A Guide To Vietnamese Culture (Hướng Dẫn Văn Hóa Việt Nam)

When I was invited by the Managing Editor, Huu Tien, to contribute to Vietnam Cultural Window four years ago, I had to admit, to my embarrassment, that I was unfamiliar with this particular publication from Viet Nam’s foreign language publishing house The Gioi. Reading through the issues that Tien thrust into my hands as we parted, I soon learned that my ignorance was also my loss.

Founded in 1989, the bi-monthly magazine occupies a unique place within the English language press produced in Viet Nam. Not beholden to the vagaries of the news cycle, it sits comfortably between the travel guides for tourists on one end of the spectrum and the more academic publications such as Vietnamese Studies, also published by The Gioi, on the other. Unlike many tourist guides, Vietnam Culture Window, is written by insiders, local journalists and sometimes long- term expats like me.