Why a famous Vietnamese doctor fell in love with Russia

A lifetime spans between these photos from St. Petersburg's Palace Square. On the left, medical student Dang had just arrived in Russia 30 years ago. On the right, he is a well-known doctor with practices from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok.

Dr. Dang is originally from Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. In his youth, he suffered a serious spinal fracture. Physicians suggested serious surgery by inserting steel spokes and bolts into his back. But, the young man refused and started looking for alternative methods, going to doctors practicing Oriental medicine. 

“Then, I developed my own system of exercises, got cured and got carried away: I wanted to understand what our body was capable of. I entered the Vietnam Academy of Traditional Medicine.” 

After graduating, he went to Russia and enrolled at a medical school in Kazan.

Why Russia?

Vietnam was always friends with the Soviet Union and many specialists from the Asian country studied in the USSR. The TV showed Moscow, parades on the Red Square and Soviet movies such as ‘Scarlet Sails’, ‘Amphibian Man’ and ‘Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears’.

Dr. Dang says he literally grew up on the cartoon ‘Nu Pogodi!’ (‘Well, Just You Wait!’, similar to ‘Tom and Jerry’, but with a wolf and a hare) and the music of Tchaikovsky. He still remembers himself as a child, watching the ‘Nutcracker’ ballet on black and white TV. 

Many Vietnamese children also had Soviet toys and plasticine. And, closer to the end of the Soviet Union, Soviet 'Melodiya' records began to be exported to Vietnam. And, despite the Iron Curtain, they produced records with Western music on them: ‘Boney M’, ‘ABBA’, ‘Smokie’, ‘Zodiac’, etc… 

Soviet books could also be found in Vietnam. 

“I read Maxim Gorky's ‘Mother’ first in Vietnamese and then, when I learned the language, I re-read it in Russian. And, you know, it was like two different books, two different mothers,” Dang laughs and admits that he liked the ‘Mother’ in the Russian version better.

So, Russia was very familiar to the young Vietnamese man. And it was easy to get there at that time. So, in the early 1990s, the young and inquisitive Dang spent two weeks in Moscow, then St. Petersburg and, finally, went to study in Kazan.

First impressions about Kazan of the 1990s

In contrast to Moscow and St. Petersburg, Kazan seemed like a small city to Dang. He was also surprised that there were few cafés on the streets. After Hanoi, this was unusual.

“I didn't understand how people here live without cafés, where do they go to socialize?” 

But, at the same time, everyone was friendly and helped him with any request. Although he did not know Russian at that time, he explained to people on his fingers what he needed. 

Dang also remembers beautiful Russian girls. “I stayed in Kazan and married a Tatar woman: it was my first marriage, which gave us three sons. Now, they are all grown up. And they live in Moscow.”

Is traditional Asian medicine in demand in Russia?

At first, a specific medicine branch was rare in Russia. It was impossible to get a job in any hospital with the diploma Dang had.  

“I even had to work as a cook in a café for a while and then I thought: did I study for 12 years for nothing? And started actively looking for a job in my specialty. I changed several places, gained practice and now I work in Moscow in the Vietnamese ‘Vietmed’ acupuncture center.

Today, Dang actively travels to different cities and treats patients by courses. He does acupuncture, acupressure, acupressure massage and other procedures. 

Russian patients

The Vietnamese doctor's phone doesn't stop ringing. Patients make appointments and find him by word of mouth: “Today, I had a patient:  he was lying on the beach in Sochi, his neck ached sharply. A woman who had been treated by me in Moscow happened to be nearby. She gave him my phone number.”

The doctor says that the main problems of Russians are the spine ache, scoliosis, arthrosis, headaches and blood pressure. 

Often, the solution is quite banal, you need to exercise. 

“Now there is a flood of teenagers, 13-14 years old. At this age, muscles do not keep up with the growth of bones, hence the pain, plus children sit a lot on the phone, slouch and the spine is curved. Problems begin ... Although, often, relieving the condition can be done without going to the doctor: the ideal solution is swimming. If there is no such opportunity, any other sport. When I am on business trips, I run and do push-ups. That's enough to keep me in shape.”

How a Vietnamese doctor “lost” a Russian babushka

Dr. Dang recalls a hilarious incident when he once “lost” a patient, a grandmother in her 80s. Her kidneys and blood vessels were not working well; her legs were so swollen, she was walking around the apartment with a walker. 

So, they started a course of acupuncture, in order to drain the fluid. Already after a few sessions the result was visible, the grandmother was very happy, but the sessions continued. 

“And, suddenly, I came to her place and she was not there. We were looking for her together with her relatives and eventually we found her! It turned out that, one morning, she woke up and realized that she felt fine and could walk well again. And, like any normal Russian grandmother, she decided: enough lying down, it's time to plant something. So, she went to the dacha.”

Often, elderly people give the doctor homemade jams and pickled tomatoes and cucumbers as a token of gratitude.

Just like Russian

“Over these 30 years, I have accepted the rules of life in Russia, got used to a lot of things. I feel comfortable here. But, now I have entered an age when I am reassessing my whole life and returning to my roots. That is why I keep traditions and, at home, I am a pure Vietnamese. At the same time, I admire everything that Russian classics have given to world culture: Russia has many great names. This is also very valuable to me.”

Dr. Dang believes that Russians and Vietnamese are similar in their patriotism, in their ability to unite and stand up for their homeland. 

“Now that the situation is very difficult, if you read the internet, most Vietnamese support Russia.”

In some ways, over the years of living in Russia, the Vietnamese man himself has become a little bit Russian: for example, he loves ‘pelmeni’ (dumplings). At the same time, Dang's second wife in Moscow runs a Vietnamese café, where they serve ‘pho bo’ soup, which is extremely popular in Russia nowadays. They also serve Vietnamese coffee with Russian condensed milk. They often have a full house and long waiting lines to their cafe. 

“I also love the Soviet car industry. I have a yellow third model ‘Zhiguli’ (VAZ-2103); my son restored the car and, now, when I drive it, no foreign car can compete standing next to it: everyone smiles, waves, signals.”

The full version of the interview was published in Russian in the ‘Nation’ magazine.