Sep
28
|
Hung Yen’s unique Ban soy sauce village
|
|
VietNamNet Bridge – The Ban craft village produces arguably the most delicious soy sauce in Ban Township, Yen Nhan District, Hung Yen Province.
A woman makes Ban soy sauce in Ban Village, Hung Yen Province. (Photo: SGT)
Ban soy sauce is so popular because it is made from large-grain sticky rice, small-grain soy bean, and in particular dinged-well water. There is only one well in Ban Village to supply the water to make the soy sauce, which is its sole purpose. Therefore, coming to Ban village to witness the sauce’s production in Hung Yen is recommended to tourists as it is a fascinating sight around harvest time.
March to August is that time for the villagers, so expect to see hundreds of jars in diverse sizes filling yards in every household. Making soy sauce is not difficult but making Ban soy sauce is an art-form.
Producers have to wash the rice carefully then soak it in water and cooked into sticky rice, next scatter the sticky rice onto a large bamboo flat basket and dry it in an airy place until the rice turns yellow. Soy beans must be roasted until the bean is brown and then the beans are soaked in a clean jar for one week. After the beans have fermented, producers will add a little salt and more soy beans into the water and stir regularly. The sauce must be fermented on sunny days.
Coming to Hung Yen, tourists will also be suggested to visit the Pho Hien relic complex, of which Mau Temple is a highlight and a mystery. Once stepping into the temple, travelers will be amazed by the huge seven-hundred-year-old tree which makes a domed gate for the temple. Another attraction tourists should not miss is the huge longan tree, called Nhan To, in front of Hien Pagoda. Around 300 years old, the tree is a sacred place for locals as they believe the tree brings prosperity to the land.
Another relic of the Pho Hien relic complex worth visiting is Thien Hau Temple, Dong Do-Quang Hoi Temple and Chuong (Bell) Pagoda which is endowed with poetic scenery and boasts a stone bridge spanning a lotus pond and 18 statues of Arhats. Hung Yen Literature Temple holds a collection of ancient steles.
Pho Hien also has stunning Vietnamese architecture, which is decorated with the colors of folk belief and religion, and some are considered high in artistic value. Along with their architectural features, these relics have preserved utensils for religious offerings, palanquins, hammocks, horizontal lacquered boards and many pairs of wood panels with skillfully-inscribed parallel sentences.
More importantly, the relics of Pho Hien preserve their innate ancient beauty. With the wet rice civilization and culture, we catch the colors of bronze, stone, wood, tile and soil on each roof, door and path, which create a sense of immortality of each relic.
With its role as a key link from the traffic artery of the Red River, Pho Hien was once a frontal port of Thang Long Citadel that opened to the sea, ranking second in importance to Hanoi, as goes an old Vietnamese saying. Today, Pho Hien residents are embracing an ambition to revive its glorious past.
|
|
|
|
Sep
28
|
Hanoi International Film Festival attracts outstanding entries
|
|
VietNamNet Bridge - "Amour" which won the Palme d'Or 2012, "We Need to Talk About Kevin" – the best film 2011 of the UK and "A Separation" – the Best Foreign Language Film of the 2012 Oscar Award is among the movies that will be screened at the upcoming 2nd Hanoi International Film Festival.
"Amour", the film won the Palme d'Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival
2012 will be screened at the International Film Festival Hanoi in November.
Speaking at the first press conference of the 2nd Hanoi International Film Festival (HNIFF) in Hanoi on September 27, Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan, Director of the National Cinema Agency and chief organizer of the HNIFF said that even in her dream, she had not thought that so many great and new films would participate in the festival.
Thanks to her reputation and efforts, Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan, a prestigious film critic in Asia, who also participated as a judge in several international short film festivals, has invited a lot of reputable filmmakers and film producers in the world to attend the HNIFF. She has also called a lot of countries for sending their films to the event.
So far more than 200 films from 38 countries and territories are registered to join the HNIFF 2 and the number will increase every day until the festival takes place in Hanoi from November 25 to 29.
The movies will have to pass three rigorous selections to compete for official awards. The feature film contest will have about 9 -11 films from the Asia - Pacific region which have not ever competed at international film festivals in this region.
A scene from “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” starring
Oscar winner Tilda Swinton.
The 2nd HNIFF is bigger in scale than the previous festivals. Besides official competitions, many famous movies will be introduced at the event, in specific topics.
In particular, the Today's World Cinema program (Panorama) will screen 20-25 elite cinematographic works, which are the peak of the world film industry that the majority of the Vietnamese people do not have a chance to enjoy.
Among them will be "Amour", the film won the Palme d'Or Award at the Cannes International Film Festival 2012, by renowned director Michael Haneke. "A Separation", by Iran Asghar Farhadi that won a series of awards such as the Oscar (U.S.), the Golden Globe, the César (France) for Best Foreign Film in 2012, the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival 2011 will likely be shown at the HNIFF.
Especially, “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” the best British film of 2011 which won 16 awards, in the last two years, will also debut in Hanoi. In addition, a number of top films of France, which will debut at home country in December, will also be screened at the HNIFF.
And to mark 20 years of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and South Korea, the Korean Cinema Spotlight program will introduce 12 new outstanding movies in Hanoi. Some Korean movie stars will meet with Vietnamese audience during this program.
A scene from "A Separation", the Best Foreign Film of Oscar 2012.
So far, Vietnam has selected six feature films, 14 short films for competition at the festival. In addition, over 30 feature films are selected for presentation in the programs: Vietnamese films about Hanoi; Vietnamese films about the renovation period and contemporary films that were produced from 2010 to 2012.
Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan also said that a new Vietnamese film will premier at the festival and this is the work of the most famous director at present.
The Jury of the 2nd HNIFF will consist of experienced and prestigious artists, stars, directors and producers in the world as well as in Vietnam.
There will have three juries for feature films, short films and NETPAC (Asian Cinema Encouragement Network).
For the first time, the festival will hold the HNIFF Talent Campus for young filmmakers. It is scheduled that the names of the entire jury members and movie stars who attend the 2nd HNIFF will be announced on October 11.
Films will be screened at MegaStar, Lotte, August, Kim Dong and Ngoc Khanh cinemas (with 20 percent of invitation tickets and 80 percent of tickets sold to the audience), some films will be screened for journalists on the afternoon of Thursday, from October 11 at the Vietnam Cinema Agency. In addition, workshops and exhibitions will be held within five days of the festival.
|
|
|
|
|
Sep
28
|
Contemporary dance plays in Hanoi at weekend
|
|
VietNamNet Bridge – The Goethe Institute and the Wallonia-Brussels Delegation to Vietnam together with the Vietnam Opera and Ballet Theatre (VNOB) will hold a Contemporary Dance Festival on Friday and Saturday at The Youth Theatre featuring contemporary dance pieces of Lamento, Get a Revolver and Minus of Belgium, Germany and Vietnam.
Starting from the only fragment that remains of Arianna, Monteverdi’s unfinished opera Lamento is a choreographic score tailor-made for dancer Gabriella Iacono. Adopting the approach of a strict and choreographed transposition of the words, Iacono powerfully embodies the tragic figure of Ariane who has been left devastated by abandonment and betrayal.
The final contribution, Get a Revolver, is a solo performance choreographed by Helena Waldman showing the character of a woman who suffers from dementia at the end of her life. Throughout the piece she begins to slide towards a dream world that gradually dissolves her personality. The work is performed by German dancer of the year, Brit Rodemund.
Minus, a piece created by choreographer Ngoc Anh especially for the VNOB, draws on the relationship between human beings and the world around us. It’s about exploring the complexity of human physicality and the rhythm within oneself, where the body acts as an instrument for expressing its intellectual tone in a world where technology and information are the dominating forces driving our daily lives.
The program also includes film screenings and exchanges with dancers and choreographers.
The shows will take place at 8 p.m. at the theater, 11 Ngo Thoi Nhiem Street in Hanoi. Admission is free and tickets are available from the Goethe Institute, 56-58 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street.
|
|
|
|
|
Overseas auctions of Vietnam's antiques: good and bad
|
|
28/09/2012 09:39:27
|
|
|
|
Khanh Ly to perform in Vietnam in December
|
|
28/09/2012 09:37:47
|
|
|
|
Pakistan Film Festival unspools in Ha Noi
|
|
28/09/2012 09:34:56
|
|
|
|
Vintage, high performance bikes on show
|
|
28/09/2012 09:33:20
|
|
|
|
German Film Festival rolls into town
|
|
28/09/2012 09:31:49
|
|
|
|
German Film Festival rolls into town
|
|
28/09/2012 09:22:42
|
|
|
|
New World Saigon Hotel hosts bridal fair
|
|
28/09/2012 09:21:37
|
|
|
|
UK duo performs at Lush bar
|
|
28/09/2012 09:20:56
|
|
|
|
Vintage, high performance bikes on show
|
|
28/09/2012 09:19:34
|
|
|
|