Do you notice a difference between people in Saigon and Hanoi? (best, conditions)

[The Postman]

Migration notwithstanding, I noticed a different in the people in Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

I think the Khmer admixture might even be underrated in southern Vietnam. The people here are a bit shorter and darker on average, some of them have deeper-set eyes too, and larger eyes and a somewhat more prominent bridge are features, although there are of course plenty who look like they could be from Hanoi.

In Hanoi, in the original Viet homeland, the people are paler, taller, with more people having slightly smaller eyes, more 'Chinese looking.' They both still look Vietnamese, and you can find both types in each, but it just seems that, just as people in Guangzhou differ from those in Beijing, the north and south Vietnamese have a few general differences one can observe.

[laughoutl001]

Southerner Vietnamese is culturally assimiliated into mainstream Vietnamese. Their ancestry is more mixed than the Northern Vietnamese.

Prsent day Southern Vietnam was not Vietnam's territory until recent centuries.

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by The Postman

Migration notwithstanding, I noticed a different in the people in Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

I think the Khmer admixture might even be underrated in southern Vietnam. The people here are a bit shorter and darker on average, some of them have deeper-set eyes too, and larger eyes and a somewhat more prominent bridge are features, although there are of course plenty who look like they could be from Hanoi.

In Hanoi, in the original Viet homeland, the people are paler, taller, with more people having slightly smaller eyes, more 'Chinese looking.' They both still look Vietnamese, and you can find both types in each, but it just seems that, just as people in Guangzhou differ from those in Beijing, the north and south Vietnamese have a few general differences one can observe.

I also noticed that the people were significantly different in mindset.

In Hanoi, people seemed way more reserved and traditional-thinking. More wary of outsiders/foreigners. Less likely to engage in conversation, etc.

In Saigon/HCMC, people were very embracing and smiling and happy. They were very easily engaged, and wanted to get to know foreigners and outsiders. They were more likely to open up and share their stories, etc.

[Warranthad]

It seems a lot of people on comment on this issue have a poor understanding of what Khmer-Cambodians are supposed to look like. My observations are that a real pure-blooded Cambodian will look strongly unlike any Kinh-Vietnamese you will have seen from any region. Take a look at these children for example; I doubt anyone could seriously mistake them for Vietnamese.

http://i.imgur.com/TeFVuU1.png?1
http://i.imgur.com/lODoHpC.jpg?1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VW1wX-CnLs

While I don't doubt that some Southern Vietnamese are mixed with Khmer-Cambodians; one needs to be careful in applying judgement. A poor farmer who spends most of his time outside will tan and become swarthier which may lead you to believe he is mixed with Khmer. But if he were to produce children that are pale and straight haired then his ethnicity cannot be called into question.

In fact I believe that child phenotype is the best way to distinguish between real Vietnamese and Khmer. A pure Khmer will look like the children above though admittedly Khmer nowadays are not so unmixed. While a Vietnamese child will turn out pale and straight haired. So you see, both Northern and Southern Vietnamese aren't so different after all.

Now compare Khmer and Vietnamese children living in the same conditions - the Tonle Sap lake in Cambodia. The difference is obvious.



Who's to say the differences between North and South cannot be attributed to differences in climate, sun exposure, and nutrition? Also, the Khmer were historically documented to be taller than Vietnamese.

[The Postman]

^ Interesting comments...I think there is some overlap, some Khmer look more Chinese/Vietnamese (then again with over 1 million 'ethnic Chinese', and more mixed who knows), and some southern Vietnamese definitely do look sort of Khmer, there probably is more admixture. Northern Viets look more like their southern Chinese neighbours, especially some of the minorities, which makes sense since that is their homeland.

[The Postman]

Yes, perhaps the difference isn't that great, but I think there is at least a subtle differences...I definitely did notice the height thing for instance.