This celebration honors General Trần Hưng Đạo, a 13th-century national hero who led Annamese forces to victory over the invading Mongols.

According to a Resolution announced by 2021 and officially applied by 2023, the entire Mỹ Lộc rural district area was merged into Nam Định City.

Namdinh City's oldest space is often divided by tourism researchers into two parts : The North is the settlement surrounding Vị Xuyên Lake and Dragon Market, which is called Namdinh Old Town (Nam-định lão-nhai) ; the South is a textile industry planned by the French from the 1880s, which is now called Hòa-vượng New Urban Complex (khu đô-thị Hòa-vượng).

The noodles of Namdinh's pho are thought to always be as thin as clouds and they even can dissolve at the tip of the tongue, while the broth must smell the cow's bone and onion.

Some other specialties of Namdinh City : Bánh cuốn, bánh mì pa-tê,[4] bánh gối,[5] toast with honey, fish bún (fried rohu, snake-head or catfish is served with tomato broth and sliced lettuce & spinach),[6] bún đũa, xôi (xôi vò, xôi khúc, xôi đỗ đen), bánh bèo (rice flour is wrapped by seaweed leaves, with water fat and roasted onion),[7] Seochew sweet[8] (kẹo Sìu-châu)... Nam Định has two sports facilities, Thiên Trường Stadium (formerly Cuối Stadium) and Trần Quốc Toản Indoor Stadium, which are host to football and volleyball matches.

Hà Nam Ninh won the National Football Champions (V.League) in 1985 with star player Nguyễn Văn Dũng.

[9] Besides : Giác Hải, Bùi Công Kỳ, Đặng Gia Mẫn, Đặng Phương Nam, Đặng Minh Phương, Bằng Cường, Đặng Thị Diệu Hương, Trần Thị Diễm Hương, Josephine Mai Thị Mậu, Giuse Hoàng Văn Tiệm, Giuse Maria Đinh Bỉnh, Giuse Trần Xuân Tiếu, Lương Kim Định, Hoàng Minh Chính, Hoàng Ngọc Hiến, Đinh Thế Huynh, Đinh La Thăng, Kiwi Ngô Mai Trang, Giuse Đinh Đức Đạo, Lôrensô Chu Văn Minh, Đa Minh Nguyễn Chu Trinh, Phêrô Nguyễn Văn Tự, Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Duyên...

The whole terrain of Nam Định city is almost flat, many locations are still lower than the sea level, thus they face many disadvantages when the rainy season comes.

However, before the XX century, it was still called Vị Hoàng river (洧黃川), which had been in a folk subconscious as the nickname of Nam Định city.

[11] Nam Định city was also one of the earliest Annamese location to receive the Gospel, which was about the beginning of the XIX century, by the Paris Missionary Association.

In September 2024, Nam Định experienced heavy flooding from sever rainfall that forced many residents to evacuate their homes.