“it shows again that vietnamese traditions are heavily influenced by chinese traditions”

I’m not a Vietnamese history expert (bad me) but I do know that the Vietnamese culture derives from the Chinese (we’re descendents) many, many, many moons ago. So it shouldn’t be a surprise (but obvious) to find many similarities in culture.

I agree, that’s a GREAT picture of a traditional Vietnamese woman in her ao dai! It epitomizes the whole culture…tall, slender with long black hair. BUT I wish the dress was more forgiving…you definitely can’t eat much in it! :P

I’ve seen a few western women that look pretty good in them. (ie: Kirstin Dunst in Spiderman) but generally they only have a magical quality on asian girls. Maybe it’s the long black hair or the “demeanor’ of asian women. Don’t know. But qipaos are very exotic looking. Like them with high collar, short sleeves and long to mid length with the split up the sides of the dress. I don’t really like the short dresses though. It kind of takes away from the sophisticated look.

The Vietamese dress also has that same sophisticated, yet exotic quality for me I guess.

Hairstyle is a great weapon to cover some flaws or to enhance the look of a lady. A woman who looks good in simple short hair would probably looks great in whatever hairstyle she is having.

I always felt the same way about qipaos too. There’s nothing sweeter than seeing a beautiful fit slim curvy asian woman wearing one. And I like the long ones too. So classy.

Vietnam looks like a beautiful place to visit.

Yes, it’s the Yuan Dynasty during Kublai Khan era. You can read a bit more about Tran Hung Dao and his battle on Wikipedia.

the general you mentioned, you say he defeated the yuan invaders, you are not saying about the yuan dynasty isn’t it? if it’s the yuan dynasty thats something really remarkable.