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00:00Let's just work out how on earth to cross the road.
00:03Terrifying.
00:07You're just going to have faith.
00:10This is absolutely crazy.
00:12It's pure chaos, but somehow it works.
00:18My name is Professor Han Fry,
00:21a mathematician and writer with a lifelong habit of following my curiosity.
00:26Especially when things are deeply, deliciously interesting.
00:34Kitchen yoga for you?
00:35Yes!
00:36Dionysus would approve.
00:40Some people travel to see the world.
00:43I travel to question the forces that shape entire nations.
00:48Welcome to South Korea.
00:49I wanted to come here for their optimal urban planning.
00:53It sort of feels quite chaotic, I'll be honest with you.
00:57I want to meet the people with unexpected stories to tell.
01:01I cannot imagine going through that as a young boy.
01:04And dig up the peculiar and wonderful treasures that reveal what a country is made of.
01:11I'm looking at it and thinking, what beautiful geography.
01:15This is my way to make sense of what makes our world go round.
01:30Vietnam is by any measure an extraordinary place.
01:34I want to make sense of what makes our world go round.
01:36Stunning landscapes.
01:40A rich cultural past.
01:44Ancient traditions.
01:47And some of the fastest growing skylines on the planet.
01:52But just 50 years ago, these landscapes were synonymous with bloodshed.
01:57This was the centre of a standoff at the height of the Cold War.
02:01For 20 years, the Vietnam War was a front line in the battle of competing ideologies.
02:07But here, there's a different name.
02:09It's the American War that tore the country apart.
02:13Since then, Vietnam has gone through the most incredible transformation.
02:17I want to find out what has powered the change.
02:20And see what tradition looks like in its wake.
02:23And so I'm beginning my journey in a place that was once at the heart of the conflict.
02:27The southern metropolis Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon.
02:34Today, it's home to around 10 million people and 8 million motorbikes.
02:40I'm told if you want to feel the rhythm of the city, you need to move with the chaos rather than against it.
02:47Thank you for getting me an orange helmet to match my hair. Appreciate it.
02:51So here goes nothing.
02:55Thankfully, my guide Ha is a pro.
02:59She's been riding since she was 16.
03:05I'm just squealing in the back, I'm sorry.
03:07It is absolute bedlam, but somehow weirdly efficient.
03:13The amount of cooperation that you see between people is extraordinary.
03:17And people are patiently driving through.
03:19Patience, that's exactly it, yeah.
03:21Soon, it starts to look less like traffic and more like a reflection of something cultural.
03:27What happens when people crash?
03:29People will be surprised.
03:30They just got up and we finally said hello to each other and then they continue their journey.
03:35No road rage.
03:37Mess as it seems, this isn't anarchy.
03:40It's cooperation at speed.
03:42You look really carefully, there is some order that emerges from the chaos.
03:46So you've got these little lanes that appear, like people following each other when they're
03:53going in the same direction.
03:56And mathematicians call this complex system, by the way, to get too nerdy about it.
04:00But essentially, it only works if the collective goal of everyone is the same.
04:07Which in this case, it's not to crash.
04:12Vietnam's love affair with the moped began in the 1950s during French colonial rule.
04:18And while the bikes have stuck around, the French did it.
04:21Largely thanks to this man, Ho Chi Minh.
04:25Tell me about Ho Chi Minh then.
04:26Ho Chi Minh is the father of our country.
04:29We call him Uncle Ho, to show respect and love.
04:34A revolutionary leader from the north of the country,
04:37Ho Chi Minh led a hard-fought battle for Vietnamese independence.
04:41With the might of the communist nations China and the USSR behind him, he ended French rule in 1954.
04:51But when the colonial power left, the ideological battle began.
04:57North Vietnam fully embraced communism.
05:00The south refused to follow.
05:03And this time, the United States got involved.
05:06Determined to stop the spread of communism, they threw their weight behind the south Vietnamese.
05:13And suddenly, Saigon was in the crosshairs.
05:17But it was also the place where, in 1975, the communists finally claimed victory.
05:23And the country has remained communist ever since.
05:36Just a year later, the Vietnamese celebrated their victory by renaming Saigon as Ho Chi Minh City,
05:43after the man who began it all.
05:45Although you will still hear people using both names.
05:48I mean, it's quite a troubled history.
05:52Like, French rule, then the American war.
05:54Right.
05:55And then finally, unification.
05:56Right.
06:01This is now one of the fastest-growing cities on the planet.
06:0650 years isn't very long for all of this.
06:08No, not.
06:11Amazing.
06:11But while its skyline is racing into the future, its history is never far beneath the surface.
06:20Okay, here we are.
06:22Away from all the newness of the modern city, Ha takes me somewhere unassuming.
06:27Somewhere that quietly remembers what came before.
06:31Never again.
06:32A story that starts with a bowl of soup.
06:35Pho is a soup made of bone broth and noodles that originated in North Vietnam.
06:43Oh, it smells delicious.
06:44Yeah.
06:48The broth is amazing.
06:50Traditionally, it was eaten for breakfast, but you will now find it served for lunch and dinner too.
06:57Is this the national dish?
06:58I would say so.
07:00And you find the same thing across the country?
07:02We have this dish across the country.
07:04However, the North, the flavour of the North is more authentic.
07:09They're getting the natural sweetness from the bones.
07:13But the South would say the dish from the North is too boring for them.
07:18They're adding the herbs inside of this.
07:22Do you think that's the character of the people?
07:23That like the North are just more like purists, more keep it as it is?
07:26I would say, I would agree.
07:27The North, they are more like conservative style.
07:31And while the South people, they are more chill, more relaxed, more open-minded.
07:36More open-minded to chuck me in her.
07:40The cultural contrast is striking.
07:42And during the war, these were divisions with devastating consequences.
07:47In total, over three million people lost their lives in the conflict, many of them civilians.
07:52But this wasn't a war that was fought on tidy geological fronts.
07:58Even in the heart of the South, there were people who supported the North Vietnamese guerrilla army, known as the Viet Cong.
08:05And in this family-run restaurant, American GIs and South Vietnamese soldiers ate their soup.
08:13Totally unaware that just a few meters above their heads, the Viet Cong had a secret headquarters,
08:20where they would plan their covert missions and surprise attacks.
08:23This room has now been turned into a museum.
08:32But at the time, Mr. Lap was a 12-year-old boy helping out in the family restaurant.
08:40Oh, really?
08:41Yeah.
08:42This is your dad?
08:43Along with about 100 fellow fighters, Mr. Lap's father helped to organize a series of surprise attacks on southern targets.
08:52Part of what has become known as the Tet Offensive.
08:57It was a key turning point in the war for the Communist North.
09:07Oh, wow.
09:08Getting ready.
09:09But soon after the first attacks, the South Vietnamese army stormed into the restaurant and raided the secret headquarters.
09:22And that's when they discovered what this room was being used for.
09:26Wow.
09:26And that's when they discovered what this room was being used for.
09:29Yeah.
09:30The old boy was being sent to Tấn and died for a few times.
09:34And then, after the last week, the court took place for 20 years of suffering,
09:39and died in the hospital.
09:40And after the last week, I met my mother.
09:42And after that, I'm sorry.
09:45I'm sorry.
09:46No, it's okay.
09:51I know, it's history.
09:52It's history, I know.
09:54I mean, this is your history too, right?
09:56And the thing is, there must be millions of people across Vietnam who have these stories.
10:00Like your parents, I imagine, your grandparents.
10:03But the thing is, this is what I find really extraordinary is that you're able to talk about it with like,
10:32such compassion.
10:34You know, I cannot imagine going through that as a young boy.
10:38Mr. Lap, who spent the rest of the war as a child without his parents,
10:43was eventually reunited with his father.
10:46And his decision to keep the family restaurant and create this small museum
10:50has meant that people from around the world have been able to come and eat soup and hear his story.
10:56Well, I've got goosebumps now.
11:06You know, you're up there. Let's keep in mind. Oh, I got goosebumps now. Yeah, she is a
11:15soup that we like. Thank you. Thank you. Wow. Thing is, this is a country that has
11:28this unbelievably painful past. I mean, 50 years really isn't a very long time. And
11:35yet somehow or other, they seem to have made this collective decision to let that story
11:41be part of their past rather than something that defines their present. Not many nations
11:47come through a war this brutal with such generosity of spirit. I'm left wondering how Vietnam managed
11:54it and what led to the divisions in the first place. But first, sleep. Now, how do I cross
12:01those roads again? I've left Ho Chi Minh City behind. And I'm heading into Vietnam's agricultural
12:15heartland, the Mekong Delta. Yes, a scenic meander down the river is a lovely way to travel. But
12:23the boat trip is also a handy visual aid for why there have been centuries of cultural
12:29disagreement. Allow me to explain by showing you on a map. Now, there are two big things
12:36to notice. The first is the shape of the country, right? Vietnam is extremely long. It's 1,600
12:43kilometers from top to bottom, which by the way is about the same distance as New York to Florida.
12:47Second thing to notice about Vietnam is that there are major river deltas. One in the south and one in
12:54the north. And these two deltas are very different flavors. Now, the Red River, she's like the drama
13:03queen of rivers. She's hemmed in by mountains. And so she has lots of steep inclines and is prone to
13:10unpredictable flooding. And so to survive, you are going to need to build and maintain massive dikes.
13:18And that means labor. That means taxes. It means collaboration, in short. It makes sense that the
13:24north is where communism took hold, especially when China is right on their doorstep.
13:31In the south, however, Mekong is just much more of a chill guy, right? This delta is very large. The river
13:39is nice and flat, nice and smooth as it flows out to sea, making it much easier to grow crops.
13:44All you've got to do is get a bit of land next to the water, flood the field, and you can grow rice
13:49all year round. Turns out, when nature is generous, people have the capacity to start thinking like
13:56traders. They have the freedom to be more open, adaptable, and quietly capitalist. I think,
14:03basically, when it comes to Vietnam, you've got to remember that the geography here isn't just a
14:08background to the story. The geography is the story. And it's the Mekong sleepy character, which is
14:16arguably what makes this area one of Vietnam's busiest export powerhouses. Almost two-thirds of
14:23the Mekong delta is used for agriculture, and 95% of all Vietnamese rice is exported from here,
14:31which is how this area earned the not-at-all-exaggerated title of the rice bowl.
14:39If you want to know how a communist nation cashes in on capitalism, the rice fields are a good place
14:45to start.
14:50How are you doing? I'm Hannah. Something to meet you. How are you doing?
14:53Hong and her family have farmed rice here for generations.
14:56I would say this family have had enough ups and downs to want to keep a lucky charm close by.
15:14After the war, the Vietnamese government rolled out socialism in the south, which meant that family-run
15:19farms like Hong's were forced to hand over most of their rice harvest to the state.
15:25International trade was highly restricted, and Vietnam quickly became one of the poorest countries
15:30in the world. By the 1980s, the mood started shifting. The government introduced a series of
15:39reforms called Doi Moi, which allowed for private enterprise and international trade. Communism stayed
15:46on paper. Capitalism arrived in practice.
15:49I actually quite like it. And as soon as the family were able to freely trade,
16:00they used some of their land to farm prawns. So the mud comes to like there?
16:08This is not my natural habitat. Oh my lord, look at that mud.
16:14OK, I'm getting out, I'm getting out, I'm getting it. Yeah, we're in. We're never getting out.
16:27To catch the prawns, we... Oh my god.
16:31Well, mostly they. Worked together, manoeuvring these 50-metre necks to herd the prawns to take to market.
16:40I see what you mean about the Vietnamese being strong.
16:44I mean, I'm just genuinely struggling to keep up with them, let alone doing the netting.
16:53For the last 35 years, the family has made a modest, reliable income from their rice fields,
16:58grown from the fresh water of the Mekong. And elsewhere on the farm,
17:02they have been happily farming prawns to trade for profit.
17:06But recently, the tides have begun to turn, quite literally.
17:12Climate change has hit hard here. Rice has dropped from three harvests a year to just one,
17:36during the rainy season, when there's enough fresh water to flush out the sea.
17:41So the rest of the year, the family have come up with an ingenious idea
17:45with what to do with those salty, flooded fields.
18:00Fewer rice crops might sound counter-intuitive, but putting both rice and prawns in together
18:05means that Hong can still use her fields all year round, rather than just the rainy season.
18:11And even better, the waste from the prawns acts as a natural fertilizer to the rice.
18:18And when the rice breaks down, it feeds the prawns, a brilliantly efficient little loop.
18:24No chemicals, no fertilizers needed, which makes these beauties organic.
18:30So Hong can sell them at a premium price.
18:34Success here takes ingenuity. But rather than keeping their methods to themselves,
18:40Hong's husband is sharing it with the world on social media.
18:44It's amazing.
19:01I mean, he was talking about openness, right, of this region, of like being cosmopolitan,
19:06of being like reaching out to the world. What a great demonstration.
19:09You're an influencer. It's a rare sight where ideology and pragmatism are sharing a muddy field.
19:20Communism might be the system, but it's capitalism that has given people the flexibility to adjust.
19:26Maybe those old north-south ideological divides aren't acting as opposing forces anymore.
19:31Instead, they've somehow started pulling in the same direction.
19:35It's certainly what seems to be powering the country's regeneration.
19:40But there are some people for whom Vietnam's transformation isn't just about money.
19:46It's about something much more personal.
19:53Until now, everyone I've spoken to has had a story about resilience, about rebuilding and moving forward.
20:00But there are other people, Vietnamese people, who had been counting on American support.
20:06And for them, the end of the war wasn't a time of hope and liberation, but desperation.
20:12A hundred kilometres north of the Mekong Delta is District 12.
20:18On the surface, just a normal residential neighbourhood.
20:21But for a particular group of Vietnamese people, this place holds deep significance.
20:26In 1975, just as the war is reaching this very chaotic conclusion, there were thousands of children
20:33who'd been orphaned by South Vietnamese families. And probably many thousands more women who were
20:39completely terrified about the life of persecution that lay ahead for their babies.
20:45In the panic, lots of people fled. Some by foot, some by boat, and some in the arms of strangers.
20:52As part of a controversial American mission known as Operation Babylift.
20:58The idea was to evacuate over 3,000 South Vietnamese babies and young children to be adopted overseas.
21:06In the hope they'd get the chance to live better lives.
21:10The very first flight took off on the 4th of April at 1603.
21:14But just as these children had escaped Saigon, 12 minutes later, disaster struck.
21:21The plane crash landed right here in District 12.
21:26There were 314 people on board and somehow 176 survived.
21:33Among them, a 10-month-old baby, Odile.
21:36A lucky baby like me were alive, but the middle, all they died.
21:47My position in the plane, I was on the second floor at the end of the plane.
21:54And that's why my life was saved.
21:58A 10-month-old baby in the wreckage of a plane at the end of a war. What happened then?
22:07I went to an American hospital in Ho Chi Minh for my injuries.
22:12And after one or two weeks, I arrived in France, in Paris.
22:18Tell me about your French parents then.
22:20Odile built a fulfilling life in France and became a successful lawyer.
22:32But like many adoptees, she always wondered where she came from.
22:37So as a young adult, she returned to Vietnam,
22:39hoping the nuns from her orphanage could help trace her birth mother.
22:42So you know her name?
22:54I know the name, but only the name knows the date of birth.
23:00I think after the end of the war, a lot of documents have been birthed.
23:06And so it's very difficult to find her.
23:09Missing records mean that out of the 3,000 Babylift children,
23:14only 12 have been reunited with their birth families.
23:19I don't know the reasons to abandon me, but if I have the chance to meet her now,
23:25it's just to say, you are not guilty.
23:32Really, when people meet me and say, oh, you are a victim of a crush, no.
23:38I'm a lucky girl because I love the life.
23:47Just here, around the corner, on the left.
23:50Odile has not been able to find her birth mother.
23:53But she came to visit District 12 to trace part of her story.
23:57The plane broke into four parts during the crash, scattering across the neighbourhood.
24:11This shrine marks the spot of the first impact.
24:15A remaining shard of the aircraft, lodged into the soil beneath, forms the base of the shrine.
24:22Oh my goodness, me, that's properly embedded in the ground.
24:26It's so lovely to keep this monument for the big team of Babylift and someone like me who wants to come back.
24:34Odile's identity sits between two cultures, the one that raised her and the one she never stopped belonging to.
24:40It was 25 years ago that she first returned to her motherland and now she wants to stay.
25:00Have you decided to live in Vietnam then?
25:04Yes, because I want to have a relationship and connection with my people.
25:09I want to know if I can be a real Vietnamese here.
25:13And so it's to enjoy and to discover this amazing country that Vietnam is now.
25:21On that score at least, Odile's story isn't unique.
25:24There's been this quiet shift that's part of Vietnam's transformation.
25:28This is a country that people once fled, and now it's drawing them in.
25:35The world is behind us. It's finished.
25:38Now it's time not to forget, but just say it was the past.
25:45And now the importance is present in the future.
25:47As well as people like Odile returning, Vietnam is now a popular destination for expats and, of course, tourists.
25:56It seems inevitable that the country's next chapter will be, at least partly, shaped by those who choose to come.
26:04But I've learned that Vietnam, especially the North, can also be very conservative.
26:10So what happens when outside influences meet long-held traditions?
26:17I've left the south of Vietnam, and I'm now traveling over a thousand kilometers north into Lao Cai province.
26:26This is Vietnam's hilly northwest frontier, right on the border with China.
26:33There's just no doubt in my mind that a train is the best possible way to do this journey.
26:39Just like the scenery, the kind of rhythmic wheels, it's just absolutely dreamy.
26:46Sometimes I quite like my job. This is one of those days.
26:52The train is taking me from Hanoi to Sapa, a centuries-old trading post and home to a number of Vietnam's smaller ethnic groups.
27:00I think because Vietnam is this one-party state, it's really easy to imagine it has this very homogenous population.
27:11And it's true that the majority group, the king, they make up 86% of people here.
27:17But there is a bit more to the story, because there are, in fact, 53 other distinct ethnic groups,
27:25each of which has their own language, their own traditions and cultures.
27:31At least five of these groups call the mountains around Sapa home, including the Red Sal, numbering around 12,000 people.
27:40They have a reputation for rich spiritual traditions and herbal medicines.
27:45Thank you. It's very heavy.
27:47Thank you so much.
27:50It wasn't long ago that these areas were too remote to be reached easily by outsiders.
27:55Now, with an influx of tourists like me, have these groups managed to maintain their distinct identities?
28:09Oh, my name.
28:11I think I might be an idiot.
28:13But I was sort of expecting, you know, this quaint little village in the middle of nowhere.
28:19Also, great in Drizzly, I feel right at home.
28:25This is the central market where the Red Sal, in their distinctive red headscarves, come to trade and hustle for business.
28:36It's also become a major tourist hotspot.
28:40Back in the early 90s, there were around 17,000 tourists here each year.
28:45Now, it's close to eight and a half million.
28:48Lots of them from Southeast Asia's urban middle class, looking for a highland getaway.
28:55Local guides help visitors explore the region's rich culture.
29:03And mine is Mei Tran.
29:04How are you doing?
29:06I'm Hannah.
29:06It's lovely to meet you.
29:09She tailors all her tours for the different tourists.
29:13Traditional Red Sal food is one of the major attractions.
29:17This one is very special in here.
29:19Yeah.
29:20Yeah.
29:20This one is horse meat.
29:23Horse meat?
29:23Yeah.
29:25Believed to boost strength and circulation, it is a favorite among Southeast Asian tourists.
29:31Western palates, less so.
29:34Delicious.
29:35So Mei Tran's inviting me back to her village for a very different Red Sal tradition.
29:40A herbal spa treatment.
29:45Now that's more like it.
29:51The Red Sal have practiced herbal baths for centuries as a form of traditional medicine
29:55to treat pain and restore energy.
29:58And I intend to take full advantage, thank you very much.
30:01Let me tell you my ailments.
30:04I'm quite tired.
30:06What else?
30:07Oh, my joints are a bit sore.
30:09I think that's pretty much it, actually.
30:11So that you do the herbal bath.
30:13That's the best.
30:13Mm-hmm.
30:14So now you can sleep very well.
30:15Okay, mate.
30:16Yeah.
30:18Each bath is tailored using botanical knowledge of over 3,000 plants.
30:24Here.
30:25You can smell about this one.
30:27Smell?
30:28Oh, wow.
30:30It's good.
30:31Oh, yeah.
30:34It's like a family of the ginger.
30:36Mm-hmm.
30:37Oh, wow.
30:39Oh, yeah.
30:40Now I smell it.
30:42Pop that in there.
30:43What's this one for?
30:45This one is good for when you're tired, like a yore.
30:47Oh, I'm tired.
30:48I'm taking a lot of this one.
30:49Okay.
30:51This knowledge has been passed down through generations of Red Sal women.
30:55You know, this one, we got too difficult.
31:00If you know how to use, it's a medicine.
31:02Uh-huh.
31:02But if not, it's a poison.
31:04Oh, really?
31:05It can kill you in 10 seconds.
31:07No.
31:08It's a different one.
31:09This one is different.
31:10Oh, okay.
31:10That one's okay.
31:11But they look similar, do they?
31:13For me, I can tell.
31:14Yeah.
31:15But for you, I'm not sure.
31:17That's just as well, because these baths have become hugely popular for tourists.
31:22Demand is such that Mei Tram has built dedicated spa rooms in her home to run multiple baths.
31:28And around 40 other households in the village also provide a similar service.
31:34It makes for a very lucrative business.
31:37I mean, the money, I imagine, makes a big difference, right?
31:41Yeah, I can take my parents traveling a bit outside.
31:44Oh, really?
31:45Yeah, they never take a train before, so they took a train, a sleeping boss.
31:50Yeah.
31:50And then fly a bit to the south.
31:53Where did you go?
31:54We go to Ho Chi Minh, and I also love to see different places.
31:57Yeah.
31:57You can come back with me.
31:59Maybe one day to your country.
31:59You can come back with me.
32:00Okay, then we should go to your country.
32:03But before Mei Tram books her flight, I've got a bath to take.
32:07Like most things here, it's a family effort.
32:12Four generations sit around the fire as the simmering herbs reach deliciously aromatic perfection.
32:24That's nice.
32:28Remember all those skyscrapers and those high-rise flats that we saw in Saigon?
32:32I mean, they feel like a completely different world away from here.
32:35And I think that's a reminder that the modernization of Vietnam, it's happened unbelievably quickly.
32:43And yet at the same time, this place, it doesn't feel like it's this, you know, protected enclave
32:49that's trying to resist the threats from the outside.
32:52This feels like a village of people who know exactly who they are,
32:56who know what traditions are important to them, and who have worked out a way to balance all those tensions
33:03to actually make tourism work for them.
33:07It's that Vietnamese adaptability I've seen again and again.
33:11This is a country that knows how to change, but it also knows what to hold on to.
33:17Time and again, I've noticed that it's family that keeps turning up at the center of things.
33:23And of course, family matters everywhere.
33:26But I get the sense that there's something subtly different here.
33:29That family is the anchor that's holding everything together, even as the world around it shifts.
33:41I've left the mountains behind and traveled nearly 300 kilometers southeast back to Hanoi, the capital,
33:49the political center, and the heart of the more traditional north.
33:57And in the maze of streets of the city's old quarter.
34:01See how skinny they are! Look!
34:03It's the topological layouts of the housing that catches my eye.
34:07So legend has it, in the 1800s, the French introduced a tax that was based on how much of the building touched the street.
34:19And so the clever Vietnamese came up with a workaround by making very, very skinny buildings that go back a really, really long way.
34:27What they do is they have one shop on one end, one on the other, and then a hundred meters between the two where they have all the residential stuff.
34:35And just to kind of demonstrate how skinny this is, this is, I don't think you could quite, could I sleep that way?
34:41I mean, bare, not comfortably.
34:45These tube houses, as they've become known, are so long that they're usually commercial and residential.
34:52Apparently, one of these has got a coffee shop inside.
34:55And once you start looking, you even see the central importance of family in the architecture.
35:01Look how beautiful that is.
35:03And then it opens out into this absolutely stunning courtyard.
35:07Oh my goodness me.
35:09That is because the interior follows principles of Confucianism, an ancient Chinese belief system
35:16widespread in Vietnam, in which social hierarchies are reflected in building design.
35:22Down on the ground floor, this is like the public space, the kind of shared community bit.
35:30And then as you go further up, you get the more family spaces.
35:35Oh, look how beautiful.
35:40Oh, this is stunning.
35:42And then at the top, there is a private space for the family to honor their parents and ancestors,
35:48who have since departed.
35:50Got a little altar.
35:52All those Confucian values of family and tradition.
35:56It's all very well looking at buildings.
35:58But if I'm going to test out my theory that family is key to Vietnam's transformation,
36:04I'm going to need to find one I can befriend.
36:08Luckily, I just so happen to be here for Tate, Vietnam's most important holiday.
36:14It's a three-day celebration, usually in January or February, that marks the Lunar New Year and the start of spring.
36:21There is a strong emphasis on family reunion, so everyone is heading home with blossoms and kumquats,
36:30thought to bring luck and prosperity in the year ahead.
36:36Look at my family, a whole big family.
36:38TD is part of our British production crew and I have persuaded him to take us to his hometown
36:44and celebrate with his family. This is a huge privilege. So kumquat on board,
36:50we are traveling 200 kilometers further east.
36:53Let's go.
36:58Titi's family live in Kurong, a small coastal town near Ha Long Bay.
37:06Did you actually grow up here then?
37:08Yes, I go up here. Also, my great parents' house is on the right here.
37:14Titi moved to the UK in 2017 with his English wife.
37:18Now he's part of the five million strong Viet Kyu, or Vietnamese people living aboard.
37:24Like Titi, hundreds of thousands of Viet Kyu make a big effort to return home to visit extended family.
37:41Hello. Oh my gosh, so many people.
37:43Hi. It's lovely to meet you. How are you?
37:45My mom in Nguyen, and I call Hannah.
37:48Thank you so much for having us.
37:50And I have probably like a hundred of cousins. Welcome to my big family.
37:55Thank you. Oh my gosh.
37:58These big extended families are the norm, and every year they all gather together to celebrate Tate.
38:04Look, this is me here.
38:06With the bow tie.
38:08With a little bow tie, yes.
38:10Cute.
38:11Not everyone in Titi's family photos is still around, but they're not really gone either.
38:16Because before sitting down to eat, we visit the ancestral altar to give thanks and offer them a portion of the meal.
38:29The rising incense is said to form a bridge between the living and those family members who've passed,
38:35allowing prayers and offerings to reach their ancestors.
38:40It's a way of honouring the past, while gently acknowledging that we're each part of a much bigger timeline.
38:55Titi's family Tate celebrations include a toast of Vietnamese rice wine.
38:59Oh, happy water.
39:03It's a happy water.
39:04This and the main meal marks the transition between the old and the new year.
39:2240 relatives have crammed themselves in here just for the celebration.
39:28That says something.
39:29You know, I think lots of cultures would say that family was important to them.
39:34But there aren't many who have an altar at the top of their house,
39:37where they go and regularly visit and speak to their ancestors.
39:42Is it just like paying your respects to the past, or is it more than that?
39:46It's not only respecting the past.
39:49It's because people believe the spirit helping the people in their life.
39:55Right. So you're offering something to them.
39:58Today, that means you invite them to come to enjoy the dinner with you, with the family.
40:04So is that a belief then, that now your ancestors are here with us, enjoying this family occasion with us?
40:12Of course it is.
40:13I like that a lot.
40:15This celebration isn't just honouring your ancestors, it's including them in the present.
40:20And knowing that one day, in turn, you'll each take your place on the altar,
40:27makes people feel part of something bigger than yourself, a through line through history.
40:36Honestly, it's making me rethink a few things.
40:39You know, I think that everyone in the West has this idea that the Vietnam War was about
40:48Communism versus Capitalism.
40:50But for you, what was it about? What were you fighting for?
40:53When fighting, people always think about our family.
40:58And that's the ability to fight all of us.
41:03We're not afraid of fighting.
41:06We're not afraid of fighting for our country, but also for our family.
41:14Through all of Vietnam's change and challenges,
41:17those traditional family values have remained.
41:20Honouring traditions while charging forwards.
41:27In Vietnam, those things aren't opposites.
41:30They're entwined.
41:35So it's no surprise to me that the New Year's Day celebrations continue with a strong family theme.
41:41I've come in traditional dress, with Titi, his sister and his nieces, to Kuo Rong Temple,
41:50a 700-year-old shrine honoring Vietnam's ancient national heroes.
41:55We're making offerings for protection and prosperity in the year ahead, just like generations have done before.
42:07When you're walking on these steps, are you like your great-great-great-grandfather walked on these steps?
42:12Of course, because it's not only my great-grandparents' spirit, but also you can see hundreds of other people following.
42:23New Year here isn't just about resolutions and hope for the future.
42:26It's also about putting to rest the victories and grievances of the year just gone and beginning again.
42:35And it's also a reminder you didn't get here on your own.
42:38Every step forward rests on those who came before.
42:46You look so good! Look at you!
42:48Those younger than you are given Lei Chi, red envelopes with lucky money.
42:53It's a small way for the elders to say, we care about your future.
42:58You look so good!
43:01On the day I arrived, weaving through the motorbike chaos in the city,
43:05I was struck by the quiet understanding that everyone here seemed to share,
43:09that to get to where you're going, you have to make space for everyone else.
43:14But now, after traveling the length of the country, I can see that spirit of cooperation
43:18is deeply fundamental to the people of Vietnam.
43:22Because here, you're never just acting for yourself.
43:26You're part of a lineage, one piece in a much larger picture.
43:30They use that platform of family values and of collective will to really build again
43:40with this hope and optimism for the future.
43:44And I'll tell you what, it is really working.
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