Việt Nam News

Farmers nationwide have improved their lives considerably by cultivating medicinal herbs, but over exploitation threatens their extinction. Despite the country's tremendous potential as a grower and producer of herbal medicine, it has gone from being an exporter to an importer of medicinal materials. Viết Tôn and Bạch Liên reports.

While they are already popular in Japan and elsewhere, Vietnamese artists are penning books in this vivid style that merges the comic and art worlds. An Vũ reports.

Nguyễn Thị Lụa, the No 5 female wrestler in the 48kg category at the 2009 World Wrestling Championships, has made history by becoming the first Vietnamese female wrestler to qualify for the Olympics twice in different categories after she reached the finals of the Asian qualifying event in Astana, Kazakhstan.

An otherworldly atmosphere, coupled with flavourful Vietnamese dishes, makes The Forest in Tay Ho a must-try restaurant. Edward Daltonreports.

Did the same woman create a famous vase in Turkey and an inscribed ceramic corner of a building found 70km east of Ha Noi?  Nguyen My Ha investigates.

Summertime is loved for its fruity treats and icing sorbets. Be prepared to be tempted by the flavour of raspberry again this week!

Nearly thirty years on, I have neither doubts nor regrets. I have had many trying experiences but have never tired of the profession.

Water puppetry is a special treat for tourists in Hà Nội - a must-see show for all foreign visitors.

Excerpts from memoir Ship With Paper Sails, Story of a Hanoi Newsman* by Nguyễn Khuyến, former Viet Nam News Editor-in-Chief

In 2011, as a budding reporter who had just started a career at the Việt Nam News, I was lucky enough to have a life-changing field trip out to the East Sea.

In early December 2010, Vietnamese tra fish (basa fish) made headlines when the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) placed it on its red list, which names produce that is farmed under unhygienic conditions or traded illegally.

In the late 1980s, when Lê Quang Trực taught literature at a secondary school in HCM City’s rural Hóc Môn District, he was searching for ways to keep his students interested – and awake.

For two years, Võ Văn Công, 40, of the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai, has taken many of his precious orchids and replanted them in the forests, where many have been cut down for sale.

Three days a week, 11 volunteers meet at An Phú Communal House in HCM City’s District 2 to cook meals for the poor in the area.

With a tagline like ‘Smoke ‘n’ Beer’ there can be no surprises with what confronts you at the latest addition to the increasingly lively lakeside street of Quảng An. The Fat Pig, helmed by chef proprietor Richie Bardsley, is wafting smoky flavours into the faces of carnivores with an attention to detail that leaves you wanting, no, needing more.

People throughout the country are familiar with various charity and educational activities organised by the Hội Quán Các Bà Mẹ (Club of Mothers). Based in HCM City, the club’s events, which range from buying agricultural products to helping needy farmers, to seminars on gender, sex and parenting, they are spread all over the country mainly in major cities of Hồ Chí Minh City, Hà Nội and Cần Thơ.

Kite maker Nguyễn Thanh Vân, of HCM City’s District 8, is known as the father of the longest kite in Việt Nam - a dragon-shaped kite trailing 100 metres.

A simple yet popular dish, grilled king prawn is delicious for any dining occasion. Let us try this simple recipe with chef Carneiro of Riviera Restaurant.