Vietnam War :: essays research papers

The very mention of the name Vietnam in the 1960s and 70scame to signify either a brutal jungle war or a spectacularfailure of American power - or both. Thankfully, thecombined legacies of French occupation, the Vietnam Warand withdrawal of Soviet aid in 1990 flip given way to theVietnamese citizens thriving entrepreneurial spirit, furnish byoveroceans investment and a relaxing of government control.And yet, the st cathode-ray oscilloscope chime of names and places still remainsHue, Dien Bien Phu, the Perfumed River, the Plain of Reeds.The commonwealth are erudite and friendly, the food a deliciousmixture of French and local cuisines, and the scenery issublime. Although Vietnam lies in the intertropical zone, localconditions vary from frosty wintertime in the far northern hills tothe year-round subequatorial warmth of the Mekong Delta.At sea level, the mean annual temperature is about 27degrees C in the south, go to about 21 degrees C in thefar north. Because of its wide rang e of latitudes and altitudes, at that place are no good or bad seasons for tour Vietnam. Whenone region is wet, cold or steaming hot, there is constantlysomewhere else that is pleasantly warm and sunny. Visitorsshould take into account the Vietnamese advanced Yearcelebration (Tet) which falls in late January or advance(prenominal) February- flights and accommodation are often fully booked. Fourgreat philosophies and religions fox shaped the spiritual lifeof the Vietnamese people Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhismand Christianity. Over the centuries, Confucianism, Taoismand Buddhism have melded with popular Chinese beliefs andancient Vietnamese animism to form what is known as TamGiao (or Triple Religion). The Vietnamese language (kinh)is a hybrid of Mon-Khmer, Tai and Chinese elements withmany of its basic words derived from the monotonicMon-Khmer languages. The most wide spoken foreignlanguages in Vietnam are Chinese (Cantonese andMandarin), English, French and Russian, more tha n or less in thatorder. Popular artistic forms include tralatitious paintingproduced on frame- mounted silk an eclectic array oftheaters, puppetry, music and move religious sculpture andlacquerware. Vietnamese cuisine is especially varied - thereare said to be nearly 500 different handed-down dishes, rangingfrom exotic meats such as bat, cobra and pangolin tofantastic vegetarian creations (often prepared to iteratemeat and fish dishes). However, the staple of Vietnamesecuisine is plain vacuous rice dressed up with a plethora ofvegetables, meat, fish, spices and sauces. Spring rolls andnettled rice pancakes are popular snacks, and theubiquitous soups include eel and vermicelli, shredded squawker and bitter soups. Some of the more unusual fruitsavailable include jet-propelled plane dragon fruit, jujube, khaki, longan,mangosteen, pomelo, three-seed cherry and water apple.