Question 1

Tipping in Vietnam

Accepted Answer

Vietnamese people do not usually tip, and a tip is generally not expected, though it will not be turned down. Carry Vietnamese dong for purchases: some prices are shown in dollars, but payment is almost always expected in dong. In places that cater mainly to Western visitors, a tip may be more expected.

Question 2

Culture and Local Life

Accepted Answer

Three communities share Tân Châu: the Kinh, Vietnam's majority, the Hoa, of Chinese descent, and the Cham. Their faiths include Buddhism, the Hòa Hảo and Cao Đài religions of southern Vietnam, Christianity and Islam. The town holds yearly festivals including a Tân Châu culture festival, a festival of the flood season and a Cham cultural festival. Giồng Thành pagoda, also called Long Hưng Tự, is about 3 km from the center. It was listed as a national monument in 1986, and it was restored in 1970 in an Indian style. Núi Nổi pagoda, about 9 km away in open fields, stands on a hill that seems to float on the water in the flood season. Lãnh Mỹ A silk has traditionally been made into black trousers and áo dài worn for holidays, weddings and parties in southern Vietnam, and given as a gift.

Question 3

History

Accepted Answer

Tân Châu began as a military post in the 18th century, when this land passed from Cambodian to Vietnamese rule. It was, before 1975, one of the richest districts of the south and became known across the region for its silk. A military post, 1757: The name Tân Châu dates from 1757, when the Nguyễn lords created a garrison district of that name in land ceded to them by the Khmer king Outey II. An unfinished citadel: In 1833 Emperor Minh Mạng ordered a new citadel at Long Sơn to replace the fort at Châu Đốc, but in 1834 he changed his mind and the work was abandoned with only part of the moat dug. A pagoda on the ruins: In 1875 the monk Trí Trang built a small pagoda of bamboo and leaves on the abandoned citadel's mound, the start of Giồng Thành pagoda. French rule: The French, who took southern Vietnam in the 19th century, created the district of Tân Châu in 1903. A silk center: Mulberry growing, silkworm raising and weaving grew in the early 20th century, and by the 1940s Tân Châu was known as a silk center of the south, with Lãnh Mỹ A its signature cloth. Resistance: A stone tablet at Giồng Thành pagoda records that Nguyễn Sinh Sắc, the father of Hồ Chí Minh, lived there in 1928 and 1929. The pagoda later served as a base during the wars against France and the United States. Decline and revival: Nylon and factory textiles shrank the craft sharply from the 1970s, and by the 1980s only a few households kept the old techniques. A partial revival began around 1990 with orders and technical help from a French customer, and in 2007 An Giang province recognized the Tân Châu silk-weaving craft village. New status: Tân Châu became a town in 2009 and, in 2025, a ward of An Giang province.

Question 4

Shopping for Silk

Accepted Answer

Lãnh Mỹ A, the black silk of Tân Châu, is the thing to look for here. It is woven from silk in a dense satin weave, then dyed with the juice of the mặc nưa fruit and dried in the sun again and again until it turns a deep, glossy black. Making one length of cloth usually takes about 45 days, and up to about 60 in poor weather. Some workshops have also dyed the silk in other natural colors, such as amber, cream, gray, yellow and red, besides the traditional black. In the early 2020s fewer than 20 workshops still worked regularly. Visits to the craft village usually combine watching the weaving and dyeing with buying at the workshop. The black can deepen and grow glossier with use.

Tan Chau

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Tipping in Vietnam

Culture and Local Life

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Shopping for Silk

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