Vietnam+Culture

**Vietnam Culture **
[|http://www.vietnamembassy-usa.org/learn_about_vietnam/culture/sports/ 
 * It can be said that there were three layers of culture overlapping each other during the history of Vietnam: local culture, the culture that mixed with those of China and other countries in the region, and the culture that interacted with Western culture. The most prominent feature of the Vietnamese culture is that it was not assimilated by foreign cultures thanks to the strong local cultural foundations. On the contrary, it was able to utilize and localize those from abroad to enrich the national culture.

media type="youtube" key="eYP0gd2uEaQ&hl=en" height="355" width="425" media type="youtube" key="PpDtwQERVLQ&hl=en" height="355" width="425" media type="youtube" key="ys3dcMjkdkw&hl=en" height="355" width="425" [|http://www.vietnamembassy-usa.org/learn_about_vietnam/culture/sports/
 *  Food: Vietnamese food is extremely diverse, and the food changes depending on the different regions of Vietnam . The North, South, and Central Regions have different foods because of the difference in geography, but all of the regions have two main ingredients. These two ingredients are **rice** and **noodles**. Many Vietnamese have noodles for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The Vietnamese eating habit tends towards vegetarianism; rice and vegetables are the main course of the meal that may be diversified by aquatic products. Boiling is a special way of cooking of the Vietnamese people. Vietnamese people like a synthetic food processing style that involves many materials and ingredients. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">Vietnamese also love to use soy sauce and fish sauce. Also, Vietnamese usually serve meals with fresh <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">vegetables and soup.
 * <span style="COLOR: #04167b; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><span style="COLOR: #0c226e; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">Art is extreamly important to a places culture. Vietnam has a wide variety of Arts. One of Vietnam's historical art performances are the water puppetry shows.
 * <span style="COLOR: #090877; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 120%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><span style="COLOR: #0c226e; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">Martial arts are also very important to Vietnam. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">Although Vietnam was are strongly influenced by China’s martial arts, Vietnam has a very impressive martial arts history. Vietnam has developed its own style of fighting. Martial arts, in Vietnam, is very spiritual because of the influence of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddahism. One of the most famous Vietanmese martial arts moves is the scissor kick. Vietnamese children start practicing the martial arts at a very young age.
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 120%; COLOR: #0c226e; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">Music is also extreamly important in Vietnam. There are such a wide viviety from opra to rap. Here is a clip pf some amazing vietnamese singers.
 * <span style="COLOR: #0c226e; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 120%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">Sports in Vietnam are becoming more and more popular every day. Since the country's unification in 1976, positive social and economic changes have pushed the sports branch to thrive. Soccer is the most popular game in Vietnam. Those who concern about soccer include not only soccer players at all levels but also the mass of soccer fans in which many of them have not even kicked a ball. However, the high ranking awards of the Vietnam sports were not given to soccer, but chess players, kungfu fighters and shooters. Sports such as tennis, golf, and horse racing have jsut recentyl become more popular in Vietnam. Although Vietnamese national players have recorded more and more achievements at international and regional events, like the Olympic Games, the Vietnamese level of sports generally still lags far behind other countries in the region.
 * <span style="COLOR: #0c226e; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 120%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">Weddings and funerals: Vietnamese customs of weddings, funerals, holidays and rituals all are attached to village community. Marriages not only reflecte the lovers' desire but also had to meet the interests of the family lines, the village; thus, the choice for future bride or bridegroom was done very carefully, which had to go through many formalities. Also, the bride has to pay a fine in order for her to be accepted as a new member of the village. Funeral service is also proceeded very thoroughly to express the grief and see off the relative into the other world. The family of the deceased does not have to take care of the service by themselves, they are also given a helping hand by the neighbors.
 * <span style="COLOR: #0c226e; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 120%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">Holidays and Festivlities: Vietnam is the country of festivities which take place all year round, especially in spring when there is little farming work. The major festivities are //Nguyen Dan// (Lunar New Year ), Mid-First month, //Han thuc// (cold food) , //Doan Ngo// (double five) , Mid-Seventh month , Mid-Autumn Festival, //Ong tao// (the god of the kitchen) etc... Each region has its own ritual holidays, the most important of which are agricultural rituals (such as the rituals of praying for rain, getting down to the rice field, and new rice...) and trades' rituals (like the rituals of copper casting, forging, making fire crackers, and boat racing...). Besides, there are also rituals dedicating to national heroes and religious and cultural services (e.g, Buddhist rituals). Ritual holidays are usually divided into two parts: the service is carried out for blesses and thanksgivings, the holiday is the cultural activities of the community consisting of many folk games and contests.

<span style="COLOR: #0c226e; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|http://www.vietnam-travel.com/newmini/read_write/800px-Hanoi_Temple_de_la_Litterature_3.jpg</span]> <span style="COLOR: #0c226e; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Vietnam</span]> <span style="COLOR: #0c226e; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|http://www.geographia.com/vietnam/</span]> <span style="COLOR: #0c226e; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|http://www.waytovietnam.com/culture.asp</span]> <span style="COLOR: #0c226e; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|http://www.vietnamembassy-usa.org/learn_about_vietnam/culture/</span]>