Oct
01
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Appearance of Korean in city chamber concert
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Korean pianist Joo Eun Young and soprano Cho Hae Ryong – a familiar voice to Saigonese – will perform as part of a chamber performance organized by HCMC Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera at the city Opera House at 8 p.m. on October 9.
The show will provide works from Schumann, Brahms, Bernstein, Grieg and Gershwin and will be performed by artists of HBSO such as cellist Nguyen Tan Anh, pianist Ly Giai Hoa, clarinet Dao Nhat Quang and violinist Tang Thanh Nam.
The program will feature Grieg’s Sonata for violin and piano No.3, Schumann’s Adagio & Allegro in A Flat Major for Cello and piano, Bernstein’s Arias from opera Candide for soprano and piano, Gershwin’s Preludes for clarinet and piano, Wieniawsky’s Polonais Brilliant for violin and piano and Brahms’s Piano Quartet No. 1 in G Minor.
soprano Cho Hae Ryong - Photos: Courtesy of HBSO
Winning the First Prize at the Competition of Romantic Music 2007 in South Korea and certificate of merit at the Obraztsova International Vocal Competition in Russia 2000, Ryong has performed in Russia and South Korea. She frequently performs in HBSO concerts and is currently the voice coach for the HBSO Opera.
Graduating with distinction from Vienna State Conservatory in 2000 and earning her Master’s with distinctions from Moscow Gnessin Academy in 2007, Young has won international awards and has appeared in concerts with Seoul, Vienna, and Vietnam. At present, she is a professor in the piano department in HCMC Conservatory of Music.
Tickets, priced at VND300,000, VND250,000 and VND150,000 per person and VND60,000 per students, are available at HCMC Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera Office, 3 Phan Van Dat Street, tel 08 3823 7419 and at the Opera House, 7 Lam Son Square in District 1.
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Oct
01
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Tourist ripoffs is cracked down
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VietNamNet Bridge – Tour boats in Ha Long Bay, a newly voted world heritage site in the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh, have been banned from stopping at floating fishing villages during tours since the start of this month, according to the provincial People's Committee.
Boats anchor in Ha Long Bay. The Ha Long Bay Management Board has received
many complaints from both international and domestic tourists about rip-offs
and fraudulent activities at private fishing houses in the bay.
Chairman of the committee Nguyen Van Doc said the move was aimed at preventing tourists from being disturbed, overcharged or even ripped off, which had become a common occurrence at private floating fishing houses.
Captains of vessels that violated the ban would have their licences revoked and refused permission to cruise around the bay the next day, he said.
Do Duc Thang, vice head of Ha Long Bay Management Board, said that the board had received many complaints from both international and domestic tourists about rip-off services and fraudulent activities at private fishing houses in the bay on its hotline.
"These fishing houses are temporarily set up in the middle of the bay by local residents. Some are established by residents from fishing villages. They all profit by selling seafood to tourists," he said.
"They are not on the province's registered seafood trading list and they are not a stop-off place for tours," Thang said.
However, many boats ignore the ban and anchor at these fishing houses.
According to the board's estimation, there are about 650 floating fishing houses scattered around the bay, and many have become a destination for tour boats, including Ba Hang, Cua Van, Vong Vieng and Cong Dam.
Thang said that Ba Hang was one of the worst places for overcharging tourists. Ba Hang is a temporary fishing village with more than 30 households, and most earn a living from aquaculture and farming, as well as selling snacks to tourists.
Chaos had broken out in recent times, with locals chasing after tour boats to sell seafood, he said. Last week, Pham Van Thuong, captain of a tour boat in Ha Long Bay, was attacked by two seafood sellers in Ba Hang Village when he tried to prevent them from coming aboard to sell seafood to foreigners.
Thuong was hospitalised with multiple injuries.
Early this year, a tourist from Thailand was reportedly forced to pay VND11.5 million ($552) for a 6kg fish in Ba Hang Village. Sellers even threatened to tie up the boat if he refused to pay.
To clamp down on the situation, the province has also established a tourism inspection force with the involvement of inspectors and police in tourism, environment, transport and construction.
However, the decision has yet to receive support from tourist enterprises and residents of fishing villages.
Tran Thi Hoa, tour manager of the Ha Long-based Thanh Nien Co Ltd, said that banning tour boats from fishing houses would not solve the problem.
"Overcharging can happen anywhere. We've heard complaints from tourists in Bai Chay Beach and the night market as well," she said.
Hoa said the company had stopped mooring at floating fishing villages since early this month, but admitted that it made the trip less interesting.
"Visiting fishing houses, seeing different kinds of marine creatures and taking photos are among the leisure activities of our tourists. It's much more interesting than seeing cooked seafood on the boat or seafood sold at the market," Hoa said.
The company receives about 1,000 tourists to the bay annually, 40 per cent of whom are foreigners.
"It's hard to say how the ban will affect our businesses as it is not peak season and it's only two weeks since the ban took effect," she said.
But for Do Van Huu, a resident in Ba Hang Village, no more tour boats means no food for her family of nine.
Huu said to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that he and his wife usually row small boats to take tourists to visit surrounding caves, and earned VND3 million ($144) per month.
Huu had to catch fish to earn money at night and his wife wove fishing nets. A whole night's fishing only brought them enough food for one meal.
According to Thang, most households in the village are poor and their income from tourist activities only met their daily needs.
Jenna Allen, a US tourist, said she had been to Ha Long Bay twice and found floating houses quite interesting.
"It'll be amazing to catch fish from the sea and cook it right after that. I'm pretty sure that they are all fresh," she said.
However, Jenna said she didn't buy anything from the floating villages because she was unsure about the price.
"I will never go back to a place if I'm ripped off," she said.
According to Hoa, it would be better if authorities tightened control over floating fishing villages by registering them and requiring valid price lists.
"Floating restaurants could be a good place for tourists to enjoy while creating a stable income for residents," she said.
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Oct
01
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Get some advices when travelling to Mau Son
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If you fancy exploring a quiet and beautiful spot before the masses come, visit Mau Son now.
Some splendid scenery of Mau Son Tourist Area in Lang Son Province.
Covering Mau Son and Cong Son communes in Cao Loc District and Mau Son Commune in Loc Binh District, Mau Son Tourist Area is located about 30 kilometers from Lang Son City in Lang Son Province.
Mau Son itself has more than 80 large and small mountains, of which the highest is Nui Cha Mountain which is 1,541 meters high and Me Mountain 1,520m. Mau Son has a temperate climate and the average temperature is 15 degrees Celsius so it is really cool in summer and very cold in winter.
The area is endowed with a biodiversity system with more than 1,500 hectares of primeval forest which is home to many rare flora and fauna species. There are many streams from the peak to the foot of the mountain, creating magnificent and splendid waterfalls.
Together with romantic landscapes, Mau Son also accommodates old cultures of ethnic peoples of Dao, Tay and Nung.
Mau Son was formerly an ideal destination for vacations with many spacious and luxurious villas in Tam Dao and Sapa. However, during the revolution wars, many of the villas were destroyed.
On Monday, visitors to Mau Son have an opportunity to enjoy the wonderful landscape, fresh atmosphere and learn about local tradition and culture by joining in the daily life of some ethnic minority groups.
Thanks to the favorable climate, Mau Son can offer tourists several specialties such as peach, Che Tuyet tea, and Mau Son wine, which is processed using Mau Son’s plants and water sources from the mountain.
Local authorities in Mau Son are planning to develop infrastructure as well as public services to promote tourism. In the future, Mau Son will be developed to become a tourist area with mountain climbing, sightseeing, and recreation.
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The trend of travelling with 5-star yachts
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01/10/2012 09:39:46
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Hung Yen is famous for unique Ban soy sauce village
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01/10/2012 09:36:27
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Event on day
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01/10/2012 09:32:13
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Welcome the third int'l percussion festival
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01/10/2012 09:29:20
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Female iconography, sexuality to go on show in Hanoi
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01/10/2012 09:22:49
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"Venus in Vietnam" exhibiton
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01/10/2012 09:21:40
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New destination in West Lake for audiophile's dream
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01/10/2012 09:19:39
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Special thing about Octoberfest
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01/10/2012 09:17:24
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Take a visit to a village drum maker in Vietnam
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01/10/2012 09:14:51
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