Japanese firm to design Hoang Sa Exhibition House

Hoang Sa island district People’s Committee and Japan’s Wrights Architects have recently signed a contract on consultancy and design of Hoang Sa (Paracel) exhibition house.

Hoang Sa is now a district under the administration of Da Nang city.

Chairman of Hoang Sa People’s Committee Vo Cong Chanh said the project is of great significance and relevant agencies in the city should closely cooperate to facilitate its implementation. Local residents hoped that construction work will begin at the earliest time.

The exhibition house is expected to be constructed on an area of 1,249 square metre in Son Tra district. It will be a symbol affirming Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago.

The project is expected to kick off in April.

Model arrested in altercation with Hanoi traffic police

Model and artist Trang Tran was arrested on Thursday night (February 26) after an altercation with police when her taxi was stopped for a traffic violation.

Police in Hang Buom Ward of Hoan Kiem District said Trang was abusive and attacked a traffic officer.

Trang and a friend were allegedly in a taxi going from Ngo Van So Street to her hotel in Dao Duy Tu Street. The taxi was being driven in reverse and was stopped and ticketed by police.

The artist allegedly argued with police that as there was no other traffic on the road, no offence has been committed.

Trang allegedly attempted to stop police from detaining the driver. She was taken into custody.

The case is under continuing investigation.

Mong ethnic group holds first Culture Festival in Ha Giang

The first Mong (H’mong) Ethnic Culture Festival was kicked off in Meo Vac district, the northernmost province of Ha Giang on February 28.

The two-day event aims to nurture the traditional culture of the Mong ethnic minority group that has been passed on for generations and motivate them to work harder in order to have a better life.

A wide range of activities were enacted by locals to introduce their life and customs including rites on the New Year’s Eve, engagement rituals and the rite of naming a grown-up man. A competition on building stone fence was held, and visitors were invited to try their hand at making the Mong’s staple food – the “men men” from maize powder.

The traditional “con” throwing (throwing a cloth ball through a ring) and Khen (pan pipe) performances warmed up the atmosphere, and a beauty contest attracted crowds of young people.

The same day, Meo Vac district held a ceremony to receive certificates that recognise Rong (Dragon) Cave in Ta Lung and Pa Vi communes and the Hue Bien (Crinoidea) fossil area in Lung Pu commune as national relic sites. The Giay ethnic people’s New Year Festival in Tat Nga commune was also added to the national intangible cultural heritage on the occasion.

Lao Cai hosts first buffalo fighting festival

Thousands of people flocked to Lao Cai on February 28 to attend a buffalo fighting festival – the first of its kind in the northern mountainous province.

The two-day event in Bao Thang district sees tough battles between 32 buffaloes in 16 matches in the qualifying round to select the best competitors for the finals. The biggest buffalo weighs up to 800kg.

The competitors came from many provinces and cities, including those hosting traditional buffalo fighting festivals, such as Haiphong, Ha Giang, Yen Bai, and Tuyen Quang.

The festival aims to welcome the new spring, honour successful farmers, and promote livestock breeding, especially buffalo that play a key role in the agriculture-based economy.

Spring tea festival adds colour to Thai Nguyen

“Huong sac Tra Xuan” (Colour of Spring Tea) Festival kicked off on March 1 in the northern province of Thai Nguyen - the largest area under green tea trees.

The event, which attracted thousands of visitors, aimed to honour tea farming and outstanding farmers. This was also a good chance to taste the specialty of Tan Cuong tea farming area and enjoy the tea drinking art of local people, as well as exploring business opportunities.

Many activities also took place during the festival, including tea parade, lion dance, tea processing competition, and folk games.

Tan Cuong tea is a famous brandname in both domestic and foreign markets that has registered for Protected Geographical Indication (PGI).

Chingay Parade features Vietnamese culture

The reverberating sounds of Central Highland gongs were a cherished highlight at the 2015 Chingay Parade that got underway on the evening of February 27 in Singapore with more than 100,000 visitors lining the city streets.

In addition, a float presenting beautiful Vietnamese women dressed in traditional Ao Dai costume was a hit at the colourful extravaganza that boasted in excess of 11,000 participating artists from 15 regional countries.

The Chingay Parade is a traditional Chinese New Year procession that has grown in recent years to become a massive street parade, showcasing a stunning array of dancers, street floats, jugglers, percussionists, lion and dragon dancers, clowns and acrobats, among others.

The parade has its origins in China, where processions of a similar ilk were held for two weeks after the Lunar New Year to welcome the season of spring. The name ‘Chingay’ was coined from its Hokkien dialect equivalent, meaning “the art of costume and masquerade”, and is a longstanding tradition dating back to 1973, when the first parade was organised.

Vietnam to host ASEAN traditional music festival

The ASEAN traditional music festival will be held in central Thanh Hoa City from August 1 – 6 with the participation of 12 art troupes from ASEAN nations and partners.

One Vietnamese traditional art troupe will join the festival.

This is a part of the National Tourism Year programme themed ‘connecting world heritage’, which aims to promote Vietnam’s cultural heritage value and celebrate the establishment of the ASEAN Community late this year.

The festival will provide a good chance for ASEAN artists to exchange experience and perceive quintessence of the ASEAN traditional music.

Besides official performances, participating art troupes will present their performances at some destinations in Thanh Hoa and join a seminar on ASEAN traditional music.

Year of Culture brings Vietnam to Czech

The Year of Vietnamese Culture 2015 programme in the Czech Republic has helped bring Vietnamese culture closer to the Czech, according to the preliminary report on the early implementation of the programme.

One of the noticeable initial successes of the programme was the successful organisation of the ceremony marking the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam the Czech Republic, the report pointed out.

Vietnamese Ambassador to the Czech Republic Truong Manh Son said that cultural events and activities offered opportunities for the Czech to learn more about Vietnam’s rich culture.

Through that, the Czech also have a more positive perception on Vietnam and its hospitable people, the ambassador said, adding that these events positively contributed to the Vietnamese community’s integration into the Czech society.

The programme, which was launched at the end of 2014, will this year focus on the Opening Week and the Closing Week of the Year of Vietnamese Culture, the State President’s visit to the Czech Republic, and the 70th anniversary of the Vietnam National Day.

Exhibition celebrates Air Force’s 60th founding anniversary

More than 500 photos and items demonstrating the development of the Vietnam People’s Air Force are being on show at an exhibition that opened in Hanoi on February 27 to mark the force’s 60th founding anniversary (March 3, 1955).

The exhibits are grouped in four main sections showing the Party, State and military leaders’ attention to the Air Force, the force’s establishment, its victory over the US air force, and its role in the national development and protection.

The display, held by the Air Defence-Air Force Service, features items relating to the force’s first victories on April 3 and 4, 1965, when its pilots shot down the US’s F8-U and F-105 fighters, and particularly the air battles on December 27 and 28, 1972, during which the US’s two strategic aircraft B52 were downed by pilots Pham Tuan and Vu Xuan Thieu.

The bravery and creativity of the Air Force’s soldiers in the protection of the country’s sky, seas, and islands as well as in search and rescue missions are also highlighted at the event.-

Festival celebrates ancient village

Thousands of local people and visitors flocked to a traditional festival in Tuy Loan Village in the suburban district of Hoa Vang in Central Viet Nam at the weekend.

Tuy Loan festival with a procession of certificates conferred by the Nguyen dynasty on the village founders in 1470.

The festival, which felt on Saturday, started with a procession of certificates conferred by the Nguyen dynasty on the village founders in 1470 on the ninth day of the lunar January.

The festival centred around the worship of the patron saints in the commune house, built in 1899.

Village people enjoyed different activities, such as folk games, grilling rice-cakes, boat races, making glutinous rice cakes and art performances on the 10th lunar day of January

The commune was recognised as a national culture relic in 1999.

The 500-year-old village is known for its production of my Quang (flat rice noodles), rice cakes and organic vegetables.

Renowned sites in central Thue Thien-Hue province have hosted nearly 438,000 tourists, including 165,400 foreigners, over the past two months, generating nearly 427 billion VND (20 million USD) and representing a 10 percent increase from the same period last year.

Between February 14 to 24, more than 82,000 visitors celebrated a warm lunar new year in the province, including 48,000 international visitors from primarily France, the US, Germany, the UK, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Thailand, contributing more than 160 billion VND (7.5 million USD) to revenues.

On February 23, the locality welcomed the Silver Whisper cruise ship to the Chan May Port with nearly 700 international passengers and crew on board.

Another 38 cruise ships bringing roughly 70,000 tourists are expected to land in the port in 2015, an increase of nearly 50 percent in international cruise ship arrivals from last year, said an official from the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Phu Loc district, home to Lang Co beach, voted one of the world’s 33 most beautiful bays, hosted more than 21,670 visitors with nearly 10,000 foreigners, mostly in Lang Co Bay, Laguna Lang Co and Truc Lam Bach Ma Zen monastery.

During the occasion, more than 10,000 tourists sought peaceful spiritual moments in the Huyen Tran Cultural Centre.

According to Phan Tien Dung, Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, promotional programmes and various services were offered during the occasion to introduce local culture and traditions to domestic and international tourists.

Looking forward, the locality plans to continue its promotional programmes and join international and domestic promotion events and trade fairs to further develop its tourism sector.