Hanoi’s Old Quarter in graffiti

An old apartment block in Long Bien district, Hanoi, has become a destination for graffiti artists to offer paintings about the Old Quarter.

 

Hang Be Street with electric wires.

Hang Ga Street with tile-roofed houses.

Hang Bo Street with garment materials.

Hang Ma Street with lanterns and unicorn heads.

A corner of Hang Thiec Street.

The water tower on Hang Dau street, the oldest of its kind in Hanoi.

The old bridge of Long Bien.

Hoan Kiem Lake and Turtoise Tower.

This playground is about to be broken down to build a new residential area.

Exhibition on 1975 victory opens in Ho Chi Minh City

An exhibition opened in Lam Son Park, Ho Chi Minh City on April 21 as part of its preparations for the 35th anniversary of the south’s liberation and national reunification.

On display at the exhibition are 140 photos and documentaries reflecting two main themes: “The Great Spring Victory 1975: The Strength of National Unity in the Ho Chi Minh Era” and “Building prosperity in HCMC.”

The show seeks to remind city dwellers of the indomitable soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the resounding victory of the Ho Chi Minh era and the socio-economic progress in the city in the 35 year since the war.

The exhibition will continue until May 15.

Practicing salsa in Hanoi’s park

Salsa has been imported into Vietnam for five years and has become popular among Vietnamese youngsters. Though salsa dancing is not a hot trend now, many people still love this dance.

On Sunday morning, salsa fans group up at Hanoi’s Thong Nhat Park to practice.

 

This is not a place for practicing salsa, but a place for making friends.
 

 

Mr. Pham Hoang Hai only became a dancer at the age of retirement.

 

 

Hai said he practices this dance for passion and for maintaining good health.

 

Each pair seems to have their own world.
 

Nobody knows why this Latin dance is so attractive to Vietnamese young people.

Yellow-ripened rice fields in central Vietnam

LookAtVietnam - Rice fields in Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh and Phu Yen are as beautiful as paintings during the rice harvest season.

Vietnam to use bullet trains

TOKYO - VIETNAM will use Japanese bullet train technology in a US$56 billion (S$77.3 billion) national railway link, an official said on Thursday, with Japanese companies in line for multi-billion dollar contracts.

The project will see the construction of a 1,560km high-speed rail link between the capital Hanoi and the southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City.

 'The Vietnam government has decided to adopt the Japanese 'Shinkansen' train technology at a cabinet meeting,' said Soichi Matsumoto, an official at Japan's trade ministry. -- PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

"Once the plan is officially confirmed by the Vietnam government, Japanese companies with the train technologies - such as Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries - are expected to land contracts,' he said

A day floating on Cai Be Market

With the newly opened HCMC-Trung Luong expressway, Tien Giang Province is now just over 40 minutes drive from HCMC. Tourists who like eco-tourism will find many places in Tien Giang Province that will interest them, including the Cai Be floating market.

For anyone unfamiliar, the floating market is a strange concept. However, visitors will understand as soon as they see the boats filled with vegetables, fruit and various consumer goods running back and forth along the river that runs through Cai Be Town to make sales transactions, from early morning until late in the evening.

Tourists can hire a powerboat to sail along the river to experience exactly how buoyant and animated a floating market is. Cai Be Market begins from about 5 a.m. as merchandisers purchase their goods there and then sail to other provinces. It is currently one of the biggest wholesale markets in the Mekong Delta region.

Southeast Asia’s longest cable bridge opens in Vietnam

A 2,750-metre long bridge opened in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region on Saturday, becoming the world’s seventh longest cable-stayed bridge. Crossing the Hau River, the Can Tho Bridge is also Southeast Asia’s longest suspension bridge, with a main span of 550 metres. The US$295 million bridge links the city of Can Tho with Vinh Long province, reducing travelling time by 30 minutes.

Boat racing at Dam Village Festival

Boat racing at Dam Village Festival is a pentennial event which occurs every five years at Tay Tuu, Tu Liem. Hanoi. This year, there were 6 teams from 3 communes taking part in this racing. Photos: Pham Quoc Dung.

Sheraton Opens in Nha Trang, Vietnam

One of the world’s most beautiful bays comes on display like never before next month as the Sheraton Nha Trang Hotel & Spa preps for its grand opening in this beach town on the south central coast. 

The 30-story property delivers dazzling sea views from each of its 284 rooms and a collection of restaurants and bars that immediately establish Nha Trang as a culinary destination for a host of new reasons.

 Hon Chon Beach

Three years under construction, the hotel ranks as the first internationally renown, 5-star brand to cultivate a beach destination within the country. 
“This hotel is like a standing ovation on one of Vietnam’s most alluring attractions,” said Scott Hodgetts, general manager of the hotel. “I’ve been looking at this bay, and its islands, for the past two years as we fine-tuned this launch, and I’m still not tired of it. I can’t wait to see our guests’ reaction.”

Sa Pa, Vietnam by Asiatravel.com

Sa Pa is a frontier town and district in the Lào Cai province in northwest Vietnam. It is one of the main market towns in the area, where many ethnic minority groups such as H'mong, Dao and Tay live.

Discovering distinction of Vinh Long ceramics

Vinh Long Province is known for its orchards and interlacing canals as other provinces in the Mekong Delta. Vinh Long is also famous for a pottery craft village running 20 kilometers along the Co Chien River.

Vinh Long ceramics are popular not only by their elegant shapes but also by their distinguished color, pink, that makes it different from other ceramics of other regions. This is also the reason Vinh Long ceramics are easily found in homes around the country as well as overseas markets

Vietnam's stelae declared Unesco World Heritage Site

 The doctoral steles at the Temple of Literature in Hanoi are recognized by UNESCO as world documentary heritage

 

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) has declared the 82 stelae of the Temple of Literature in Vietnam as a World Heritage Site, Prensa Latina reported.

The Temple of Literature, located in a park in central Hanoi, was founded by emperor Ly Thanh Tong in 1070. It is dedicated to Confucius. 

 

Vietnam's first university was established in the complex in 1076 to train the administrative and defense staff. 

 

It has 82 stelae mounted on top of giant tortoises that line on the side of the temple. They date from 1484 and record names, birthplaces and achievements of the men who received doctorates here. 

 

Names of 2,313 students graduated from the institution between 1484 and 1780, during the Late Le, Mac, Trinh and Nguyen dynasties, were sculpted in the stones.

Although the complex has undergone many changes over the centuries, the architecture of the site belong to the Ly (1010-1225) and Tran (1225-1400) dynasties, a recent study has showed. 

 

The Unesco recognition was approved recently in Macau, the report said Wednesday.

In pictures: Vietnam's internet addiction

 

The number of internet connections in Vietnam has soared in the last 10 years, increasing from 200,000 in 2000 to over 22m by June 2009. Internet cafes offering online game services are very popular in big cities. (Text/images: Ngoc Nguyen)

 

According to forecasts, the number of online game players in Vietnam will exceed 10m by 2011, with "Online Games" signs at every internet cafe.

 

 

Users at internet cafes are mostly teenagers who come to play online games for hours at a time.

 

Internet cafes tend to be open from 0600 until 2300, charging 3,000 – 4,000 dong (10-13p) per hour. Some teenagers play for up to 13 hours at a time, stopping only to drink water or eat instant noodles.

 

VinaGame is one of the biggest companies distributing online games in Vietnam. Teenage gamers meet at its service center to trade online game accounts. Players who cannot reach the next level on a certain game can buy an account from a player who has. 

 

 

Hai, 14, was once an online game addict who used to play up to 15 hours each day. He cried as he described the times he stole money from his father to support his online game addiction.

 

The Centre of Culture and Sports for Youth of South Vietnam runs a course aimed at helping young people rekindle family relationships and create more personal interactions to replace the virtual world.

 

Though the course is not designed solely for game addicts, it helped Hai express his emotions and thoughts: "I would like to give my dad a hug and kiss… so that we two could understand each other better," he said.

 

Introducing teenagers to new hobbies such as dancing, hip hop and rap is one of the ways used by the youth centre to help them move away from their online addiction.

 

Hai's parents believe that with determination and the support of their families,

 teenagers can succeed in kicking their habit.

 

 

Hai's message to other teenagers: "Games would be a form of entertainment if used properly, but if not, it only brings loss – the loss of love and trust from your family. It's only the virtual world, and it's not worth the loss you would suffer."