If you’re planning for a successful trip in Vietnam, you’re probably thinking about beautiful UNESCO heritage sites, the ancient towns with their impressive architecture, and the beautiful rivers, beaches and general attractions.
But if you’re a single male traveler – or even considering Vietnam for the future – you are most likely interested in a very particular attraction. I am talking about Vietnamese women. These are very special ladies, as you will see in today’s article, and they’re very easy to fall in love is.
But you have to be prepared for everything, and to make sure that you have everything lined up correctly for a perfect relationship, here’s my full guide to dating Vietnamese girls as a foreigner. Let’s jump right in!
Vietnamese Girls: Their Looks
There are more than 50 ethnic groups in Vietnam, all of which have different cultures, traditions, and physical appearances, be it drastic or subtle differences.
Therefore, although all Vietnamese women do have common physical characteristics, you can imagine that, at the same time, they can be pretty much unique.
The Kinh people are the majority, making up 85% of the population. These people have the typical East Asian features (Chinese, Korean, Taiwanese or Taipei girls if you want to be particular etc.), and they are related to the Gin or Jing people in China.
So a lot of Vietnamese people do look more “Asian” than others. At the same time, they are very different. Although it might sound like a paradox, you will see it is true once you get here.
Vietnam shares a border with China to the North, as well as Laos and Cambodia to the West.
So it’s only appropriate that they share similar physical characteristics with people from these countries. Your average Vietnamese will have some or all of these traits such as: light skin, monolids, straight dark hair, and flat noses. They usually have a slim build and are shorter than Westerners in stature.
But there’s also a variety of Vietnamese people who possess darker skin, double eyelids, wavy hair, and pointed noses.
These features are seemingly more common among the Southern Vietnamese people, while those with East Asian features are more common in the North.
Lighter-skinned Vietnamese girls seem to be more highly-celebrated though, as it is the object of fixation among many Asian countries that believe the beauty standard is having light skin.
But skin color shouldn’t matter because they are always attractive, especially if you are into more slender and petite women, like yours truly here. Believe me, there’s a sea of beautiful Vietnamese girls. It’s up to your preference, really.
For reference, you can look up these famous Vietnamese women like Veronica Ngo, Chi Pu, and the American actress of Vietnamese descent, Hong Chau to get a better opinion on what to expect in terms of a Vietnamese woman’s looks.
The psychology behind a Vietnamese woman
Although Vietnam has adopted some Western ideas, and although it practices socialist-oriented governmental structure and market economy, much of the country itself is still very conservative with traditional values and unique traditions.
The citizens also carry similar views. For the women, this can be translated as them being more docile, motherly, and family-oriented. They have immense respect for their elders, they would dress more modestly, and they embrace traditional roles for women.
They can also hold some conservative views on relationships such as valuing long-lasting, committed relationships and often conforming to conservative dating and marriage practices.
Despite that, they can also be very resilient, they can rise up to any challenge presented upon them, and they can step up to be the leader of their family when the men are unavailable.
This is because of the inspiring story of the Trung sisters’ rebellion against the Chinese. Thanks to the sisters, Vietnamese women have always known about a woman’s strength and power.
It’s important to note that each individual’s beliefs and practices can vary widely, and not all Vietnamese women stand by conservative values. Especially nowadays, as they are more exposed to Western values and things are changing in general, so do the ladies here.
Also, social norms are always evolving over time, and the younger generations may have more progressive views and they may be more open-minded, but they can still value their cultural heritage.
What makes a foreigner attractive to a Vietnamese woman?
Now that we’ve gotten to know Vietnamese women, it’s time to learn about their taste in men!
While it’s true that taste or preference is subjective, Vietnamese girls do have some common ground when it comes to the type of men they like.
For example, they love taller and heftier men, as the Vietnamese men are usually on the shorter side and thinly built. So there’s good news for non-Asian foreigners who most likely already have an advantage here.
They also like men who are well-established or settled in terms of finances. Now, because of the disparity of income and monetary values, American or European foreigners should also have an advantage.
After all, we know that average salaries in Europe are pretty high, while Vietnam is still one of those countries where you can live on a very limited budget. This means that even a middle-class man from the US or from some parts of Europe can live very comfortably in Vietnam.
In other words, Vietnam is one of those countries in which your foreign status comes with a slight advantage on the dating market. While not all women here will care about that, I found out that many seem more attracted to foreigners. Of course, you still have to be a decent human being – just going there and acting like you are the king of the world won’t score you many popularity points.
It’s also not a bad idea to be well-groomed and have a decent sense of style, as that will attract Vietnamese women as well.
They will appreciate men who appreciate their elders, and who will put their family first. They adore men who hold the same values as them, be it traditional or modern.
While any type of man goes here, I would say that they usually like the Danish man type (tall, blonde, well built) or something classy like a traditional British man, or one from Belgium.
But you will see, if you travel to any city in Vietnam, that they are really open to meeting people from any place in the world.
Best place to meet Vietnamese women
The best place to meet women from Vietnam is… online as I have already mentioned. Head over to a premium dating website – it has tradition, plenty of active users and all the ladies there are actively looking for a relationship.
And since this is a premium website, the competition is limited compared to free services (like Tinder or other), so it’s definitely a win-win situation. Online might seem old school, but you’ll be surprised with how solid of an option it still is!
First moves to date her right
You should definitely make the first move when it comes to women from Vietnam. But don’t be alarmed if they don’t seem that interested at first.
Vietnamese girls can be pretty shy, so you should slow things down. Be patient and be kind. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re not into you if they seem quiet.
But also take it with a pinch of salt (or a red light, if you want) if she is the one making the first move. I’d be very wary in this situation, as it might indicate that she might be a gold digger.
Not necessarily a rule, but be more careful if it’s her making the first move, as it’s pretty uncommon in Vietnam, even with the most open-minded and outgoing women.
Most of them will even have a pre-date period where they will get to know you exclusively via texting before they’re ready to meet in person.
This period could last for months, because genuine Vietnamese women are very cautious towards Westerners. They would like to get to know you and assess the situation without risking their safety.
As long as you don’t lose interest in them first, you should be fine and you should be able to get a real date with them soon enough.
And if you want to increase your chances even further, check out my previous article listing my top cities for meeting Vietnamese women.
A few extra tips for dating women from Vietnam
1. Be your authentic self
Don’t leave any gaps for them to be suspicious of your intention, because there are many Western guys who infamously date multiple Vietnamese women at the same time.
Vietnamese women are looking for serious relationships, they don’t want to be playthings. So you don’t want her to think that you’re playing her.
2. Spend time to actually get to know them and their family.
The key word here is family. They will expect you to get along with their family and gain their approval. So put on your good boy attitude and win them over!
3. Put in the extra effort to learn a few Vietnamese phrases.
It’ll always feel good when the person you’re interested in seems to also be interested in your culture.
4. Offer to pay for your date.
As a man, you will be expected to pay because of the traditional dating norms in Vietnam.
Even if she wants to pay for a small portion of the date, insist that you will pay instead. They will be grateful and it’ll go a long way for you.
Wrapping up
As you probably know, I am a big fan of Asian women, and those in or from Vietnam definitely give you plenty of reasons to be happy.
As long as you practice common sense and you pay attention to any potential red flags from her, you will be able to get in a relationship with a fantastic, genuine lady that will make your life amazing.
Now over to you, as always. If you have any thoughts about Vietnamese women, don’t hesitate to share them with the world by commenting below. The more opinions we have, the better to paint a clearer picture of how these ladies really are!
Do you want even more dating guides for women in the SEA area? I’ve got them for you below:
- What is it like dating Singaporean girls
- Dating Malaysian Girls
- Dating Filipino Women
- Dating Indonesian Women
- Dating Thai Women As a Foreigner
- The Ultimate Guide to Japanese Women (I know, not SEA, but I also hope you won’t mind)
