Northern culture fest to highlight folk traditions

The Bac Ninh Province People’s Committee March 31 announced an upcoming festival from April 14-18 titled “Bac Ninh Literature – Gather and Shine.” Quan ho performances, a unique tradition of Bac Ninh Province, will be officially recognized as “World intangible heritage” by UNESCO on April 17 during the “Bac Ninh Literature – Gather...

Bac Ninh Festival 2010 to be organised at national level

 The Bac Ninh Festival 2010 will be held at the national level at the Kinh Bac cultural centre, said Nguyen Dang Tuc, Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, on April 1. Party and State leaders, representatives from ministries, agencies, embassies and Ly clan representatives from the Republic...

Exhibition tells lives of Mekong residents

Nine stories of the lives, dreams and struggles of the people of three Mekong River countries – Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia – are featured at an exhibition in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang. “The Mekong’s story: Challenge and dream,” a mobile exhibition, was jointly opened at the provincial museum on March 30 by the provincial...

Arabs fascinated by Vietnamese cuisine

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has hosted an Asia Culinary Fair, at which guests and diplomats from many countries had the chance to enjoy Vietnamese food. After the opening of the fair, hundreds of visitors, including local people and foreign ambassadors, called on the Vietnamese stand and tasted the food. They especially favoured...

Seeking beauty through pain

Tattoos have been imported into Hanoi for nearly a decade, but actually tattooing was very popular within the gang world for several decades and has even older historical roots in Vietnam. When a client comes, tattoo artists will show him/her tattoo designs on the Internet. Like painting, tattoo uses three basic colors: red, yellow and...

Paintings made of rice and tree bark

A group of students in HCM City has made unique paintings of landscapes, animals and still-lifes using rice, tree bark, newspaper and bamboo toothpicks to raise funds for charity.   Hanoi’s One-Pillar Pagoda is made of rice.  Hoi An town, made from bark, bamboo and gravel.    The portrait of a young...

Saigon, Vietnam - Saigon Seafood Stalls

You don't need to go far to find food in Saigon. All you really have to do is stand and do a 360, and you'll realize that it is actually the food that finds you. Pho was cooking on the left. Banh mi was being prepared on the right. But straight ahead, we were attracted to a small stand lit by the greenish, fluorescent lights...

Life is more beautiful at Quang Ba flower market

Located along Yen Phu Dyke in Tay Ho District, the market opens at dawn. In the mist of the morning, the flowers at Quang Ba are regarded as the most beautiful and freshest in town and come from many places such as Quang Ba, Nghi Tam, Nhat Tan, Dam-Cau Dien, Dong Anh, Soc Son, Me Linh, Sapa and Dalat.  A foreign tourist...

The life of the eldest man in Red River’s floating village

Born and bred in Thailand, the oldest man in the Red River’s floating hamlet lives on a simple and deteriorating boat in the dry season.   For the last decade, Mr. Vu Dinh Bai, 77, and his wife has been living in a small boat, which is enough for a sedge mat, a wardrobe and a kitchen. The life of Bai’s family and 16 other...

Sapa Culture Week to be held with lots of surprises

A week-long cultural festival will be held in Sapa, one of Vietnam’s top holiday and relaxation destinations, from April 30 to May 4, in an effort to increase the northern mountainous area’s tourism potential. Called “Walking in a Cloud in Sapa”, the festival is designed to lead visitors from surprise to surprise with a series of...

Frenchmen to update Da Lat City plan

Lam Dong People’s Committee Chairman Huynh Duc Hoa said on April 13 that the Paris Urban Planning Institute and a prestigious French architectural firm have been chosen because “French characteristics” are a uniquely attractive aspect of the older parts of the city.  The original plan for Da Lat was the work of the architect...

Vietnam’s Hoan Kiem turtles on brink of extinction

The Hoan Kiem turtle is one of the most famous and rarest species of tortoise globally. There are just four left in the entire world, including two in Vietnam: one in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem Lake and anther in Dong Mo Lake. The other two are living in a Chinese zoo.  The tortoise caught in Dong Mo Lake.  The turtle in Hoan...

Hanoi's sunset

In the fading sunlights at the end of the day, Hanoi appears brilliant and romatic. Enjoy a shot of Hanoi in the sunset taken by Xuan Chinh from above: Hanoi in the rainbow A cloudly sky Fading in the dusk Yellow cloud in the sunset Paceful West Lake Romantic Thanh Niem Road Historical Long Bien Bridge Hanoi Flag to...

Hoi Ky Village: a window into Vietnam’s past

Nestled along the romantic O Lau River in north-central Quang Tri Province, the 500-year-old village of Hoi Ky remains a national treasure of Vietnamese heritage. The small community, situated in Hai Chanh commune, was once home to 60 households along the riverbank. Courtyards shaded by banyan trees created a nostalgia for residents,...