"It would be strange if Hanoi didn't have traffic jams at this time"

As a historian, he traveled throughout the country, attended international conferences, and worked all over the world. He wrote more than a dozen books of his own, about 100 as editor or co-author, and thousands of pages in newspapers on historical and current issues. In addition to his administrative work, he also guided and commented on 80 doctoral theses, contributing to the training of intellectuals and scientists for the country.

In Hai Duong, it seems that all historical events and important historical figures have the participation of professors, making the issues more philosophical and clear. For example: Discussion on scholar Pham Quynh and Nam Phong Magazine, Workshop on promoting the preservation of Tu Luc Van Doan's ancestral houses, Workshop on the Khuc family in the 10th century, Workshop on "Chi Linh Bat Co", on female merchants doing charity work during the Le Trinh-Boi Lang period...

In 2010, VTC10 TV Channel made a documentary film “Lap linh sao Khue” about Nguyen Trai’s life. The script included a recording of an interview with the professor… The director contacted the professor, invited him to participate and asked for a specific schedule to go to his house to film and record. When the professor accepted, the crew was very excited. The director made a detailed schedule for work, because he only had 2 hours.

That day, the film crew had to go back to film the temple of Nguyen Trai's hometown. When they returned to Hanoi, they unexpectedly found themselves in rush hour, constantly stuck in traffic. The closer the appointment time got, the more anxious and worried they felt. When they arrived home, they went up to the second floor of the apartment building near the University of Science and Technology, Le Thanh Nghi Street, and saw the professor, neatly dressed, sitting at the table with a stack of documents.

Everyone was both nervous and embarrassed. The director timidly apologized, the atmosphere was deathly silent. Suddenly the professor smiled indulgently: "Are you stuck in traffic? It would be strange if Hanoi didn't have traffic at this time of day." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

He commented, evaluated and analyzed Nguyen Trai's talent and strategic vision very profoundly.

Thanks to Professor Van Tao's careful preparation, the filming only took one take and met the requirements immediately.