At its peak between the 15th and 19th centuries, Hoi An was a busy and lively trading center and saw ships coming from China, Japan, India and Holland to do business there. Most of the town’s original buildings have been preserved and they can be seen and visited still today. Stone foot bridges and interesting architecture make it fascinating to wander around and there are many artesan’s markets selling local handicrafts.

Something else that has been done to make Hoi An a nice place to be is to ban cars and motor taxis from the city center. This means that you can safely wander around the town on foot and not have to jostle against honking cars and taxis the entire time.

Close to the town there are the intriguing ruins of My Son. And only a couple of kilometers out of town is Cua dai beach, which is perfect for lazing about on and catching some sun and nearby China Beach is great for snorkeling or windsurfing.

The town does not have an airport nearby so Hoi An is only accessible by road. It is easily accessible from Nha Trang and there are thousands of people who come each year to visit the charming historical town. Most people tend to stay at accommodation either around the city center or out at Cua Dai beach.

Hoi An is a lovely and pretty little city that definitely should be visited on any trip to Vietnam. There is plenty of accommodation and hotels in Hoi An to meet any budget and give you a satisfying stay while in town.

Despite dialectic variations throughout the country, Vietnamese (Kinh) still confirm its status as the official and normative language. However, there are dozens of different languages spoken by various ethnic minorities and Khmer and Laotian are spoken in some parts. The most widely spoken foreign languages in Vietnam are Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), English, French and Russian, more or less in that order.

Along with these, popular artistic forms including traditional painting on frame-mounted silk; an eclectic array of theatre, puppetry, music and dance; religious sculpture; lacquer ware and ceramics are also mainstays of the country’s culture.

In addition, Vietnamese cuisine itself varies greatly by its regions. Even dishes that are staples throughout Vietnam are prepared differently in the north, centre, and south. Vietnam ’s cuisine is like much of its culture in reflecting its many contacts with other cultures over the centuries – Chinese, Khmer, and French the most notable.

General speaking, there are nearly 500 different traditional dishes that include exotic meats (but consider carefully before you eat a rare animal) and fantastic vegetarian creations (often prepared to replicate meat and fish dishes).

However, the staple of Vietnamese cuisine is plain white rice dressed up with a plethora of vegetables, fish (which is common in Vietnam ), meat, spices and sauces. Spring rolls, noodles and steamed rice dumplings are popular snacks, and the ubiquitous soups include eel and vermicelli, shredded chicken and bitter soups. Fruit is abundant; some of the more unusual ones include green dragon fruit, jujube, khaki, longan, mangosteen, pomelo, three-seed cherry and water apple. Vietnamese filtered coffee (ca phe phin) is very good; it’s usually served very strong and very sweet.

Chinese confucianism still has as strong influence in Vietnam, providing society with a strong sense of hierarchy. They should show respect to their elders and even ancestors are held in high esteem and worshiped at important festivals and anniversaries.

The family is the centre of life for the Vietnamese and the father is held to be the head, providing for the family and making all family decisions. It is normal for extended families to live together and three generations under one roof is normal. Outside the family, one’s position is defined by age and status.

In common with many Asian countries, the concept of face is extremely important to the Vietnamese. This is not easy to explain but we can say that respect for a person’s reputation, dignity, and prestige is to be maintained at all times. Criticising someone publicly will lead to them losing face. It is also possible to give face by praising someone.

When meeting Vietnamese people it is usual to shake hands, using both hands. It is also normal to bow slightly to show respect to someone older or of higher social status. If you hand something to someone, you should do so with both hands. Giving with one hand is somewhat insulting. Never touch anyone’s head or point bare feet at anyone. This is extremely insulting.

Men and women do not show affection in public, although members of the same sex may hold hands.

When you are invited to a Vietnamese family’s home for a meal, then it is polite to bring a small gift such as fruit, sweets, or flowers. Gifts should be wrapped in colourful paper. Never give handkerchiefs, anything black, or yellow flowers.

It is normal to eat family style with all the dishes in the centre of the table. Pick up your rice bowl in the left hand – if you eat from the bowl on the table.

Vietnamese people tend to dress conservatively and shorts are only acceptable on the beach. Women wearing heavy make-up or revealing clothes are very much looked down on.

If you do find yourself inadvertently breaking the ‘rules’, then don’t worry too much. A swift, sincere apology will be accepted. The Vietnamese know that their culture and etiquette is not shared around the world, but it is polite to try to fit in with your hosts’ customs.

Vietnam is a definitely a growing country in Asia with the economy moving forward strongly but it is still a poor country with lots of poverty and with lots of help needed. As a volunteer you will be able to make your personal contribution to a child life and to the country in general.

To volunteer in Vietnam means to help out and work with local charities, shelters for street children, community projects, schools, orphanages, projects for disabled children and other projects whilst on your trip abroad. This is a great way to create a worthwhile vacation and give back to the local people.

Volunteering whilst on your vacation is the ultimate meaningful travel experience. You will be able to give back to the ones in need and you will also be able to get to know Vietnam and its people in a much more worthwhile way. And what you will hear again and again from volunteers after their experience is that they had the time of their life and learned so much about themselves. Talk about a life changing experience!

You can do your volunteering in Vietnam from one week up to a few months which makes this wonderful opportunity available for people on a short term or long term basis. You will be amazed how you can make a difference in the life of a child even in one week!

A great destination for your volunteer vacation in Vietnam is Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh City is the heart and soul of Vietnam. Anyone who has been to Ho Chi Minh City will not forget this place easily as Ho Chi Minh City is such an amazing experience. The wide boulevards of Ho Chi Minh City, the local street restaurants, the local culture and the industrious people of Ho Chi Minh City make this city one of the most exciting destinations in Asia.

There are many great projects available in Ho Chi Minh City for your volunteering with many orphanages, shelters for street children, projects for children with disabilities, soup kitchens and community projects available. There are so many projects available that you are easily able to work at a project that suits you best.

Vietnam’s single largest export is crude oil, which accounted for 11% of earnings from exports in 2009. Vietnam’s other main exports part from crude oil are textiles, footwear and garments, rice, coffee, rubber and coal. Aquaculture is also an important source of export business as well as processed forest products. At present, the exports from Vietnam are dominated by agricultural products but this is all set to change as Vietnam increases its industrial base. Already, 5% of earnings are accounted for by electronic equipment. As the country continues to develop its industrial base, the freight services infrastructure will continue to develop to support it. The main markets for exports from Vietnam are the United States, accounting for nearly 20% of exports, followed by Japan, China, Australia and Singapore.

Economic relations between Vietnam and the United States are improving but impeded by Vietnam’s record in human rights. Nevertheless, there have been great strides forwards in economic relations over the last decade and this is reflected in the current level of freight transport. A landmark bilateral agreement in December 2001 significantly boosted the level of Vietnam’s exports to the United States. The most important imports to Vietnam are commodities, including petroleum products, steel, fertilizer, electronics, machinery and equipment. Most imports come from China, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia.

Vietnam is currently keen to develop more trade with countries in the European Union and freight services companies are making this easier, as freight companies increase their own expertise in the Vietnam market. There are now many shipping companies that can help businesses in the European Union trade with Vietnam. The diverse nature of the above examples of imports and exports to and from Vietnam stresses how versatile the freight services companies operating in Vietnam need to be in order to service this market. A shipping company or freight company that is familiar with exporting from Vietnam will be expert at providing the correct transportation mode to ensure that the products arrive at their destination market in peak condition and within as short a time frame as possible. The freight forwarding market in Vietnam has developed considerably in recent years and the standard of freight services available is very high.

If you do not have some sort of education these days, most companies will throw your resume away before ever talking to you. It is very imperative you have an advanced education if you want to be successful. So, you’ve been out of high school for a while now and you have responsibilities and don’t have time to go to school. The dawn of the information super highway, aka the internet, has given people many options that were never available even five years ago. You can get just about any type of education online and the best part is that it is significantly cheaper!

You can work on obtaining your diploma or degree from home, whenever you have time, at your own pace. There are so many benefits to having an education that it would take me hours to sit here and type them all out, but here are some of the major benefits which include the following: Educated people make more money, People respect people with educations more than those who don’t, Having an education allows you to work in a field that you enjoy, Have more stimulating conversations. For a list of degrees that are available online the following site has all the different types of degrees and diplomas available online with free information kits so you can find out more information.

The other advantage of Vietnam plastic bags is no anti dumping tax to EU countries. Anti dumping tax on plastic bags is created because the companies in EU,US cannot compete with cheap prices from Asia. The anti dumping tax ranges from 8 percent to 30 percent for almost Asian countries especially put on China; the tax rate depends on different factories. There is no anti dumping tax on Vietnamese companies therefore, it makes Vietnam become a very strong competitor compared with other Asian countries, especially China.

Regarding to the quality of plastic bag, Vietnam also imports materials (virgin resin) from Thailand, Japan, Saudi Arabia, etc and machines from Taiwan, therefore, the quality is at the same level as other Asian countries. Even Vietnam’s bag quality is known more stable than China. Taking those advantages, Vietnam become more and more competitive in global market and attract a lot of customers from developed countries and try to expand their capacity. It will open very promising future for Vietnam plastic industry and big opportunities for worldwide customers to get high quality and cheap prices.

Second position next to Halong bay is stunning Sapa – the Queen of all Vietnam holiday packages. Sapa is in the north west of Vietnam close to Chinese border and about 340 km north west of Hanoi. Sapa town is located at the altitude of about 1600m and dominated by Hoang Lien Son range of mountains with the highest mountain of Indochina(Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia) Fansifan 3143 m above the sea level. Probably, no other place in the world could compare to the spectacular scenery of Sapa and its terraced paddy fields formed by multi minority groups near thousand years ago. Besides the natural beauty, you have chances to discover different cultures of 7 colorful ethnic groups living here.

The third is charming and romantic Hanoi, one of the highlights for Vietnam holiday packages. Throughout the thousand years of its eventful history, marked by destruction, wars and natural calamities, Hanoi still preserves many ancient architectural works including the Old Quarter known as 36 commercial streets and over 600 pagodas and temples. Hanoi’s famous sites include the One Pillar Pagoda (built in 1049), the Temple of Literature – first university in Vietnam (built in 1070) with 82 doctor steles which were chosen as UNESCO world heritage for ancient education document, Hanoi Citadel, Hanoi Opera House, President Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum…Hanoi also characteristically contains 18 beautiful natural lakes such as Hoan Kiem Lake, West Lake, Thien Quang lake, Bay Mau lake and Truc Bach Lake…, which are the lungs of the city, with their surrounding gardens and trees where you can join morning or afternoon exercise and Tai Chi practice everyday.