Regardless of day or night, Vientiane (Laos) is not noisy and bustling but strangely quiet. There, thousands of Vietnamese people, many of whom view Vientiane as their second homeland, are earning their living.

A Biah Hill, a.k.a Hamburger Hill, or Hill 937 is one of two historical destinations in the A Luoi highlands. The higher you climb towards the top of the hill, the narrower and more desolate the road becomes. Yet, this place still has a strange attraction for tourists, especially veterans from both within and outside the country. Many elderly visitors have to cut trees to make walking sticks, conquering more than 850 steps over 1.5km long to reach the summit.

Thuy Xuan hill area, Hue city is famous for ancient pagodas such as Tu Hieu, Dong Thuyen, Bao Lam, Chau Lam, Dieu Nghiem, etc. Being lost in the clouds and wind with many rows of pine trees rustling on these hillsides in the early morning or at dusk, and listening to the sound of temple bells ringing in the wind and the steady sound of wooden bell echoing from the pagodas make my heart strangely calm and peaceful.

Upon contemplating the city in the brushstrokes of artist Hoang Dang Khanh, viewers seem to immerse themselves in many different emotions, ranging from peacefulness, romance, desolation, strangeness, sometimes solitariness and loneliness. This artist from Hue seems tireless after many years of pursuing the city theme. As for him, those city quarters not only nourished his soul but also gave him mixed memories of joy and sadness.

To be frank, that was the first time for a man in his sixties to see such a strange species of flower. The flower looked like the lotus, but its leaves were quite different.

It is the brilliant golden color of the sunshine, the wind, and the ripe rice paddies with plump and firm rice grains; it is also the color of rice straw, and the happy smiling faces of farmers on the harvest day. The village scene is bustling and busy, but strangely beautiful.

Through the articles, Prof. Dr. Thai Kim Lan’s critical thinking about philosophy, Buddhism, popular culture, and especially the Hue lifestyle are clearly shown. Also, readers can follow the author's emotional flow to be immersed in familiar yet strange spaces, meetwith historical witnesses, and feel the subtle characteristics of the various lands.

In a house at the end of a small alley on Pham Thi Lien Street, Le Phan Quoc is diligently finishing the paintings “Gateway to Dien Tho Palace” and “Hue Features” with Vietnamese lacquer. For him, Rhus Succedanea lacquer (hence forth, R.S. lacquer) has always had a strange attraction because it brings subtle and profound characteristics to a painting that no other material does.

Hue City with its gentle and charming beauty is no longer strange to Vietnamese people and international tourists.

There is an entrepreneur holding dual nationality, with a French father and a mother from South Vietnam. She, though not a Hue woman, has been attached to Hue and strangely crazy about Hue for more than 20 years now. That is also why she transferred most of her cultural and artistic assets to Hue, devoting a luxurious and spacious space inherently for profitable business purposes to building a non-public museum of fine arts.