Most Chinese who travel to Vietnam have probably heard of the "four slims" and "four monsters" that summarize the characteristics of Vietnam. "Four slim: the road is slim, the house is slim, the woman is slim, the land is slim"; "Four monsters: men wear green hats on their heads, women cover their faces with handkerchiefs, rickshaws step upside down, and spend money on marijuana bags."
Because we are traveling by car in Vietnam this time, we have walked more places and seen relatively many "characteristics", some have seen it, and some have just heard that they have not seen it.
I found that whether it is a big capital city like Hanoi, or a second- and third-tier city such as Dien Bien and Lang Shan, or a township or village, the overall material living standard of Vietnamese people is significantly lower than that of China, and if the food is not in place, the natural "slim" is also very understandable, so not only Vietnam's "women are slim", but there are actually very few male fat people. So most of the Vietnamese are short and thin, but some Kinh girls (also known as Yue) who wear Ao Dai do look slimmer.
Network map, schematic map of Vietnam
"Land slim" refers to the shape of Vietnam's land, showing the characteristics of two thick ends and thin middle (about 1650 kilometers long from north to south, and only 50 kilometers in a straight line from the narrowest place in east and west), if the territory of Vietnam is reduced by 10,000 times, it looks a bit like dumbbells or S-shaped dog bones, so slim.
"Slim roads" actually means that many national highways in Vietnam pass through villages and towns, and the original roads in those old towns are very narrow, coupled with the lack of strong urban management supervision, small traders and hawkers occupy the road to operate, and the roads are naturally more "slim".
"Slim house" is actually a historical feature. In the mid-19th century, after the Franco-Vietnamese War, the French gained colonial power over Vietnam. After seventy or eighty years of implantation of French thinking, Vietnam's industry, education, humanities, architecture, food... "Chemical changes" occur directly from the inside out. Bright yellow, dark red, light green, "thin, tall and deep" knife handle building "French houses" are very common throughout Vietnam, and there are more similar historical buildings in Ho Chi Minh City in the south.
Since the destruction of the state of Nanyue by Emperor Wudi of Han, the establishment of the three counties of Jiaotoe, Jiuzhen and Rinan in central and northern Vietnam, the above areas have been under the cultural influence of the Central Plains Dynasty until the middle and late Qing Dynasty. However, since the French colonized Vietnam, there have been fewer and fewer traditional Chinese Confucian style buildings in Vietnam for thousands of years, and both official buildings and ordinary houses are rapidly switching to the "French style".
Driving in the big city town of Vietnam, there are few "horizontal development" buildings, you can always see the kind of single-family 3~5 storey houses, each house is very narrow in width, and the house is particularly deep and particularly large (vertical deeper) slim houses. Some people say that this is very French. Perhaps, it seems that the French colonization of Vietnam is already a change that goes deep into the marrow.
Don't look at the proximity of Vietnam and China for generations, which is deeply influenced by Confucianism, but I have to admit that the times have been developing, and the Vietnamese people's thinking will also change dramatically. "Men's green hats on their heads" was and is a characteristic of Vietnam, and it can only be a characteristic of Vietnam in the future, and China cannot agree with this concept at all!
Tourists and Vietnamese uncles take a group photo
Tourists and Vietnamese uncles change hats for a group photo
On our road trip to Vietnam, we met a variety of Vietnamese wearing green helmets, young and old, men and women. Several Chinese female tourists who accompanied them were more curious about this, pulled the Vietnamese uncle to ask non-stop, and even exchanged hats with the Vietnamese uncle wearing a green helmet to take a group photo.
According to Chinese's perception of "green hats", men are not allowed to wear green hats, which is contrary to the norms of custom (meaning that the partner cheats, which has obvious humiliating meanings). But in the eyes of the Vietnamese, wearing a green helmet is a symbol of pride and confidence. Some people explain that the Vietnamese have experienced nearly a hundred years of colonial wars, anti-Japanese wars, American-Vietnamese wars and unification wars, and most men either look forward to military life or have a "military complex", and green helmets symbolize bravery and heroism;
It is also said that this green hat is suitable for the natural environment of Vietnam, with strong concealment, good sun protection effect, very convenient shelter from wind and rain, and can also be used to hold water at critical times, which is very popular and is very popular. And in their consciousness, the green helmet has no ambiguity at all.
As for other "three monsters" such as "a woman's handkerchief over her face, a rickshaw stepping upside down, and spending money on a marijuana bag", hearsay. Vietnamese women cover their faces with handkerchiefs to protect themselves from wind and sand, which rarely occurs in Vietnam; The rickshaw is stepped upside down to meet the passenger's view and not be obstructed by the coachman; Spend money on sacks, this really has not seen, presumably refers to the face value of Vietnamese dong is too large, the currency value is low? (Exchange rate on December 18, 2022: 1 RMB = VND 3385.1036).
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