Ly Son Island reveals its charms

VietNamNet Bridge – Idyllic Ly Son Island, 25 kilometers off the coast of the Quang Ngai province coast, is the home of the Hoang Sa flotilla. Fishermen and sailors from Ly Son have patrolled and protected Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratley) archipelagos since ancient times.

Sea-Island Festival proposed to celebrate Vietnam’s sovereignty

Official reiterates Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa

Source: VNE

Discovering distinction of Vinh Long ceramics

Vinh Long Province is known for its orchards and interlacing canals as other provinces in the Mekong Delta. Vinh Long is also famous for a pottery craft village running 20 kilometers along the Co Chien River.

Vị trí đặt quảng cáoVinh Long ceramics are popular not only by their elegant shapes but also by their distinguished color, pink, that makes it different from other ceramics of other regions. This is also the reason Vinh Long ceramics are easily found in homes around the country as well as overseas markets. more>>

Sa Pa, Vietnam by Asiatravel.com

Sa Pa is a frontier town and district in the Lào Cai province in northwest Vietnam. It is one of the main market towns in the area, where many ethnic minority groups such as H'mong, Dao and Tay live.

Vietnam War Correspondents Gather for Saigon Reunion

Photo: AP

British photojournalist Tim Page in Hanoi, 10 May 2010

Many foreign journalists who covered the Vietnam War are gathering in Ho Chi Minh City, the former Saigon, this week to observe the anniversary of the city's capture by communist North Vietnam's soldiers in 1975.  The correspondents talked about the fall of Saigon 35 years ago.

Tim Page fell in love with Vietnam so deeply that he has returned to the southeast Asian nation nearly 60 times since the end of the long war in April 1975.

Page, formerly a photojournalist for Time magazine, comes back to teach the post-war generation of Vietnamese photographers.  He shares with them his experiences in Vietnam during the war, which he says had a great impact on his life.  more>>

Fish stories abound at Vietnam Seafood Festival

VietNamNet Bridge – A 34kg tra catfish, a 0.5kg shrimp, etc. are prizewinners displayed at the first Vietnam Seafood Festival in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho.

Festival helps build Vietnamese seafood trademark 

The 34kg tra catfish, owned by Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thu Cuc in Can Tho city, is recognized as the largest catfish in Vietnam.

Cuc bought this fish from a catfish farm in the southern province of An Giang. Initially the fish is only 14kg in weight but after 20 years, it weighs up to 34kg.

  

The biggest basa catfish in Vietnam is 12kg in weight, 94cm in length, owned by the Can Tho-based Bien Dong Seafood Company. The firm caught this fish in the Mekong River and has bred it for over ten years.

A shrimp of 510gr, 35cm is recognized as the largest shrimp in Vietnam. This shrimp comes from a breeding shrimp farm in Can Tho.

Other special creatures are a 30kg fish and a giant crayfish.

Sheraton Opens in Nha Trang, Vietnam

One of the world’s most beautiful bays comes on display like never before next month as the Sheraton Nha Trang Hotel & Spa preps for its grand opening in this beach town on the south central coast.
The 30-story property delivers dazzling sea views from each of its 284 rooms and a collection of restaurants and bars that immediately establish Nha Trang as a culinary destination for a host of new reasons.

 Hon Chon Beach

Three years under construction, the hotel ranks as the first internationally renown, 5-star brand to cultivate a beach destination within the country. 
“This hotel is like a standing ovation on one of Vietnam’s most alluring attractions,” said Scott Hodgetts, general manager of the hotel. “I’ve been looking at this bay, and its islands, for the past two years as we fine-tuned this launch, and I’m still not tired of it. I can’t wait to see our guests’ reaction.”  more>>

Boat racing at Dam Village Festival

written by Huyen Tran


Boat racing at Dam Village Festival is a pentennial event which occurs every five years at Tay Tuu, Tu Liem. Hanoi. This year, there were 6 teams from 3 communes taking part in this racing. Photos: Pham Quoc Dung.

Southeast Asia’s longest cable bridge opens in Vietnam

A 2,750-metre long bridge opened in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region on Saturday, becoming the world’s seventh longest cable-stayed bridge. Crossing the Hau River, the Can Tho Bridge is also Southeast Asia’s longest suspension bridge, with a main span of 550 metres. The US$295 million bridge links the city of Can Tho with Vinh Long province, reducing travelling time by 30 minutes.

A day floating on Cai Be Market

With the newly opened HCMC-Trung Luong expressway, Tien Giang Province is now just over 40 minutes drive from HCMC. Tourists who like eco-tourism will find many places in Tien Giang Province that will interest them, including the Cai Be floating market.

For anyone unfamiliar, the floating market is a strange concept. However, visitors will understand as soon as they see the boats filled with vegetables, fruit and various consumer goods running back and forth along the river that runs through Cai Be Town to make sales transactions, from early morning until late in the evening.

Tourists can hire a powerboat to sail along the river to experience exactly how buoyant and animated a floating market is. Cai Be Market begins from about 5 a.m. as merchandisers purchase their goods there and then sail to other provinces. It is currently one of the biggest wholesale markets in the Mekong Delta region. continued>>

Vietnam to use bullet trains

TOKYO - VIETNAM will use Japanese bullet train technology in a US$56 billion (S$77.3 billion) national railway link, an official said on Thursday, with Japanese companies in line for multi-billion dollar contracts.

The project will see the construction of a 1,560km high-speed rail link between the capital Hanoi and the southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City.

 'The Vietnam government has decided to adopt the Japanese 'Shinkansen' train technology at a cabinet meeting,' said Soichi Matsumoto, an official at Japan's trade ministry. -- PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

"Once the plan is officially confirmed by the Vietnam government, Japanese companies with the train technologies - such as Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries - are expected to land contracts,' he said. more>>

A top (gear) trip through Vietnam by scooter

Photo: Blind Dog Photo Dan Gair/Lonely Planet

If you can drive a manual car and ride a bicycle, you can do this. But the option is also there to drive a modern automatic moped.
"While we always offer people the option of an automatic, driving a manual Vespa makes for a truly authentic experience," says the tour operators founder Steve Mueller.
Steve, who was born and bred in the United States, bought his very first vintage Vespa - a pea-green and white 1968 model - in Vietnam for $US300 ($A325.50).
He has since built up a niche business restoring and exporting the scooters worldwide. Read the whole article on the Sydney  Morning Herald>>

Long Bien Bridge

by Steve Jackson


LONG BIEN BRIDGE from Steve Jackson on Vimeo.

Danang to host Craft Village Festival 2010

Danang will host its second Craft Village Festival from May 19-23, attracting more than 100 fine arts and handicraft stands from 60 traditional craft villages across the country. All the proceeds from the event will be used to support craft villages that find themselves in difficulty to maintain and develop their crafts.

During the five-day festival, a range of diverse activities will be held such as displays of brocade and ceramic products, mat weaving, wood carving, calligraphy and folk games. Craftmen will also cast kettledrums by hand and the drums will be played at the 1000th anniversary celebration of Thang Long-Hanoi. 

The festival will provide a chance for craft villages to share their business experiences, introduce their products to domestic and foreign visitors and encourage consumers to make a joint effort to preserve traditional craft villages.

(Source: VOV)

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Yellow-ripened rice fields in central Vietnam

LookAtVietnam - Rice fields in Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh and Phu Yen are as beautiful as paintings during the rice harvest season.

Beloved traditional Vietnamese villages

Source: VNE

Practicing salsa in Hanoi’s park

Salsa has been imported into Vietnam for five years and has become popular among Vietnamese youngsters. Though salsa dancing is not a hot trend now, many people still love this dance.

On Sunday morning, salsa fans group up at Hanoi’s Thong Nhat Park to practice.

They dance with music played by a cassette player.

This is not a place for practicing salsa, but a place for making friends.

Mr. Pham Hoang Hai only became a dancer at the age of retirement.

Hai said he practices this dance for passion and for maintaining good health.

Each pair seems to have their own world.

Nobody knows why this Latin dance is so attractive to Vietnamese young people.

Tien Giang to host first Vietnam Fruit Festival

The first Vietnam Fruit Festival, organised by People's Committee of Tien Giang Province, will run from April 19 to 24.

"Under the theme 'Vietnam's Fruit in a Time of Integration', the festival organising board wants to show off the diversification and richness of fruit in Vietnam to local and foreign friends and tourists," said Tran The Ngoc, Chairman of the People's Committee of Tien Giang Province.

"The festival will be a chance to honour farmers, scientists, entrepreneurs and companies for their contribution to the development of fruit in Vietnam," Ngoc said.

More than 700 kiosks and art shows will display fruit products from around the country.
Aside from a number of events, there will be a scientific seminar on fruit market.
Vietnamese fruits are sold in 50 countries.

In the South, fruit is grown on 280,000ha – nearly 70% of the total fruit-farming area in the country.

(Source: SGT)

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Exhibition on 1975 victory opens in HCMC

An exhibition opened in Lam Son Park, Ho Chi Minh City on April 21 as part of its preparations for the 35th anniversary of the south’s liberation and national reunification.

On display at the exhibition are 140 photos and documentaries reflecting two main themes: “The Great Spring Victory 1975: The Strength of National Unity in the Ho Chi Minh Era” and “Building prosperity in HCMC.”

The show seeks to remind city dwellers of the indomitable soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the resounding victory of the Ho Chi Minh era and the socio-economic progress in the city in the 35 year since the war.
The exhibition will continue until May 15./.

(Source: VNA)

Hanoi’s Old Quarter in graffiti

LookAtVietnam - An old apartment block in Long Bien district, Hanoi, has become a destination for graffiti artists to offer paintings about the Old Quarter.

Hanoi - Old streets and traditional trades

Hanoi’s Old Quarter looks untidy as millennial anniversary approaches

Hanoi “renews” the Old Quarter

 

 

Local people don’t prohibit youngsters from painting on the wall.

Hang Be Street with electric wires.

Hang Ga Street with tile-roofed houses.

Hang Bo Street with garment materials.

Hang Ma Street with lanterns and unicorn heads.

A corner of Hang Thiec Street.

The water tower on Hang Dau street, the oldest of its kind in Hanoi.

The old bridge of Long Bien.

Hoan Kiem Lake and Turtoise Tower.

This playground is about to be broken down to build a new residential area.

Source: VNE