The Kinh people majorly live in delta areas and urban centre such as the two largest delta in Viet Nam ( Red river delta and Mekong delta). littoral provinces such as Da Nang, Nghe An, Khanh Hoa…They are considered to be the most “developed” among all ethnicities, playing the leading roles in almost sectors, especially economic, science, technology and education.
Costume:
Generally, Kinh people’s clothes and adornment seem to be the most modern and modest among ethnic groups in Viet Nam. Of all kinds of symbolic clothing, “Ao Dai”- whose basic design is of a long dress with slits on either side, is well-known to be the most representative of the country. Its graceful and serene image has become the status for Vietnamese women, being loved by not only Vietnamese but also foreigners in the world. Nowadays, “ao dai” still common in daily life, it can be seen as uniform in many schooland university, or required in a lot of workplace, from Vietnam Airlines flight attendants to hotel receptionists. Recently, “Ao Dai” has been stylized to enhance its flexibility and popularity, being the state of the art and suitable to specific usage purposes.
Nevertheless, formerly Viet people used to dress rather differently. Men were supposed to have a long gown with slits on both sides and a turban on, while women were so familiar with more attractive dress called “Ao tu than” with three layers in different colors and four slits divided equally on its lower section. In the past, there was another amazing feature in Kinh women’s adornment that most of them used to blacken their teeth which considered more beautiful. Notably, although Kinh people garments have gradually changed along with social development, these traditional costumes now sometimes restore in traditional festivals and special events which always reminds the following generations of invaluable cultural heritage.
However, in daily life, being influent by Western and Eastern fashion trend, Kinh people normally wear jean and casual clothes.
Festivals:
Festivals are usually held by Kinh people, there are many kinds of festivals in a year, such as: Lunar new-year festival, Giong temple festival, Huong pagoda festival, which are recommended on travel guide books and encourage foreigners to come to Viet Nam.
You might be the luckiest traveler if you visit Vietnam around festivals’ time. This is a great chance to mingle with the natives and enjoy their new adventures.
Religions:
Generally, Vietnamese people are prone to spiritual life, they respect their ancestors and celebrate annually worship and maintain the religious belief with a lot of customs. For instance, Hung King anniversary which is held to remind Vietnamese about country’s settlers is usually held in 10th, march every year. On the Vu Lan day, people always express their gratefulness appreciation to their mother and give out generous donations to the less advantaged. Beside those official events, Kinh people are also famous for their keenness on frequently organizing communal shows with various kinds of traditional art such as Cheo, Tuong. They are shown to express the love for arts of Vietnamese and also occasions for people to frequently communicate and show the solidarity within a community.
Cuisine:
It goes without saying that cuisine is one of the specific feature that attract foreigners to come to Viet Nam. For foreigners, Phở appears to be a kind of typical Viet aliment that they feel most familiar with. Besides, each region has its own well-known type of food or fruit; something to be proud of among the locals. These include “banh beo Hue”, “nem Thanh Hoa”, “Phuc Trach grapefruit”, “Hung Yen longan”.
Market:
In some western provinces of the South, markets are gathered animatedly on the rivers where each boat is a store trading a large range of things, especially diverse sorts of fruits. And in rural areas, people can witness farmers eagerly working in harvest time and enjoy the sweaty but happy atmosphere of labor. There are hardly words that can possibly manifest all the special and fantastic things of Vietnamese traditions and customs; therefore, the best advice is to experience it yourself to absorb till the full Kinh people’s spirit life and culture.
People:
Vietnamese are famous for kindness and friendliness, people also described as diligence, persistence, resilience and hospitality. Especially, Kinh people are also considered the most developed community in Viet Nam and perform as representative of the nation to welcome visitor coming to Viet Nam. It is undeniable that Vietnamese is one of the most important reason that attract foreigners to come to Viet Nam.
