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| Mr. Long wearing his ao dai while guiding visitors in Hue |
From passion
Meeting Long again during a tour for German visitors at Thuy Xuan incense village during the Lunar New Year (Tet Nguyen dan) of the Horse, the friendliness and approachability of a guide in ao dai caught everyone's attention. While chatting about Vietnamese traditional Tet customs, many visitors curiously asked about his outfit. With a smile, Long introduced: “Ao dai is the traditional costume of my people.”
That simple answer delighted Mrs. Maris, a German visitor. She shared that in her travels across Vietnam, she had seen many female tour guides wearing ao dai , but seeing a male tour guide in this attire gave her a refreshing and impressive experience. “It shows me that symbols of Vietnamese culture are not just displayed in museums, they are present in the daily life of your country,” remarked Mrs. Maris.
Long began working in tourism sector in 2009, initially in a tour office before becoming a freelance tour guide. He recalled that in his early days, he dressed like other male colleagues. However, after the COVID-19 pandemic, frequent long-distance trips made him reflect on how to create a personal identity so that every journey to Hue would be not only a sightseeing trip, but also an emotional experience. “I wanted to connect more deeply with Hue and leave visitors with a truly distinctive impression. That was when the idea of wearing ao dai, especially traditional costumes, came to me,” shared Long.
In fact, choosing ao dai to wear as work attire was neither mandatory nor a random whim. Deep within Long’s choice were childhood memories of his father, a clan head, who frequently wore ao dai during family ceremonies and ancestral rites. The image of his father looking solemn, dignified, and traditionally beautiful left a lasting impression on his mind since childhood. “Perhaps that was why I fell in love with ao dai without even realizing it. To me, it is not only an outfit; but also a symbol of family tradition and the cultural roots of Vietnamese people,” he said.
Bringing this passion into his profession, Long initially faced mixed reactions. “People talked about me a lot. They said I was showing off, or crazy, or that wearing ao dai in the heat would just make me hotter. At that time, I did feel shy and embarrassed, but I gradually tuned it out because I believed what I was doing brought a unique value,” he recalled.
From just one or two ready-made sets of ao dai, Long moved on to having beautiful and high-quality traditional custom-made ones. His collection now includes 6 sets in various colors to rotate regularly. “It is not entirely accurate to say that I wear ao dai 100% of the time, I do not wear it on rainy or stormy days due to the inconvenience. But in good weather, it is my outfit for tours. I would say I wear it about 70% of my tours, because I want visitors to learn about a cultural trait of Vietnamese people through it,” he said.
Evoking traditional values
Today, many people have grown familiar with the image of a male tour guide in traditional ao dai on tours. “I have been praised and encouraged by many older women and people at Dong Ba Market to keep this image. And when I go to the Imperial Citadel, if one day I am not wearing ao dai, some people would notice that because they feel like something is missing,” shared Long.
According to Long, for a tour guide, ao dai is not only clothing, but also a reminder of professional responsibility. When wearing it, he feels the need to be slower and more composed in his speech, gestures, and behavior. “I am carrying a cultural symbol, so I cannot act carelessly,” he shared.
This meticulousness has sparked many beautiful stories. Long recalled that about 3 - 4 years ago, on International Women’s Day (March 8), Hue Imperial Citadel and other heritage sites offered free entry for Vietnamese women wearing traditional ao dai. While introducing the program, 6 American visitors in his tour - though not eligible for free entry - rented ao dai to wear, as they wanted to embrace Vietnamese beauty as a way to spread the values of the place they were visiting.
On another occasion, visitors were so impressed seeing him wearing ao dai and guiding tour that they asked for his contact information for their future tours, or to recommend him to friends visiting Vietnam.
The appreciation that visitors show toward Vietnamese ao dai has strengthened Long’s own pride in his attire. “I plan to have more sets of ao dai, so that with my small effort, I can help spread the value of Vietnamese ao dai, and that of the traditional beauty in the Ancient Capital,” he shared.