Flying High in Dragon and Fairy Land

Daria Mishukova was born in 1979 in Vladivostok, Russia. She studied at the Vietnamese Studies Faculty at the Institute of Oriental Studies, the Far Eastern National University of Russia. After she graduated in 2001she immersed herself in doing research on the culture and people of Vietnam.

“My greatest passion is writing about culture, tourism and beauty,” said Daria. Therefore, having lived in the country for 15 years, she has travelled a lot, from the north to the south, even up to the high mountains. She has met local people, learned about their culture and written about what she learned. Based on her real experiences during her trips, Daria has written many research articles on the linguistics and culture of this country. Among her works about Vietnam, the book entitled “Vietnam – The Land of Dragons and Fairies” is a very valuable contribution to Oriental studies and to the country she loves.

It took her more than ten years to acquire information and research carefully every detail mentioned in the book but only three months to actually write it.

First printed in 2007 and reprinted in 2010 in Russian, the book covers almost every aspect of Vietnam – from its geographic and climate conditions to traditional customs and historical relic sites so it is considered to be one of the most interesting books in Russian about Vietnam in recent years. Widely used by Russian visitors as their guide to the country, the book is proof that Mishukova has been a diligent, perceptive observer of Vietnamese culture.

In 2013, she translated the book into Vietnamese with the hope of sharing with Vietnamese readers how to talk about Vietnam in a manner that is attractive to foreigners, to highlight what foreign visitors are interested in and curious about when coming to Vietnam, and more importantly, what aspects of Vietnamese culture can cause misunderstandings if not properly explained.

Talking about her book, Prof. Tran Ngoc Them acknowledged that Daria not only writes about Vietnamese culture but also conveys her thorough understanding about the subtleties of the Vietnamese culture and way of life as well as her affection for the country and its people.
 

She has also published many research papers on linguistics and Vietnamese cultures in Vietnamese, Russian and English. She has also been published in many magazines, such as the Vladivostok Air’s Inflight Magazine, lifestyle magazines and Charter. The number of copies of her articles published in the above magazines reached 500,000 and about 15 million Russians read her articles. This has been a great honor for Daria.

For her great contributions to popularising and promoting Vietnam as an attractive destination, Daria has received many awards by organisations in Vietnam and Russia, including the campaign medal by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the certificate of merit by the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism in Binh Thuan Province and a congratulatory letter from the Consul General of Vietnam in Russia.