Category: Blog

Whenever we talk about Hanoi, we often talk about the over 1000 years of history. Hanoi has been known as an old capital city of Vietnam with its ancient values and standards. We often talk about the Old Quarter, the French architecture, and the long cultural lifestyle… of the Hanoian people.

But here in this post, I’m going to show you a totally new look at Hanoi: the modern look of Hanoi by night. It is going to be about modern Hanoi, the skyscrapers, new buildings, and new architecture. A picture says a thousand words. Here is a series of pictures of modern Hanoi looked at from above, in the night. All pictures are taken and credited by my friends in Hanoi’s Panorama and Skyline group.

An absolutely new look of the modern Hanoi by pictures

Hanoi is now growing to the skies. We have been extending Hanoi both vertically and horizontally. This is Kengnam Tower- the highest skyscraper in Hanoi so far.  More and more of these kinds of buildings are on the way. This is a good solution for the lack of houses and apartments in the developing modern Hanoi.

A big contrast of the old and the new, the highs and the lows. I see here a dynamic modern Hanoi, a growing-up city. Yes, it is developing, and developing fast. There are around 10 million people in Hanoi and they all need shelter. Apartments are being built in great quantity to supply shelters for the huge population of modern Hanoi.

I bet you cannot tell this is Hanoi just by looking at the picture. This looks like a developed city somewhere in the Western world. See that crane?  Yes, more modern Hanoi’s buildings are coming. This is Hanoi’s Lotte Tower- a shopping mall, office, and apartment building that looks from the West Lake.

Tourism in Hanoi and in Vietnam has been increasing a great deal. More and more people from the world know about Vietnam and want to visit this remote corner of the world. And to welcome you all many new hotels are being built in Hanoi. This is the brand new J.W Marriot hotel, a 5-star hotel built in the new area of Hanoi.

Looking for the combination between the old and the new? Here is a picture of the Hanoi Intercontinental West Lake. It is located in the legendary West Lake with a modern structure. Stay in comfort but feel the tradition!

And to welcome travelers from the world we built this brand new Nhat Tan bridge. This was built at the same time as the new Hanoi International Airport and Vo Nguyen Giap High way. This helps travelers to travel faster and much more convenient to modern Hanoi.

Back to something traditional? Here is a rare picture of Ho Chi Minh mausoleum in the night. And you can see clearly the Parliament House right in the front. In this area, no high buildings are allowed as concern of security.

You have probably walked many times around this lake. But I bet it is a surprise to know this is the famous Hoan Kiem Lake- the very center of Hanoi. This is also a height-restricted area. Skyscrapers are not allowed to be built around here. That is a very good idea to keep the traditional and historical area of Hanoi capital city. Together with the modern Hanoi, we have to keep our core value as a 1000-year city.

Another modern Hanoi look. This is Thanh Nien Road separating the West Lake and Truc Bach Lake. This is a favorite road for lovers to hang out in the late afternoon and the sunset over the lakes is stunning. The West Lake is also a living area for the wealthy in Hanoi.

Those above are some pictures of the modern Hanoi. I bet it is a nice surprise for you to see Hanoi this different. I hope to have a chance to take you all to these places mentioned above. Then you can compare the traditional Hanoi and the modern Hanoi.

Vietnamese official currency is the Dong (VND). But other foreign currencies, preferably the US dollar are well-accepted nationwide, especially in big cities and major tourist destinations. Unless you pay by card, paying with your home currency in cash is a more expensive way, as the exchange rate will be converted to the vendor’s own rate. When you are agreeing with prices in shops or restaurants, always use VND to avoid trouble about the exchange rate that may happen. Some places use the official exchange rate but some try to use their own. So make sure you have some Vietnam dongs with you. And no need to change all your monies into VND and take them along with you. ATM machines and exchange bureaus are everywhere.

Vietnam money and how not to get confused

At the time of writing 1 USD trades approximately 25,200 dongs. I know that the heck of many zeros! And I’m afraid you have to get used to it well during your time in Vietnam. But look! You’ll become a millionaire instantly right when you change some money into Vietnam money. Make sure you include that in postcards sent home. This is the table of how much approximately popular currencies convert into dongs. (June 2024)

To check out how much is the exchange rate of the day you can visit the official website of Vietcombank here. Or use apps on your smartphones which are now really popular.

If you are going to change some of your home currency into VND at banks, please make sure those notes are clean, undamaged, and not too badly creasy with NO writing of all types on them. The most important is, that if the banks can spot out some fake money, they will evict it under all circumstances.

Visa and Master cards are well accepted in almost all hotels, boats, restaurants, and shopping malls in every big city of Vietnam. They usually ask for a surcharge of 3% for Visa and Master cards, and 4% for American Express. When using your cards to pay, make sure you witness the whole process and not letting the cards out of your sight. I’ve got clients who visited Vietnam coming back home to know that they’ve had their money stolen from their cards. Also, make sure you inform your banks that you are traveling to Vietnam. So they won’t block your cards when abnormal usage of cards is suspected.

And NEVER ever fall for offer to change your money to Vietnam money by some “really good exchange rate” people on the street. There is a big chance of scams like fake money or even snatching it from you and running. Always do it at banks, official exchange bureaus, or your hotels.

Also, try not to change or withdraw too much money at a time. Depending on the type of your cards you can withdraw a maximum of 20 million dongs a day. And at one process you can withdraw a maximum of 2 million dongs.  The largest value of one note is 500,000 dongs being roughly about 23 USD or 20EUR. Here is the list of notes and how much value in some popular currencies. You can print this out and consult it quickly when in need.

And there are also 5,000- 2,000- 1,000- 500 dong notes but they are too small to mention. Just forget about it.  Wait, they can become handy when you go to public toilets. Public toilets will charge you 2,000/time/person. Better keep those small notes.

All the above notes come in all colors and sizes. And some of them look quite familiar with only a careless glance. The 200,000 note looks like the 50,000 note. Take a good look when you receive Vietnam money change from vendors.

There are also coins of 5,000- 2,000-1,000-500-200 but they are no longer in use. If you happen to have some Vietnam coins then take them home as souvenirs. No vendors will accept them anymore.

When you are finishing your Vietnam trip make sure you spend up all the Vietnam money you have. As when out of Vietnam the VND will not be accepted, except some very few places in Cambodia and Laos. And it is next to impossible to convert dongs into dollars or any other currencies. Some places like travel agencies could do it for you but not at the rate you expect. So better calculate the Vietnam money you need and only change/withdraw some at a time. Again do not change all your cash into Vietnam money at once.

Lunar New Year or Tet is the biggest festival of the year. All business stops and people have at least 4 days off to come back home joining their families to celebrate. It’s the time of family reunion, visiting friends and of course good food and lots of drinks.

But Tet is not only for visiting our relations and drinking. It is also the time for many interesting activities that are believed to bring good luck for the New Year. Here are some of the traditional rituals that Vietnamese people (mostly in the Northern part) do during Tet.

Visiting pagodas in the early days of the New Year

Vietnam is a Buddhist country almost half of the nation are Buddhist believers ( or those who think they are Buddhists). Visiting pagodas at the beginning of the New Year has become an important part of one’s spiritual life. Vietnamese Buddhists go to pagodas the year-round. But they tend to do it more at the beginning of the year. Tet is the sign of a new time, new hopes, and new desires for everyone. Thus Buddhists visit pagodas with many wishes for happiness, success, and peace.

Vietnamese people believe that visiting pagodas in the early days of New Year is not only for wishes but also for one to merge into a religious atmosphere and to leave the hardship of life behind. Going into a pagoda and smelling the incense will ease our pains and help to build serenity.

When visiting pagodas, Buddhists often bring flowers, fruits, or sweets as offerings with a strong belief that to give is to receive. They also put money into donation boxes or leave money around the atlas. While giving an offering is absolutely fine, leaving money everywhere in the pagoda is considered to be inappropriate. It’s against Buddha’s words of a simple life without any material desires. But sadly this problem tends to increase these days.

Giving out lucky money

When I was a little boy I counted every single day until the New Year. As I would have lucky money from people around then I could my sweet and toys. During the New Year, Vietnamese people give old people and children lucky money in red envelopes, with the wish that old people will have good health and young kids will grow fast. This is a nice tradition that has been kept for many years. When you start to have red envelopes for New Year, that’s a sign people think you are old (and respectable). But when kids grow up enough they will stop to receive money from everyone.

Picking some green buds

Nothing can grow as strongly as trees. When spring comes, all plants on earth grow buds which is a sign of new life and strength. Based on that, Vietnamese people often pick some green buds from some trees around the house or at the local pagoda with the hope that people can have strong growth of trees. They would pick any small branch that they first saw, bring that home, and place it on the altar. Banyan, fig, and acacia…are believed to be the good picks that bring good luck to the family. Meanwhile, green buds from pine trees, daisy, bamboo, and Ochna are believed to bring happiness, good health, and joy to the family.

In the past, those green buds had to be picked from trees in the local pagoda’s garden. Now it is a lot more flexible in thoughts that they can just pick it from any trees nearby. Some families even but sugarcane or some small green bonsai trees so they can avoid picking branches from trees. These green buds are kept until the last day of the New Year and they will be burnt with the votive papers.

Receiving lucky calligraphy from an old master

In the past, old masters were those who studied a lot and had respectable knowledge but didn’t work for the kings. At the New Year, Vietnamese people came to those old masters and asked for some lucky calligraphy written carefully and beautifully on “Gió” paper. This nice tradition reflects the respect of education and its ambassadors- teachers or masters of Vietnamese people.

Recently, this tradition is coming back. During the New Year, many Hanoi people go to the Temple of Literature and the space near Ho Giam ( Giam Lake in front of Van Mieu ) to ask for lucky calligraphy. There are writing stalls with masters (sometimes not very old) willing to write any kind of good words that are asked. In the past this activity was free but nowadays people are expected to pay some money for the words to be written. Common words are the things that they wish for New Year like Happiness, Luck, Success, and Peace…or words to remind them to work harder or to be a better person like Patient, Strong, Faithful…

Vietnamese people are not just following only one organized religion, instead, we tend to practice all the good things found in each religion. We are traditionally very much relying on nature’s powers, is both because we are superstitious and we are practical people who live on agriculture. Therefore, we worship various kinds of gods and deities, just in case! (more…)

During our talks about Vietnamese culture, we often mention temples and pagodas. So our travelers often ask us aren’t they just the same thing? No, they are not. As a matter of fact, they are two totally different worshiping places for different religions and beliefs. So, what really are temples and pagodas, and how do we tell the differences? For Vietnamese it is quite easy, but for travelers, it is hard to tell at first glance (that’s why you need to have a guide or read a lot).

In most countries rather than Vietnam, you normally call worshiping places temples, no matter who is being worshiped inside. But in Vietnam, where people tend to follow different religions and worship all saints, gods, and Buddha – just in case, temples and pagodas are two different places. Though both of them may look the same from the outside for visitors, they have different purposes and worship different gods.

What is the difference between Temples and Pagodas in Vietnam?

In Vietnam, Buddhist temple is called a pagoda (or “Chùa” in Vietnamese), which was built to worship Buddha. It’s where Buddhists come to pray at Buddha statues, learn Buddha teachings, or meet Buddhist monks. In some regions in northern Vietnam, the worshiping of Mother Goddesses is also practiced within a pagoda complex.

There are both Theravada Buddhist (the Small Vehicle) and Mahayana Buddhist (the Great Vehicle) pagodas in Vietnam. Because of the former Chinese dominations, Buddhists in northern Vietnam are following the Chinese Pure Land tradition of the Mahayana school, which centered around the compassionate Amida Buddha. While Buddhists in southern Vietnam follow the Theravada School, like those practiced in Laos and Cambodia.

In pagodas, you may see that there are more local women kneeling down and praying at Buddha statues than men. It is explained that Vietnamese women are more willing to endure and sacrifice to protect their families and communities than men, therefore the women tend to spend more time chanting in pagodas to guarantee family or community safety. On the contrary, more men are seen at temples due to an old tradition that allows only men to come to a temple (or communal house).

Temples are called “Đền” in Vietnamese. It’s a place, which could be on a grand scale and very ornate or maybe simple rooms, to worship a real person in the country’s history. The person is a Vietnamese national hero like a king, a queen, a general, a successful Confucian scholar, or a national liberator (Ho Chi Minh). There are also temples built to honor ordinary Vietnamese people, who saved the people from foreign invaders (Chinese) or a natural disaster (typhoons, floods).

Inside a temple, instead of Buddha statues, you’ll see one (or more) statue of the person being worshiped. To help educate the younger generations about the tradition, there are also documents about who is being worshiped. Documents can be books, handwritings or wood carvings, and stone steles… displayed somewhere in the temple.

Beside pagoda (Chua) and temple (Den), there is another worshipping place called “Đình”, or a communal house in English, which shouldn’t be confused with a temple. In communal houses, Vietnamese are worshipping their villages’ protectors, tutelary spirits, and saints of the mountains or rivers where their villages are located or nearby. In some regions, communal houses are also used as a public place to discuss the local village issues, where most respectful men make the last decisions.

In general, pagoda (Chua), temple (Den) and communal house (Dinh) in Vietnam are three different worshiping places influenced by the three teachings; Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. People go to temples and communal houses to show their respect and honor to national heroes or saints being worshiped inside while going to pagodas and praying to Buddha as a sign of thankfulness for Buddha’s teaching.

How to Show Respect at a Temple, Pagoda, and Communal House?

You can visit a local worship place to enjoy the tranquil atmosphere, the beautiful scenery or experience a local religious practice. You can come with incense, flowers, and teas. You can offer meat, alcoholic drinks, and other types of offerings in temples and communal houses. But you should never offer meat and alcoholic drinks in pagodas, which is strictly forbidden in Buddhism.

To show respect to the local culture, no matter where you visit a pagoda (Chua), temple (Den), or communal house (Dinh), please:

1. Remove your shoes when required, most pagodas and temples ask visitors to walk bare feet inside the worship house.
2. Walk into the temples and pagodas by the gate on the right hand, and walk out by the gate on the left. The gate in the middle, which is larger, is only for important ones like abbots, heads of pagodas, or temples.
3. Never point at the statues on the altars with your fingers.
4. Respect the locals who are praying by staying silent, and don’t move around too much disturbing their praying. Don’t block the view between the prayers and the altars or statues.
5. In some circumstances, it is not nice to take photos of the statues and people who are praying. Check with your guides to see if it is ok to take photos.
6. Dress modestly. Never wear too short that show your knees and shoulders. Your chest should also be well covered.
7. Don’t make physical contact with monks, like offering him a handshake.
8. Don’t touch anything, especially the statues.
9. Show respect to the local practices. Just be a visitor since it is not your religion.
10. Put your two hands together in the shape of a lotus flower when praying or talking to a monk.

Being tourist guides, we love sharing our personal understandings of the local traditions and beliefs, as well as religious practices. We hope this article helps you understand the difference between temples and pagodas in Vietnam and also shows you the local belief practices to prepare you for your next visit.

Among more than 94 million Vietnamese of all 54 minority groups, Buddhism is the most practiced religion. There are two types of different versions of Buddhism in Vietnam that vary in North and South Vietnam. Buddhists often go to pagodas to worship and pray in both north and south. Vietnam’s major ethnic group, the Việt, live mainly in tens of thousands of villages in the plains. These villages, the nation’s repositories, each have one or two Buddhist pagodas.

Differences between temples and pagodas 

A pagoda comprises a central building and several dependences. The central building is in the shape of a reversed “T” in which the hall of ceremonies ( bái đường) makes up the horizontal portion and the principal sanctuary ( chính điện or tam bảo), the vertical. The principal sanctuary houses the idols of the pantheon of Mahayana Buddhism (School of the Great Vehicle), widely practiced in Vietnam, China, Japan, and Korea. The most common are those of A Di Dà ( Amitabha, Buddha of the infinity light ), Thích Ca ( Shakyamuni the historic Buddha ), Di Lặc (Maitreya, Buddha of the future), and Quan Âm ( Kuan Yin, Goddess of Compassion). Noteworthy is that Buddhism is an atheist religion for its metaphysical nature and does not admit the existence of divinities- everything is only Maya or illusion. Thus, originally, it denounced all forms of idolatry.

Besides the central building, the pagoda also has a Chapel Room of the Patriarchs (Nhà Tổ). Worshipped here are patriarchal bonzes who lived in the pagoda. However, there is always an idol or a picture of a patriarchal with a collar beard and brozen complexion. Who is he? The “chư bà” (female celery) and the “lam già” (old faithful) – pagodas are often visited by the aged- are at a loss for the answer.

The bearded patriarch is in fact the Indian Bodhi dharma called “ Bồ đề Đạt Ma” in Vietnamese. His presence is rather curios on an altar where the rest are Vietnamese patriarchs. The common man somehow feels closer to Buddhas who fill the central building because they, despite their Indian origin, appear more Sinised, more Vietnamese than “Tổ Tây” or Western patriarch, as he is known.

Bodhiharma ( 470- 543) was an Indian Buddhist master, founder of the Chinese Chan ( Thiền in Vietnamese, Zen in Japanese, and Dhyana in Sanskrit), and the 28^th patriarch after Shakyamuni. A scion of a Brahmin royal dynasty in South India, he left for Canton in China when he was 60, at the bidding of his master Prajnadhara.

He was a guest of Emperor Wu Ti of the Liang dynasty in Nankin. Wu Ti was an adept propagator of Buddhism. However, discerning that the ruler was not yet ready for the doctrine, Bodidharma crossed the Yangtse on a leaf, according to legend, went north, and took up residence at Shaolin monastery. He spent 9 years meditating in front of a wall before finding the way of Chan ( Thiền or Zen).

Thiền ( Chan or Zen) is a mixture of Indian Buddhism’s Dhyana and Chinese Taoism. Chan meditation is a concept drawn from the philosophic and religious thoughts of ancient India, but shaped by the Chinese school of Bodidharma, which was heavily influenced by the Sutra ( religious book) Lankavatara. The Chan school of Bodidharma teaches the immanence of the Buddha and techniques to attain Enlightenment; it advocates the transcendence of the intellect. Communication between master and disciple, and contemplation until Enlightenment .

In Vietnamese, the term Dao Mau refers to the worship of mother goddesses. It represents a systematic mother goddess cult, which draws together fairly disparate beliefs and practices. The worship of mother goddesses includes the worship of goddesses such as Thien Y A Na, the Lady of the Realm, the Lady of Storehouse, the Princess Lieu Hanh, or legendary figures like Au Co, the Trung Sisters, the Lady Trieu, and the cult of the Four Palaces. (more…)

Today I took my guests, a lovely couple from Boston, to visit the Temple of Literature in Hanoi before eating on a street food tour. And while we walked by a giant incense-burning pot decorated with two dragons my guests asked me a difficult question: “How much incense do you light at a time?” As they have seen people burning a few incense sticks at a time, or sometimes the whole bunch of, like, 20 sticks.

At the very moment, I could not explain wholly the ideas to them as I was confused by the meaning of how much incense we should burn. So I consulted a friend of mine who studies a lot about Buddhism and spiritual life and here is the answer. Brian and Meghan, I hope you have some spare time to read this as I promised to answer you in writing.

According to ritual, one may light one, three, five, or seven incense sticks at a time. This has to always be an odd number of incense sticks that you burn. Each and every one of those numbers has its own meaning and symbolic value.

When you burn one (1) incense stick. It represents unity, the whole, and the fusion of male and female principles. Buddhists who pray to Buddha by lighting up one incense stick want to release the “incense of the heart”, in which there are five meanings: preventing the violation of taboos, upholding constancy and protecting against temptation, lucidity, and intelligence, emancipation, lastly endurance.

When one is facing difficulty in life or there is somethings that makes him down, he offers Buddha three incense sticks. Burning three (3) incense sticks shows the mobility of the uneven number that tends to move towards infinity, stability, and equilibrium. During Tet, the Vietnamese New Year Festival, it is customary to light up three incense sticks, the same at funerals. But one should only burn one incense stick at ordinary rituals like praying to ancestors or admiring the work of a dead king/ national hero.

Five (5) sticks of incense are only for when you pray to the Mother Goddess of the Forest, attended by the Five Tiger Lords, to ask for their protection.

Seven (7) incense sticks are burnt on the occasion of the “Pardon for all Wandering Souls” ( Cúng Cô Hồn in Vietnamese which happens every year on the 15^th day of the seventh moon. Those seven incense sticks are then planted on their behalf near banyan trees ( or any big tree available, as Vietnamese believe spirits and ghosts live in big old trees). This is more or less a sign of Buddhist compassion.

And about incense burning, there are some interesting rituals I can list here:

During the praying time and the incense sticks burst into flame, Vietnamese believe that some message is coming from the unfamiliar world, the second life, or their ancestor wanting to tell them something.

The third lunar month we have the Pure Brightness Festival Vietnamese families in the Northern part go to the cemetery clean the graves and decorate with flowers and new paint. Incense sticks are burnt there to ask their ancestors to go back home for a visit. It is believed that if the burnt incense sticks are blown out three times in a row, the spirits of the dead refuse to come back for a moment to the world of mortals.

The smoke from the burning incense makes it possible to communicate between the two worlds. That’s why Vietnamese people burn incense at home on death anniversary to communicate with their ancestors, and at pagodas to try to talk to Buddha.

It is not allowed to blow incense sticks with your mouth, but to wave them in the air until there is no flame on them.

One should always plant the lit incense into the incense pot with their two hand, to show respect.

FAQs

How many incense sticks to burn for good luck (Money)?

Lighting a few sticks of God of Wealth incense requires accurate understanding. In particular, everyone should light a stick of incense for Mr. Than Tai every morning when opening a store or company. This symbolizes a positive number, expressing respect and praying for peace and luck from the homeowner’s gods. Furthermore, this also helps make the business process more convenient.

How many incense sticks to burn for the dead?

The number of incense sticks you burn for the dead can vary depending on tradition and personal preference, but here’s a breakdown of two common practices:

• One incense stick: This signifies unity, wholeness, and honoring the deceased.
• Three incense sticks: This represents stability, balance, and a connection with the departed. It’s a common choice for funerals.

In some traditions, burning seven incense sticks is associated with bringing peace to wandering souls.

May you love to read: Buddhism in Vietnam, Differences between temples and pagodas, Vietnamese Tet New Year Festival