In the summer of 1945, popular discontent reached a climax and revolutionary action involving both political and armed struggle proliferated throughout the country, from north to south, in villages and cities, and among the ethnic minorities in the mountainous regions.  The decisive factor was the Viet Minh Front which led and coordinated all the actions nationwide. On August 13,  following the defeat of the Japanese Kwantung Army by the Soviet Army and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the US, Japan surrendered. The same day, the Communist Party of Indochina, met at a national congress and decided to adopt the following slogans: - End foreign aggression; - Seize back national independence; and - Found the people's power. Orders were given to combine political and military action to agitate and to demoralize the enemy,  to force them to surrender before an attack, and to focus on the most important targets. On August 16, the Viet Minh convened a National...

Air New Zealand officially opened the first direct air link between New Zealand and Vietnam on June 5 Air New Zealand’s inaugural flight between Auckland and Ho Chi Minh City touched down at Tan Son Nhat international airport Flight NZ269 departed Auckland international airport at 12:45pm last Saturday and arrived into Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat international airport at 8:00pm on Saturday local time (1am Sunday NZ time). Key representatives from Air New Zealand, New Zealand and Vietnam Dignitaries in the 11-hour flight include Minister for Economic Development, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Steven Joyce and Vietnamese Ambassador to New Zealand Nguyen Viet Dung. Air New Zealand chief sales and commercial officer Cam Wallace, who also travelled on the inaugural flight, said that the addition of Ho Chi Minh City would take the airline’s total number of international destinations to 30. This new...

Vietnamese architecture arises from the Kings Hung dynasty.  Before the 10th century, villages and hamlets appeared in this period according to several tales of Linh Nam. The ancient Vietnamese used wood to build houses to protect themselves from tigers and wolves. Two kinds of houses were depicted on the bronze drums; one in the shape of a boat and the other in a shape similar to a turtle shell. Due to dense lakes, swamps, rivers, and highly humid tropical climate, the most appropriate building material is bamboo and wood to set up houses on low stilts. At the end of the 19th century, houses on stilts remained in mountainous areas, midlands, and plains throughout the country. In order to be suitable with the rugged terrain, Co Loa Citadel was made out of clay during Thuc Phan Dynasty in the 3rd century BC. The architecture during the Chinese sovereignty, from the 2nd century BC to the 9th century, consisted of various structures like ramparts, royal tombs, citadels,...