The imprint of the Northern Vietnamese countryside.

For many, the Northern Vietnamese countryside evokes familiar and beloved images: village gates, banyan trees, riverside docks, communal courtyards, village temples, traditional festivals, and rice paddies stretching to the horizon. Along with these are the customs, traditions, and beliefs of the people in each village, which together create the soul of the Vietnamese countryside.

As the morning sun gently touches the village road, and the melodious chirping of birds in the bamboo grove harmonizes like a love song celebrating the ripening rice harvest, this is the time when farmers head to the fields to harvest the rice, their shoulders laden with heavy loads. The natural landscape suddenly brightens with the radiant smiles of women hand in hand, embracing bundles of golden rice.

On a sweltering summer afternoon, childhood memories suddenly flooded back as I saw children laughing and happily going fishing and splashing around in the pond. Nearby, patches of water hyacinths stretched their branches, their heart-shaped purple flowers creating a strangely peaceful and poetic scene.

And as the sun sets, the hazy smoke drifting over the houses evokes the peaceful beauty of the Northern Vietnamese countryside, mesmerizing the wandering footsteps of travelers. These are also memories and nostalgic images that make every person far from home yearn for the day they can return.

Besides the essential village structures such as the banyan tree, the water landing, and the communal house, almost every village has a pagoda. The pagoda is a symbol of the village's religious beliefs; virtually no village in Northern Vietnam is without a Buddhist pagoda. Village gates – the boundary that affirms the living space and authority of a village, are ancient architectural structures that preserve many layers of cultural sediment in each village in the Northern region of Vietnam. Associated with the village gate are the banyan tree, the water landing, and the communal house – symbols of the long-standing cultural and historical traditions of Vietnamese rural life. According to statistics, Vietnam has nearly 9,000 festivals, ranging from communal house and village festivals to major traditional and cultural festivals. These festivals blend customs, traditions, beliefs, and tangible cultural heritage of the Northern Vietnamese countryside, creating an inexhaustible stream of Vietnamese culture.

Heritage Magazine