The Múa lân (kylin dance) is often performed by the ethnic Hoa (Chinese-Vietnamese) who account for around 4 per cent of HCM City’s population. Many of them live in Chợ Lớn (Big Market) in District 5. The dance is usually performed to bring luck and happiness during Tết (Lunar New Year), Mid-Autumn Festival, and at ceremonies to open a new business or build a new house. Anh Thu reports. 

There is a special class in Chao Pông Village, Ia Phang Commune in the central province of Gia Lai, which all disadvantaged students from the local area can attend for free at any time of day.

As part of a project to preserve its most famous ancient buildings, the city of Huế is partnering up with two American technology firms who will apply advanced computer imaging techniques and data storage to help bring the country’s past to life.

Maison Chance (Nhà May Mắn, or Lucky House) is a non-governmental organisation that provides housing, healthcare and vocational training for orphans, street children, and the disadvantaged and physically handicapped in Việt Nam. The NGO’s fourth centre in Vietnam will open in the Central Highlands province of Đắk Nông later this year.

Under a Government plan for a Cross-Border Economic Zone in Long An Province, Kiến Tường Town has seen new factories, vocational training opportunities and commercial centres set up in the last few years. Additional foreign investment is expected to provide even more jobs for locals. Bồ Xuân Hiệp reports.

A young single mother has become a language ambassador in the central province of Quảng Trị to help children learn how to speak English

Among the many jobs to which millions of people aspire – doctor, lawyer, entrepreneur – music instrument repairer is not likely on the list. And in Việt Nam, where jazz music is a niche passion, Nguyễn Khang, a saxophone repairer, dubbed “Dr Sax”, in HCM city, is in a class of his own.

Over 50 years after the war, the devastated battlefield of Khe Sanh has become an economic hub of the poor central province of Quảng Trị, with average annual income per capita of US$1,400.

Their homes next to the tracks are noisy, dangerous, and technically illegal, but the capital’s rail-side residents have built a close-knit community. Paul Kennedy & Bảo Hoa report.