Republic of China (PRC, “Mainland China“) and the Republic of China (ROC, “Taiwan”) in the South China Sea.   read more…

Nha Trang in Vietnam

9 May 2025 | Author/Destination: | Category: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Po Nagar Hindu temples complex © Ms Sarah Welch

Po Nagar Hindu temples complex © Ms Sarah Welch

Nha Trang is a coastal city and capital of Khánh Hòa Province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the north by Ninh Hoà town, on the south by Cam Ranh city and on the west by Diên Khánh District. The city had a population of about 535,000 people in 2023. An area of 12.87 km² (4.97 sq mi) of the western communes of Diên An and Diên Toàn is planned to be merged into Nha Trang which will make its new area 265.47 km² (102.50 sq mi) based on the approval of the Prime Minister of Vietnam in September 2012.   read more…

Hội An in Vietnam

8 April 2025 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  11 minutes

Thu Bồn River at night © Nguyen QuocTrung/cc-by-sa-4.0

Thu Bồn River at night © Nguyen QuocTrung/cc-by-sa-4.0

Hội An, formerly known in the Western world as Faifoo or Faifo, is a city of approximately 120,000 people in Vietnam’s Quảng Nam Province, registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999. Along with the Cù Lao Cham archipelago, it is part of the Cù Lao Cham-Hội An Biosphere Reserve, designated in 2009. In 2023, Hội An was registered in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network list.   read more…

Hanoi Train Street in Vietnam

14 March 2025 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, Bon voyage Reading Time:  6 minutes

© flickr.com - Takeshi Aida/cc-by-sa-2.0

© flickr.com – Takeshi Aida/cc-by-sa-2.0

Hanoi Train Street is a narrow train bypass in Hanoi which sees a twice-daily train pass close to buildings on either side of the tracks (the railroad tracks take up nearly the entirety of the “train street”). The track was built by the French in 1902 and is still an active rail line as of 2023.   read more…

Spring roll

1 December 2024 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, Bon appétit Reading Time:  15 minutes

Chicken and shrimp spring rolls © flickr.com - jeffreyw/cc-by-2.0

Chicken and shrimp spring rolls © flickr.com – jeffreyw/cc-by-2.0

Spring rolls are rolled appetizers or dim sum commonly found in Chinese, Vietnamese and Southeast Asian cuisines. The kind of wrapper, fillings, and cooking technique used, as well as the name, vary considerably depending on the region’s culture, though they are generally filled with vegetables.   read more…

Theme Week Vietnam – Haiphong

28 March 2020 | Author/Destination: | Category: General Reading Time:  11 minutes

Du Hang Pagoda © HoangTuanAnh/cc-by-sa-3.0

Du Hang Pagoda © HoangTuanAnh/cc-by-sa-3.0

Haiphong is a major industrial city, the second largest city in the northern part of Vietnam. Hai Phong is also the center of technology, economy, culture, medicine, education, science and trade in the northern coast of Vietnam. The city is popular as a starting point for excursions to the famous Halong Bay. Hai Phong city traces its origin to its 1887 founding as a seaport province by colonist of the French Colonial Empire. In 1888, the president of the French Third Republic Sadi Carnot promulgated a decree to establish Hai Phong city. From 1954 to 1975, Hai Phong served as the most important maritime city of North Vietnam, and it became one of direct-controlled municipalities of a reunified Vietnam with Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh city in 1976. In the 21st century, Hai Phong has emerged as a trading gateway, modern, green industrial city of Vietnam, oriented to become the third special-class city of Vietnam in 2030 or by 2050 at the latest.   read more…

Theme Week Vietnam – Vung Tau

27 March 2020 | Author/Destination: | Category: General Reading Time:  11 minutes

© Hoangvantoanajc/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Hoangvantoanajc/cc-by-sa-3.0

Vũng Tàu is the largest city and former capital of Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu Province in Vietnam. The city area is 140 square kilometres (54 square miles), consists of 13 urban wards and one commune of Long Son Islet. Vũng Tàu was the capital of the province until it was replaced by the much smaller Bà Rịa city on 2 May 2012. The city is also the crude oil extraction center of Vietnam.   read more…

Theme Week Vietnam – Quy Nhon

26 March 2020 | Author/Destination: | Category: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

© Bùi Thụy Đào Nguyên/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Bùi Thụy Đào Nguyên/cc-by-sa-3.0

Qui Nhơn is a coastal city in Bình Định Province in central Vietnam. It is composed of 16 wards and five communes with a total of 284 km² (110 sq mi). Quy Nhơn is the capital of Bình Định Province. Its population is at 311,000. Historically, the commercial activities of the city focused on agriculture and fishing. In recent years, however, there has been a significant shift towards service industries and tourism. There is also a substantial manufacturing sector.   read more…

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