Vietnamese music, food's rising popularity in China signals increasing cultural exchanges

With its rich twists and turns and authentic performance from the actors, a drama presented by a Vietnamese troupe generated buzz among Chinese audience during the recently concluded 10th China-ASEAN (Nanning) Theater Week in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

"The relationship between China and Vietnam are getting closer and closer," said Nguyen Thi Le Ngoc, the troupe's head. "I hope that the cultural exchanges between the two countries can be deepened in the future, to help bring the two peoples closer to one and another."

For 10 years, the Vietnamese theater arts have been part of this theater week. Through the event, a number of unique traditional Vietnamese stage plays, such as parodies and puppet shows, have been introduced to China.

As good neighbors connected by mountains and rivers, the Chinese and Vietnamese people, particularly the younger generation, have increased mutual understanding and friendship through cultural exchanges such as drama, music and food.

In recent years, Vietnam's electronic music has produced some hit songs with more than 100 million or even billions of online listeners.

"Vietnamese songs are usually cheerful and have a strong sense of rhythm. When you listen to them, your body just can't help dancing," said Zhou Jing, a short video fan from Nanning, Guangxi.

Nowadays, Vietnamese songs, dances and other cultural elements are increasingly popular in China.

Meanwhile, with natural ingredients and refreshing menu, Vietnamese restaurants have sprung up in major Chinese cities over the years.

As China and Vietnam's economic, trade, and logistics cooperation continues to strengthen, more and more fresh and original ingredients from Vietnam are transported to China, helping authentic Vietnamese food win the stomachs and hearts of more Chinese foodies.

Vietnamese Tran Thi Vi has been running a Vietnamese steamed rice roll shop in Hekou Yao Autonomous County on the China-Vietnam border in Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture of southwest China's Yunnan Province for about eight years.

"I've seen many Chinese tourists interested in our spicy and sour food, especially the steamed rice rolls. And thus I chose to open an eatery in Hekou, so that they can taste the delicacy at their doorsteps," said Tran Thi Vi.

A Vietnamese white rice noodle lover, Ma Ting, from Mengzi City of Honghe, explained that she had visited Vietnam several times for sightseeing.

Ma fell in love with the local cuisine after her trips. She is addicted to the exotic Vietnamese rice noodles for their diverse styles and appetizing flavors, despite the fact that her hometown is already a famous rice noodle city.

"As the people-to-people exchanges between China and Vietnam intensify over the years, more Vietnamese culture will be brought into China, and more similar stories of mutual learning, mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples are bound to emerge," said Sun Xiaoying, a researcher with the Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences.