B: Tjang Pak Ninh of Indonesia asked: “How about the super typhoon Haiyan after crossing into Vietnam today? I do hope there are no more casualties of this typhoon”. Thank you very much, Thomas and Tjang, for your concern. After causing devastation in the Philippines, typhoon Haiyan hit Vietnam’s Hai Phong city and Quang Ninh province in the early morning of November 11. It killed 13 people and injured 80 in Vietnam, according to the Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control.

A: Haiyan weakened significantly after sweeping through the Philippines over the weekend, but still had sustained winds of 120km per hour as it hit Vietnam. That was down from winds of over 300km per hour when the storm hit the Philippines. It made landfall in Vietnam’s northern provinces, then moved towards southern China and weakened to a low depression late on Monday. Downpours hit the capital, Hanoi, and hundreds of houses in northern provinces were damaged by strong winds.

B: More than 600,000 Vietnamese on the central coast were evacuated from their homes over the weekend. The storm changed course on Sunday, prompting further mass evacuations of about 52,000 people in northern coastal provinces. People in affected areas are now returning home to repair their houses and resume their work.

A: Haiyan is the 14^th typhoon to hit Vietnam this year. The National weather forecast center predicts that Vietnam’s central and northern provinces will see one or 2 more tropical storms this year. I keep my fingers crossed that Vietnam will be able to escape the worst of these natural disasters. Now let’s continue to read listeners’ feedback on our program’s content and signal quality.

B: Thomas Corcoran wrote: “I loved the item about the Tea Festival on the Sunday edition. I enjoyed it here in Scania, Sweden, at 18 UTC on 5955 kHz where reception was as close to excellent as it could be. I was in the hospital in July for a minor ailment. As Sweden is a coffee-drinking country, a nurse would take the time and trouble to make me a nice cup of tea every day.”

Thai Nguyen tea forests

A: From Bangladesh, Ashik Eqbal Tokon, emailed us to say: “On my lunch hour, I had a chance to visit your informative and updated website and learn about the 2^nd Tea Culture Festival in the northern province of Thai Nguyen to promote Vietnamese tea, its value and tradition, and tea producers. It would give me great pleasure to learn more about the unique Vietnamese tea culture.”

B: It’s great to hear that you are interested in the Vietnam Tea Culture Festival. The notion of the "best" Vietnamese teas is subjective, because different people have different tastes. Green tea is the most popular tea among Vietnamese people. In 2011 it accounted for over 63% of overall retail sales volume. Lotus-scented tea is a specialty product of the Vietnamese tea industry. Generally, high-quality green tea leaves are placed within lotus flowers for a day to acquire the scent. Then the tea leaves are removed and packaged.

Thai Nguyen tea branches

A: Vietnamese green tea is best brewed for most tastes less than 2 minutes using a water temperature of 70°C or 160°F. Beyond this time the tea acquires a bitter taste, which is actually preferred by some tea lovers. Some tea lovers brew 3-4 cups from one set of leaves, preferring the lighter flavor of the later brewings.

B: I myself prefer Jasmine tea because it has a stronger aroma than lotus tea, although lotus tea has a sweeter taste. Almost all Vietnamese adults drink tea every day. In offices, people often prepare a teapot for everyone to share all day. We also have instant tea and tea bags with the flavors we like. We drink hot tea in the winter and iced tea in the summer. 

A: We often drink tea after meals, at meetings and during leisurely chats. Many tea addicts have a cup of strong tea before breakfast and before going to bed without losing sleep because of it. Tea is sold as a bottled drink sweetened or unsweetened, which is very popular with young Vietnamese.

Foreigners enjoy tea at Thai Nguyen Tea Festival (photo: anninhthudo.vn)

B: Green tea is consumed any time, any where in Vietnam, in the country, in the city, by old people and young people, and in various forms. That’s a brief look at the tea drinking habit of Vietnamese people. Now, here’s another good question, from Fumito Hokamura of Japan. He wants to know about river swimming in Vietnam. He says when he was a child, he used to swim in the river.

A: Vietnam has thousands of rivers, springs, and lakes across the country and wild swimming is quite popular there. We don’t have public lake or river swimming places and people don’t gather by the riverside to sunbath or swim because it’s banned. But in rural areas, people who live near a river swim anywhere they think safe for swimming. There are no lifeguards or floatation devices. It sounds dangerous, doesn’t it?

B: Yes, it does. Many unpredictable things can happen. Well, time is running out the Letter Box. Before we go, let us remind you of the frequency changes for our winter broadcasts.

A: VOV’s relayed broadcast to Europe from Moosbrunn, Woofferton, and Dhabayya at 18:00 and 18:30 UTC is on 5955 kHz. Our broadcasts from Woofferton, and Cypress Creek to Eastern America are at 01:00 UTC and 02:30 UTC, and to Central America and the Caribbean at 03:00 UTC, on 6175 kHz. We sent our updated frequency list to listeners some weeks ago. We hope you got one.

A: That’s it for today’s Letter Box. We welcome your feedback at: English section, Overseas Service, Radio Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Or you can email us at: englishsection@vov.org.vn. You’re invited to visit us online at www.vovworld.vn, where you can hear both live and recorded programs. Thanks for being with us. Goodbye.