At the age of twenty Duong looked fairly handsome, with a fresh complexion and gentle manners....

About twenty years ago, along Ly Nam De Street in Ha Noi, Mrs Mao the widow carried two big bamboo baskets on her shoulder pole to pick up frangipani flowers strewn abundantly on the courtyards of its public buildings during the night. After picking up the flowers, she swept their wide expanses......

Down the Mekong delta, one can see the rivers wind through the peaceful villages surrounded by bamboo. Year after year, these forever-young rivers carry the alluvium to nourish the paddy fields that produce fat rice crops. The people here for many generations have put in long and hard work to......