Happiness of the Peoples of the World: Vietnam

In connection with the launch of the joint project of the Council for Eurasian Tourism Security and the Happiness Department of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly "Happiness of the Peoples of the World", the Chairman of the Council for Eurasian Tourism Security Anastasia Pavlova talks about countries where the happiness of their citizens is a priority area of state activity.

The land of happy lotuses and three New Years in a year

Around the II century BC, the territory that we call Vietnam today was called "Nam Viet", which in Russian means "Southern Viet" (the Viet is the titular nation).

Vietnam is a multinational state with 54 ethnic groups recognized at the State level. Each ethnic group has its own language and culture. Vietnamese (Kinh) are the main people in the country, accounting for 86% of the population. They mainly live in the deltas and coastal provinces. The remaining 14%, or 8-9 million people, are scattered across mountainous and high-altitude areas.

The traditional Vietnamese pointed hat was born as a protection against coconuts falling from trees. Falling on such a hat, a coconut, of course, will hit a person, but not fatally, after which it will bounce aside.

The national flower of Vietnam is the lotus. This flower was adopted as a national one in 2010. The lotus is a common flower in the country. This flower is a symbol of the beauty of the Vietnamese soul, which overcomes all obstacles to show its best features to the outside world.

Vietnam is one of the five happiest nations on the planet. The British Happy Planet Index (International Happiness Index) says that Vietnam ranks fifth in the list of the happiest countries in the world and second in the list of the happiest countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Why do you think that is?

We will try to answer this question in this article.

Vietnamese character

The Vietnamese are surprisingly resilient, hardy, hardworking and very friendly. They are creators by nature. One of the strongest traits of the Vietnamese character is purposefulness and sincerity.

Education

The population of this state is quite educated. Despite the fact that Vietnam is only in the process of its active development, the literacy rate of the population already exceeds 94% (this population can both write and read). All this is the merit of the government, which pays special attention to the education of the nation.

Interesting traditions

One of the most fascinating traditions that can be found in Vietnam is a puppet show on the water. This kind of art originated around the XI century in the villages of the Red River Delta in northern Vietnam. Puppet shows are quite widespread in Asian cultures, but the presence of water makes Vietnamese Puppet Theater truly unique. Dolls are made of wood, which is then varnished. They are not controlled by pulling strings like puppets — the performances take place in a large pool with waist-deep water. Puppeteers usually hide behind a screen and use large bamboo rods with which they support and control the movements of dolls that move through the water.

Performances are usually accompanied by a traditional Vietnamese orchestra, which includes vocals, wooden bells, cymbals, drums, trumpets, gongs, bamboo flutes and a kind of monochord. Theater singers who perform a variety of Vietnamese opera also perform at the same time. Everything is coordinated and colorfully decorated. This is really unique, and most of these performances largely use Vietnamese folklore, which includes various legends and the history of the country. Such performances are often organized during festivals, where they are one of the main events and the highlight of the celebration.

Nature

Vietnam is one of the most biodiversity-rich countries in the world. More than 840 species of birds and more than 310 species of mammals have been registered on its territory. Some species are endemic to this country.

Vietnam has preserved one of the most gigantic caves in the world. The cave contains some of the tallest known stalagmites in the world: some of them reach 70 meters in height. According to some estimates, the volume of the cave is 38.5 million cubic meters, which makes it the largest cave passage of all known in the world. The cave stretches for more than five kilometers and in some places reaches 200 meters in height and 150 meters in width, which gives many a reason to notice that a Boeing 747 can easily fly through the passage without having to trim its wings.

Three New Years in a year

For the first time, the New Year in Vietnam is celebrated habitually on January 1 according to the Gregorian calendar.

The second time is in late January or early February. The New Year according to the Lunar calendar is called Tet. This is the most important holiday of the year, during which the official weekend lasts 10-14 days.

The third time is in mid-April. During this period, the New Year begins according to the Buddhist calendar. In Vietnam, this holiday is associated only with religious rituals, but since the majority of the population is Buddhists, the holiday is of great importance.

If we can unite,
Merge hearts together,
Any difficult task
We will bring to the end…

Ho She Minh, Statesman of Vietnam

Anastasia Pavlova