Hanoi’s Department of Industry and Trade is putting together five tours of the city’s traditional craft villages to mark the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

The tours, which are scheduled to start this month, include a one-day tour to the Chuon Ngo pearl inlay village, Thang Loi embroidery village, Ha Thai lacquer village, Phu Vinh bamboo and rattan village and an extended tour to Van Phuc silk and Son Dong sculpture villages. A tour of Bat Trang ceramic and Kieu Ky gold-leaf villages is also planned. The department has also selected a number of typical workshops and old houses of architectural interest to be visited during the tours.

The ministry will hold a 400-stand tourism fair which will include at least 35 overseas tourist companies from key markets such as China, Japan, South Africa, France and the US as well as several representatives from the Asian Network of Major Cities and the Council for the Promotion of Tourism in Asia.

Hang said that the festival provides an opportunity for Hanoi to promote itself to international friends, but stressed that the city’s tourist industry needs to prepare carefully for the event if it wants it to be a success.

It is aimed at helping Vietnamese people better understand culinary the gastronomy of Japan, which is well-known for traditional dishes like sushi, sashimi, tempura and different types of noodle as well as promoting the country’s tourism-related products to Japanese friends.

Earlier, the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) organised a similar culinary programme in the Lotte Mart supermarket in Ho Chi Minh City from February 26 to March 14.
Yoshida Sakae, JETRO’s managing director, expressed his wish that through the event, JETRO would set up more diverse food distribution systems.

Vietnam is seen as a promising market for Japanese processed food and a favourite destination for Japanese arrivals.

In the first six months of this year, Japanese arrivals to Vietnam increased by 18.5% to more than 210,000.

The ministry will hold a 400-stand tourism fair which will include at least 35 overseas tourist companies from key markets such as China, Japan, South Africa, France and the US as well as several representatives from the Asian Network of Major Cities and the Council for the Promotion of Tourism in Asia.

Hang said that the festival provides an opportunity for Hanoi to promote itself to international friends, but stressed that the city’s tourist industry needs to prepare carefully for the event if it wants it to be a success.

Director of Mexico’s Social Development Department Erika Lorena Lurhs Cortes said the building of President Ho’s monument in Acapunco City is a great honour for Guerrero state.

She also highlighted Vietnam’s achievements in national liberation and construction and spoke highly of Vietnam’s ties with Mexico in general and with Guerrero state in particular, especially in agriculture, coconut plantation and processing, tourism and economic experience sharing.

The “Vietnam Week” will include a photo exhibition on Vietnam, introduction of the country’s culinary arts and handicraft products and music performance

A seminar on Vietnam-Mexico economic, tourism and trade cooperation and a signing ceremony of an MOU to recognise Halong City of Vietnam’s Quang Ninh Province and Acapunco City as sister cities will also be held during the week-long event.

A seal opening ceremony to welcome the new year will be held in the Tran Temple, Loc Vuong Ward in the northern city of Nam Dinh, the homeland of the Tran Dynasty in the 13-14th centuries.

The country’s leaders, the provincial chairman, the provincial party committee secretary and the 14 oldest people from Loc Vuong Ward have been invited to attend the ceremony to be held in Thien Truong Temple (Upper Temple).

This year, replica good luck seals will be issued to the public from 75 spots to prevent disorder. About 10,000 – 12,000 people are expected to receive seals from the organisation board.

The ceremony is held annually to preserve and bring into play cultural and moral values and traditions of the Vietnamese ancestors, especially the national heroes under the Tran Dynasty.

Covering over 10ha in Loc Vuong Commune, 80km north of Hanoi, the Tran Temple comprises of Thien Truong where the 14 Tran kings are worshipped, Co Trach (Lower Temple) dedicated to General Tran Hung Dao (1228-1300), and Bao Loc Temple, home to the General’s tomb and statue.

Tran Hung Dao was famous for his triumphs over the mighty Mongol Yuan Dynasty. In Ha Nam Province, six stores of food were set up in the Tran Thuong Temple by the General in 1285 to serve in his second fight against the Mongol Yuan.

Since then, a food ceremony has been held by local people in his honour. The ceremony will be held at 15 spots around the temple and about 50,000 people are expected to attend from 11:05pm at night of February 16.

The main ceremony will take place officially from 10pm-11pm on February 16.

The tours, which are scheduled to start this month, include a one-day tour to the Chuon Ngo pearl inlay village, Thang Loi embroidery village, Ha Thai lacquer village, Phu Vinh bamboo and rattan village and an extended tour to Van Phuc silk and Son Dong sculpture villages. A tour of Bat Trang ceramic and Kieu Ky gold-leaf villages is also planned. The department has also selected a number of typical workshops and old houses of architectural interest to be visited during the tours.

The main highlights will include art performance and Carnival 2011 themed “Halong wonder sparkling in colour” to mark its 5th annual celebration.

Mong Cai, Dong Trieu, Uong Bi, Van Don and other localities are busy preparing to introduce their special products and cultural values at the festival.

2011 is a decisive year of the voting campaign for Halong Bay to become one of the world’s natural wonders, launched by New Open World (NOW).

Over the past month, Quang Ninh has welcomed 270,000 tourists, including 167,000 foreigners and earned VND260 billion in revenue, an increase of 20% from a year earlier.

Vietnam will host the World Food Festival for the first time in the southern coastal city of Vung Tau in July, providing a great opportunity for the country to promote its traditional cuisine. The festival, co-organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the People’s Committee of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, are expecting more than 80 countries and territories to attend the festival which will feature cuisine, culture, festival, shopping and entertainment.

Vietnam will spotlight a range of special dishes from all three regions. Being a nation with many diverse cultural identities, Vietnam is known as an “eating and drinking heaven”. Philip Kotler, the father of modern marketing, said that food may be Vietnam’s national trademark after he visited the country and enjoyed numerous traditional dishes. The Head Chef at the Metropole Hanoi Hotel, Denis Groison, added that Vietnam has a huge range of culinary heritages. Many foreigners enjoy Vietnamese dishes and also want to learn how to cook them. Over the past ten years, the Anh Tuyet Cookery Centre at 25 Ma May Street, Hanoi has welcomed many foreigners from the UK, the US, France, Germany, the Republic of Korea and Spain. According to culinary experts, Vietnamese food is popular with foreigners because of the balanced mixture of spices. It is not as fatty as Chinese food and not as spicy as Thai food and many of the ingredients and spices in Vietnamese dishes have medical properties. At present, besides the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism’s activities to promote the Vietnamese foods and drinks in ASEAN countries, China, France and Germany, the Institute for Vietnamese Gastronomic Research has recently launched a programme entitled “Creating a Vietnamese kitchen for the world”. The programme will set standards for restaurants on 100 Vietnamese dishes, encourage foreign tourists in Vietnam to learn how to cook Vietnamese foods and speed up the export of cooking appliances as well as promote Vietnamese cooking overseas. Large tourism companies such as Hoang Anh Tourist, Vietravel and Saigontourist are running tours that focus on the World Food Festival for domestic and foreign tourists alike.

“There will be a soil and water procession at Hanoi’s Temple of Literature,” Thinh said. “A delegation of writers from the central region will bring some soil from President Ho’s home in Sen Village to the temple.” They will also bring some water from the source of the historical Pac Bo Cave’s Lenin Stream, where the president lived and worked in the 1940s, in the northern province of Cao Bang to the temple. The soil and water will be housed at the association’s museum in Hanoi.

Poetry readings will take place in President Ho’s homeland, Nghe An province, and at Nha Rong Wharf in HCMC.

At Hanoi’s Temple of Literature the busts of 30 famed writers will be displayed. Lanterns bearing 100 verses will also adorn the temple.

The first Poetry Day was held in 2003 at the Temple of Literature.

To promote the traditional culture of Hanoi’s craft villages, this annual event will include an exhibition of arts and handicrafts, art performances, a seminar on craft villages, a competition of gift designs for the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi and tours to Bat Trang pottery village, Ha Thai lacquer village and Phu Vinh rattan village.

The event is expected to draw 500 craft villages and tens of thousands of domestic and foreign visitors.

Vietnam will host the World Food Festival for the first time in the southern coastal city of Vung Tau in July, providing a great opportunity for the country to promote its traditional cuisine. The festival, co-organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the People’s Committee of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, are expecting more than 80 countries and territories to attend the festival which will feature cuisine, culture, festival, shopping and entertainment.

Vietnam will spotlight a range of special dishes from all three regions. Being a nation with many diverse cultural identities, Vietnam is known as an “eating and drinking heaven”. Philip Kotler, the father of modern marketing, said that food may be Vietnam’s national trademark after he visited the country and enjoyed numerous traditional dishes. The Head Chef at the Metropole Hanoi Hotel, Denis Groison, added that Vietnam has a huge range of culinary heritages. Many foreigners enjoy Vietnamese dishes and also want to learn how to cook them. Over the past ten years, the Anh Tuyet Cookery Centre at 25 Ma May Street, Hanoi has welcomed many foreigners from the UK, the US, France, Germany, the Republic of Korea and Spain. According to culinary experts, Vietnamese food is popular with foreigners because of the balanced mixture of spices. It is not as fatty as Chinese food and not as spicy as Thai food and many of the ingredients and spices in Vietnamese dishes have medical properties. At present, besides the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism’s activities to promote the Vietnamese foods and drinks in ASEAN countries, China, France and Germany, the Institute for Vietnamese Gastronomic Research has recently launched a programme entitled “Creating a Vietnamese kitchen for the world”. The programme will set standards for restaurants on 100 Vietnamese dishes, encourage foreign tourists in Vietnam to learn how to cook Vietnamese foods and speed up the export of cooking appliances as well as promote Vietnamese cooking overseas. Large tourism companies such as Hoang Anh Tourist, Vietravel and Saigontourist are running tours that focus on the World Food Festival for domestic and foreign tourists alike.

It is aimed at helping Vietnamese people better understand culinary the gastronomy of Japan, which is well-known for traditional dishes like sushi, sashimi, tempura and different types of noodle as well as promoting the country’s tourism-related products to Japanese friends.

Earlier, the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) organised a similar culinary programme in the Lotte Mart supermarket in Ho Chi Minh City from February 26 to March 14.
Yoshida Sakae, JETRO’s managing director, expressed his wish that through the event, JETRO would set up more diverse food distribution systems.

Vietnam is seen as a promising market for Japanese processed food and a favourite destination for Japanese arrivals.

In the first six months of this year, Japanese arrivals to Vietnam increased by 18.5% to more than 210,000.

There will also be a series of events in a tribute to Vietnamese embroidered art and the artisans in this field.

The organisers plan to set up a hall to exhibit 12 special works which are embroidered with a flower design on both sides, as well as other embroideries using deep-blue and yellow colours.

On October 1, an embroidery work titled “Desire of the 1,000-year-old Thang Long” will be presented to Hanoi during the grand ceremony that will mark the capital city’s 1,000th birthday.

Nine embroiderers are still working on the gift, which is expected to weigh almost 167.5kg and will be 4m long and 3m wide when it is completed in September this year.

There will also be a series of events in a tribute to Vietnamese embroidered art and the artisans in this field.

The organisers plan to set up a hall to exhibit 12 special works which are embroidered with a flower design on both sides, as well as other embroideries using deep-blue and yellow colours.

On October 1, an embroidery work titled “Desire of the 1,000-year-old Thang Long” will be presented to Hanoi during the grand ceremony that will mark the capital city’s 1,000th birthday.

Nine embroiderers are still working on the gift, which is expected to weigh almost 167.5kg and will be 4m long and 3m wide when it is completed in September this year.

Launched by the Department of Fine Arts under Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Photography and Exhibitions in co-operation with the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists (VAPA), the Natural Cultural Heritage Department and National Administration of Tourism, the competition aims to draw attention to the value of the nation’s UNESCO-recognised world heritage sites.

UNESCO has recognised the Imperial City of Hue, Halong Bay, My Son Sanctuary, Ancient City of Hoi An, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long-Ha Noi as world heritage sites, and nha nhac (Vietnam court music), the space of gong culture in Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands), quan ho (love duet singing) in the northern province of Bac Ninh, ca tru (ceremonial singing), and the Saint Giong Festival as intangible cultural heritage.

The photo competition will award a first prize worth VND10 million and a gold medal from VAPA. Two second prizes worth VND7 million, three third prizes worth VND5 million, and ten encouragement prizes worth VND2 million would also be awarded, along with certificates from VAPA.

About 250 entries will be selected for display at an exhibition to be held in the central city of Danang on National Day, September 2, and in Hanoi on Liberation Day, October 10.

Vietnamese and foreign photographers are being invited to submit entries, in colour or black-and-white. Images should be sized 30 by 45cm and not previously awarded prizes in other competitions held by the ministry or the association.

Contestants could submit up to 11 entries, which is the number of UNESCO heritage recognitions the nation has received, said competition organiser Vi Kien Thanh. All 11 photos can be taken from a single heritage site, he explained.

However, veteran photographer Van Tho argued, “Eleven photos cannot show the beauty of Vietnamese world heritage. I have taken many photos at the Giong Festival, and I propose that photographers be allowed to send more to the organisation.”

Han said swimming in the Lavie was one of many unforgettable memories of his trip to northern Vietnam earlier this year, as the water was fresh and clean in the stream which ran from rocks and hills where a few minority groups live.

Young citizens of Lao Cai Province and foreign tourists often trek to Ban Ho to indulge in the pristine Lavie Stream, enjoy the sweet sound of running water from the Ca Nhay Waterfalls and other natural attractions of the tranquil village.

The Lavie Stream, together with Muong Hoa Stream, weaves through boulders, hills, mountains and terraced paddy fields of Tay village, which is nestled in the breathtaking Valley Muong Hoa, adding the finishing touch to the picturesque image of Ban Ho.

Even though Ban Ho is not too far from the center of Sapa not many tourists have visited the village because of the tough approach road, which is under construction and slippery in the rainy season.

However, the village is also accessible by driving from Sapa to Su Pan Village and then trekking 10 kilometers to Ban Ho. Topas is one of a number of tour operators who offer this one-day package, with cost determined by the number of participants.

Ban Ho is worth the somewhat difficult journey to get there, as the village rewards visitors with stunning views of unspoiled sites and an opportunity to discover the daily activities of the ethnic people Tay.

On the way to the waterfalls, which were named by locals after seeing fish jumping out of the water in the old days, visitors will pass brooks gently running down bamboo cylinders that locals use to channel the water into their terraced paddy fields, wooden houses perched on the sides of rolling hills and wild flowers.

When they emerge from the water in the dry season the boulders and stones along the Lavie Stream are artworks that resemble different figures, depending on the imagination of viewers. In the rainy season from May till September visitors can see water flowers created by the splashing water running into the boulders.

The trails and roads from Ban Ho also lead to the quiet Red Dao Village of Nam Toong and other ethnic communities, where trekkers can enjoy the best of Northern Vietnam, such as deep valleys, amazing mountains and simple people.

Motorcycles can be hired in Sapa at US$5 a day to travel to the Muong Hoa Valley, where more than 200 stones have been discovered, all carved with simple and complicated images of different patterns, as well as scenic villages of ethnic groups.

Alternatively, package tours that take in Ban Ho and other unspoiled corners of the areas around Sapa can be arranged through Topas, or other travel companies in Sapa.

(Source: SGT)