Posts Tagged ‘Vietnam ethnic groups’

F our thousand years ago, Vietnamese people were building stilt houses similar to those in use today. Suited to flood-prone plains and to steep mountain slopes, these houses remain popular among many of Vietnam’s 54 different ethnic groups.
Vietnamese houses

As well as being somewhere to eat, entertain and sleep, a stilt house is where a family worships its ancestors and works at tasks like weaving and embroidery. The most important room is the kitchen, which is usually set in the center of the house and serves as a meeting place wherethe family gathers at the end of the day.

Stilt houses are made from wood, bamboo, cane, or rattan. A traditional stilt house typically has an area for drying rice, set one or two steps below the main level. The area under the house is either unused or used as a pen for livestock.

Tay and Nung people in northwestern Vietnam (including Lang Son and Cao Bang) typically build their stilt houses up against a slope. Ideally, the front of the house should overlook fields; close views of mountains, rivers and forests are avoided. The Tay and Nung believe that a mountain peak is like an arrow, which, if pointed at a house, might injure its residents. Trees, meanwhile, are associated with fierce beasts, and thought to bring bad luck to livestock. Nearby streams are thought to cause money to flow away from a house.

(more…)

The Culture-Tourism Village of Vietnamese Ethnic Groups will welcome tourists in 2010, coinciding with the 1,000 th anniversary of the country’s capital city – Thang Long – Hanoi.

Once totally completed in 2015, the village will become a national cultural, sports and tourism centre and a live museum of ethnology which features unique characteristics of Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups. (more…)