Education

Although Huy says the Vietnamese will be quick to say how unlike the Chinese they are (not a happy history there -- yet one more chapter in the domination of this country), there is much Chinese influence in the Vietnamese culture.  Nowhere is this more evident than the importance of education. The Temple of Literature in HaNoi provides centuries of evidence.  This temple is a tribute to Confucius who, in the 6th century, created a code of civil law.

The entrance to the temple includes rows and rows of giant tablets, sitting on the backs of huge turtles, inscribed with the names of those who passed their highest educational test. The oldest of these stone tablets -- each maybe 8' tall -- was inscribed in 1442.   The latest is from the 19th century.

Turtles appear everywhere: the feet of huge stone tables are turtles, there is an enormous golden turtle  featured in a glass box next to the altar to Confucius, and just outside the altar is a statue of a crane maybe 10' tall, its feet on the back of a turtle.

 The sculpture captured my attention, and if I can just figure out how to get my photos off my camera and onto this blog, I'll share it.  We didn't hear the story about that image until yesterday, which Marianne will share that in another blog.

But I am struck by the presence of the turtle, since in Native American tradition we are said to be living on turtle island.

Land use

The flight from HaNoi to Danang did not allow for much study of the land below-- air quality was too poor--but first impression was of extremely dense pockets of housing in islands surrounded by large mosaics of rice.  It certainly looked that way on the ground. Rice is grown right up to the walls of four story "skinny houses."

Since half of the country is mountainous, its 90 million people live primarily where food is more easily grown -- on the flat lands and flood plains near the coast. all land in Viet Nam is owned by the state, but the uses are individually owned and taxed accordingly.  Farmland enjoys very low taxes, and to encourage farming, no taxes are charged for the first 4 or 5 years.  Land can be out under permanent agricultural preservation.

Homes traditionally have that skinny, tall, railroad quality since, starting in the 13th & 14th centuries houses were taxed on the width of the building. Ground floors are devoted to shops ( the majority of people are self-employed), and families live upstairs, the youngest generation at the top.

Landing in DaNang, I could see what looked like neighborhood blocks with only one or two skinny houses within -- the rest lost to war? Or not built? This city, the third largest in Viet Nam, is much less dense, and homes tend to be a little broader. According to Huy (of course, all of this is according to Huy), the mayor of DaNang is responsible for reducing density and retaining more green space within the core.  It's the city where Huy would like to move, leaving his native HaNoi.  We passed an enormous, multi-block long sports complex open to everyone and intensively used with courts, fields, etc.

Everywhere along the stretch of new road where the Furama Resort is located, there are frames of buildings begun and abandoned.  Long fences promote future development of "beachfront retreat," new gated condominiums and resorts planned but halted due to the same recession we have been facing.  International investors, I presume.  On a smaller scale, we saw the same thing in HaNoi--many partially constructed homes, piles of sand and bricks, lumber, metal sheeting sitting idle.

I wonder what this stretch of road will look like in another decade --the new Gold Coast of vacationland? And what about the rising oceans? I asked Huy.  He thinks the bedrock foundation and ridge of mountains to the west make this much less vulnerable to flooding and climate change than the southern part of Viet nam, but I wonder.

Country in transition

Viet Nam is a country in transition.  That was one of the first things Huy said to us.  I'm keeping my ear out for ways this is evident. Yesterday (was that Wednesday?) he spoke of the enormous growth in population: 90 million now, up from 40 million in 1975.  So an incredibly young population...more than half born since reunification. (Official policy is now to limit families to two children .)  Retirement is mandatory for men at age 60, for women at 50, so there will be jobs for the youth.

While  a communist country politically, Viet Nam appears to be adopting capitalism economically. (What Huy might call the "vietnamization" of communism...more on vietnamization from Marianne.). There is no private ownership of the land; that belongs to the state.  But what you build on it, how you use the land is up to you.  You are taxed depending on the land use.  If you sell your house, you have two contracts: one to sell the building, another to transfer use of the land.  The state continues to control oil production and export, but other things like electricity are in private hands now.  The resort in Da Nang where we just arrived was allegedly (rumor has it, again according to Huy) financed by the communist party 15 years ago, when getting a permit for such a venture would have been very difficult.  The government provides health care for children up to age six, then the parents must provide it.

The original constitution proposed three parties to make up a democratic coalition as conceived by Ho Chi Minh, but the communists rewrote this constitution and eliminated the two other parties.  But of the 600 members of congress, just 20% are communist.  So today,while there are 2.5 million members of the communist party (a practical consideration for getting a job), Huy says there are very few communists!

It amazes me just how rapidly things are changing in Viet Nam.

Embroidered Images

As we traveled by bus to Halong Bay two days ago, we took a rest stop at a government-sponsored shop selling many kinds of crafts: lacquerware, paintings, sculpture, clothing and other fabrics. One room was a workshop for embroidery, with men and women working busily over their frames.

I particularly loved the images capturing the rice harvesting we had just seen in real life. I bought some  (beware: Christmas spoiler!)... Here they are. Aren't they neat?

Traffic in Hanoi

Traffic in Hanoi is, well, quite something. The majority of people move around on motorbikes; whole families ride on the same bike; vendors transport their goods... It is said that in the city of Hanoi with a population of 6 million people there are 3 million motorbikes. While Hanoi pedestrians cross streets with aplomb, visitors like us are a study in courage as we cross. Take a look at the video clip below, filmed yesterday morning at an intersection in the Old Market section of the city.

Oh my goodness! 

One Hundred Ways to Lose Your Passport

From Marianne:

On the bus to the Hanoi Airport, Huy asked, "Does everyone have his passport? Can you touch it?"

Then he told us the following story.

"For a while I thought I would write a book about '100 Ways to Lose Your Passport.' But then one day, on a boat trip in HaLong Bay, something happened that made me change my mind about writing that book.

"A tour member, who was a very careful man, went for a swim. He had put his passport and his airline ticket in his pocket enclosed in a plastic bag. When he finished his swim, he realized what he had done. His passport and ticket were drenched.

Thinking of how he could dry them out, he went back into the kitchen on the boat, put both items into the microwave and turned on the microwave. Both items immediately burned up."

Huy then said that for three minutes he (Huy) was unable to say a word. The ticket was able to be replaced. The passport replacement took three days.

After telling us this story, Huy then asked us to take out our passports so he could collect them.

In Hanoi's Old Quarter

From Marianne:

As we were on the bus driving to Hanoi's Old Quarter for a walk-through, led by Huy, he prepared us by telling us to think of the Old Quarter as a huge supermarket. "It is open-air style supermarket, where all the competitors are in shops nearby, on the same street.

 "Ladies carrying baskets on a bamboo yoke are like a walking fresh market. You might think that they are just wandering around on the streets. Actually they are walking a regular routine. The shopkeepers may not be able to leave their shops to get lunch or fresh groceries. Not a problem. The bamboo yoke lady will come by bringing bananas or prepared lunches and the like."

Huy explained that he has developed life-time relationships with shopkeepers whose personalities he likes. They have known him since he was a small boy.

As the bus pulled over to let us step out, Huy explained that there would be "a lot of sticky rice." He also said thaat there would be times when we would not be able to walk on the sidewalk. We would need to walk in the street. "Go single file on the road. For those of you who are wearing shorts, watch out for the motorcycle exhaust pipes. If one touches your bare leg, you will receive a hot burn."`