Vietnam traditional music and fashion, seeing as though tea is Vietnam’s favorite beverage, tourists in Ho Chi Minh City should not have difficulty locating a shop or restaurant serving up this healthy and refreshing drink

However, only at the Diem Mot Thoi Teahouse of designer Si Hoang (36-38 Ly Tu Trong Street, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1) will tourists be able to find a place that serves tea and simultaneously showcases Vietnam’s traditional music and costumes.

Since its opening in 2003, the teahouse has attracted hoards of foreign and local guests.

Teahouse guests enter the space through Si Hoang’s design studio, which is a traditional wooden house that feels peaceful and dream-like.

As guests arrive in the attic space, they are seated at low tables with large pillow cushions. A lady in traditional Vietnamese dress will bring a tray of Vietnamese tea such as lotus, jasmine, sweet grass and cinnamon with different accoutrements like crystallized ginger and lotus seeds.

Teahouse guests on Tuesday and Thursday evenings will enjoy music from northern Vietnam that has not been heard since the Hung Dynasty.

Guests are welcomed with the Ngoc Lu bronze drum portraying the solemn rain praying ceremony, the Khanh Son stone lithopone, in harmony with the mighty Central Highlands instruments of bronze gongs, P’Longkhang, T’rung or K’longput or the ca tru, chau van, and Quan Ho folk songs. Some of the musical instruments used in the show are very precious such as the P’Longkhang of Bana people and K’Ni of Gia Rai people in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.

On Wednesday and Friday evening, attendees travel to the musical world of the central and southern region of Vietnam with songs praising the beauty of the royal ancient capital of Hue, the Bong drum solo, the Kim Van Kieu cai luong (southern opera), don ca tai tu (the southern amateur music) and a music performances in the southern festivals. On Saturdays, a combination of southern, central and northern music is performed giving guests a complete survey of the country’s music.

All performances from Tuesday to Saturday feature a scene of the village market with men and women modeling traditional costumes and carrying food specialties of the rural areas in Vietnam on their shoulders. Guests are then invited to leave their seats and join the models in enjoying the food such as steamed manioc or che hat sen (sweet lotus seeds porridge).

Another unique feature of the performance is the ao dai fashion show highlighting the collections of designer Si Hoang. The Ao Dai Then & Now collection features Vietnam’s first ao dais as well as a collection of costumes of Vietnam’s ethnic people.

Designer Si Hoang told the Daily that the teahouse is a favorite of Korean and Japanese tourists because there are many similarities between Vietnamese music and their own cultures. They also fell in love with the Vietnamese ao dai.

The music and fashion show starts at 8.30pm and guests who arrive early can wander around the designer’s space.

Along the way up to the stage room, guests will have a chance to examine many of Si Hoang’s pieces as well as precious pictures of Vietnamese women in traditional ao dai from the past. The portraits of the queens of Vietnam such as Queen Mother Tu Du and Queen Nam Phuong makes guests feel like they are wandering in a museum of Vietnamese culture and fashion.

Si Hoang told the Daily that he is working on a large-scale project to construct an ao dai museum aimed at tourists and comprised of three areas - one for display, one featuring a library and a theater space similar to the teahouse.

The show is priced at US$35 per guest and guests could buy a DVD priced at US$10 of the most favorite performances of the show as a souvenir. For reservation and more information, call tel: (84.8) 8299 156, fax: (84.8) 8257 124, email: sihoang@sihoang-art.com.

Vietnam traditional music, video