Category: Sports

HCM City: The Tet Book Street Festival 2024 in Ho Chi Minh City attracted over 1 million visitors from February 7-14, up 11.1% year-on-year, according to the municipal Department of Information and Communications.

The department reported that more than 76,000 book titles or 76,158 copies were sold at the festival, earning an estimated revenue of 10 billion VND (nearly 409,000 USD), up 22.53% and 18,23%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

With dragon-themed decorations, the annual festival covered 11,200 sq.m on Le Loi street, more than 3,000 sq.m larger than last year’s event. It saw the participation of more than 30 publishers and distributors.

With innovative and creative design, the eight-day festival created many unique cultural and artistic spaces that attract visitors. A highlight of this year’s festival, thousands of books were presented as gifts to visitors.

For the last 14 years, the book street festival has become a unique and typical cultural event of HCM City during the Lunar New Yea
r (Tet) holiday, giving domestic and foreign visitors a springtime destination and helping promote the reading habit in the local community.

Last year, the festival lured more than 800,000 visitors, and sold over 59,000 books for 8.2 billion VND./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Quang Ninh: The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race will make a stop in Vietnam when the eleven strong fleet sails to Ha Long city, the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh, home to UNESCO heritage site Ha Long Bay from Australia’s Queensland from February 21-26.

The ‘Ha Long Bay, Vietnam’ of Quang Ninh province is among the teams, with 400 crewmen who are scientists, businesses, investors, doctors and renowned people that love boat racing.

According to the provincial Department of Tourism, the fleet will engage in several activities in Quang Ninh before leaving on March 2 for Jiuzhou port in China’s Guangdong province.

The 2023-2024 race sees adventurers from all over the world to take on the challenges of racing across the oceans on 70-foot ocean racing yachts. It is divided into eight legs with 16 individual races and six ocean crossings.

Quang Ninh province will organise various activities on the occasion with a view to popularising local attractions and luring investors, including a welcoming cerem
ony, a programme to introduce local staples and destinations at Ha Long international port, an investment conference, static event and art performances, among others.

The first Clipper Race started in October 1996, with eight teams of 60-foot yachts departing Plymouth, the UK. More than 50 cities around the world have hosted the event so far./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

HCM City: Nguyen Hue flower street in Ho Chi Minh City attracted over 1.2 million visitors from February 7-14 (from the 28th day of the 12th lunar month to the 5th day of the first lunar month of the Year of the Dragon).

The flower street was organised by Saigontourist Group under the direction of the HCM City People’s Committee, and supported by agencies and departments.

According to the organiser, about 10 million images relating to the flower street have been posted on the media and social networks during the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival.

Seensio Go app – an AI-powered Augmented Reality app for Vietnam’s most visited landmarks, starting with Nguyen Hue walking street have recorded tens of thousands of downloads. App users can witness a dragon fly over the iconic tourist site during Tet, snap selfies with SeensioGo-specific characters and share them on social networks.

Pham Huy Binh, Chairman of the Saigontourist Group, said that the flower street clean-up will be finished by February 16 morning instea
d of February 15 as previously planned. Meanwhile, the two dragon mascots at the street welcome gate will be kept until the end of the first lunar month./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hung Yen: Aside from the archaic and solemn landscape, Nom Pagoda in Van Lam district of northern Hung Yen province is also home to valuable objects which are old statues dating back centuries.

Also known as ‘Linh Thong Co Tu’, the pagoda is part of the relic complex of Nom village in Dai Dong commune. It is a famous Buddhist facility with many old features kept intact in the northern region.

According to the writing on the stone stele kept at the pagoda, the pagoda was re-built in 1680, but no one knew exactly when it came into being. In the late 18th century, a bell tower and two corridors were added to the construction, which later continued to be repaired during the Nguyen Dynasty (1802 – 1945).

Undergoing numerous ups and downs in history as well as natural impacts, the pagoda is still standing today and preserving some of the oldest statues in the Red River Delta. It is also associated with many legends that have added to its attractiveness to visitors from far and wide.

The local elderly said once
upon a time, a Buddhist monk while sleeping at Dau Pagoda suddenly woke up at midnight and saw bright light in the south. He followed the light to a pine forest where this light became an aureole. Believing that this was a good omen from the Buddha, the monk built a pagoda there and named it ‘Linh Thong Co Tu’ (Ancient pagoda of sacred pine forest).

Nom Pagoda covers an area of 15 hectares and has the ‘noi cong ngoai quoc’ architectural structure, which means the inner parts are arranged in the shape of the Chinese character ‘gong’ (?, called ‘cong’ in Vietnamese) while the outer parts arranged in the shape of a square like the Chinese character ‘guo’ (?, called ‘quoc’ in Vietnamese).

Passing the three-door gate, visitors can see the bell and drum towers opposite to each other on the two sides of the gate. There is a crystal clear lake next to the bell tower, opening up a tranquil space for the pagoda.

Aside from the antique and solemn landscape, Nom Pagoda is also preserving valuable objects which are old
statues dating back centuries.

Though this area often suffers from flooding, the old statues here are still maintained. Their original red lacquer trimmed with gold remains, which many historical and architectural researchers haven’t been able to explain.

Nom Pagoda is currently home to more than 100 old statues made of clay, but there hasn’t been exact information about the time and process of their creation. Some researchers believe that these statues were made during the Ly – Tran dynasties (the 11th – 13th century).

Most of the statues were made of terracotta in a meticulous manner, and each of them features different a posture and facial expression. They are considered an illustration of the development of the art of ceramic and terracotta making in Vietnam’s history.

In addition, this pagoda also boasts a garden of old three-story grave towers made from laterite stone.

Another thing that helps attract visitors to Nom Pagoda is a nine-span stone bridge with dragon head decorations built about 200 ye
ars ago over the Nguyet Duc River.

This pagoda has long been a witness to history and accompanied local residents in both wartime and peacetime. Its sacredness seems to have been deeply infused into each roof tile, wooden object, and statue.

Alongside the development and integration of the contemporary culture, Nom Pagoda and many other Buddhist ones in Vietnam have still been preserved, helping to enrich people’s spiritual life and also create momentum for the Vietnamese culture to develop./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: A special display featuring the national education history during the royal period is opening at the Van Mieu Quoc Tu Giam (Temple of Literature) in the centre of Hanoi.

The exhibition themed Khoi Nguon Dao Hoc (Initial Sources of Education) highlights the outstanding contributions of prestigious people in the “historical flow” of Vietnamese education.

It includes more than 300 documents and artefacts with contents showcased in four parts to feature and recreate life of honourable people including kings and scholars, such as kings Ly Thanh Tong (1023-1072), Ly Nhan Tong (1066 – 1128) and Le Thanh Tong (1442 – 1497), Scholar Chu Van An (1292-1370) and other influential people such as Queen Mother Y Lan, and academics Le Van Thinh, Than Nhan Trung and Luong The Vinh.

Speaking at the opening ceremony held early this month by the Van Mieu Quoc Tu Giam Cultural and Scientific Centre (VCSC), Do Dinh Hong, Director of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports, said through the displayed documents and arte
facts, a heritage space will be created serving well the needs of visitors to learn about the contributions of academic luminaries to education and fostering talents, and their lessons are still valuable in today’s social life.

Le Xuan Kieu, Director of the VCSC, said the exhibition was carried out by officials and staff of the centre with the help of Vietnamese scientists and experts from France.

The exhibition tells the stories of three kings, a queen, a scholar teacher and doctorates. They all have virtue and high intellect, sharing the same vision of school and education – factors that enable us to move towards a more peaceful, prosperous and equitable society, according to Kieu.

The event also helps the public better understand the history and development of Van Mieu Quoc Tu Giam, the first national university, as well as the ancient Vietnamese education and examination system during the royal period.

Amélie, a representative for Beau Design, the foreign unit which carried out the Khoi Nguon Dao Hoc
project, said that the display content aims to honour five famous people who strived to turn education into a core foundation of the Dai Viet nation.

The content is associated with the history of Van Mieu Quoc Tu Giam. It is also a continuation of the exhibition space themed “Quoc Tu Giam – The First National University” to further spread the values of the relic site, and honours its status as the first national school in the royal period, according to Amélie.

Amélie also said the display gathered maximum historical data and arranged the spaces to convey the values of intellect and memory.

With a contemporary, formal and sustainable style of expression, the design focuses on the theme of education through artefacts and associated values that attract visitors, especially young people, through interactive forms of expression, she added.

The colours used for the display are reminiscent of past dynasties while artefacts such as the students’ desks or desks in the kings’ study rooms are arranged to spread the
image of famous people’s efforts and spirit of learning during the royal era.

The exhibition content also aims to present famous people not as monarchs but as exemplary role models, according to Amélie./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: Four Vietnamese dishes have made the list of “67 Best Chicken Dishes in Asia” compiled by cuisine magazine TasteAtlas.

Lemongrass chicken, chicken curry, shredded chicken salad, and boiled chicken were at the 34th, 40th, 59th, and 61st places, respectively, in the list.

Lemongrass chicken, a popular dish in the Mekong Delta, is made by marinating the meat in a mixture of lemongrass, chili, shallot, garlic, sugar, salt, oil, turmeric powder, and fish sauce.

The chicken is then stir-fried and simmered until tender, and usually served with hot rice or noodles.

Vietnamese chicken curry is an adaptation of the Indian variety, and the meat is cooked with potato, carrot, onion, garlic, coconut milk, chicken broth, and flavoring like lemongrass, fish sauce, bay leaf, and curry powder.

It is served with white rice or bread.

Shredded chicken salad is a blend of sweet, savory, crunchy and tangy ingredients like boiled chicken, carrot, onion, cilantro, mint, and, occasionally, cabbage.

The ingredients are m
ixed in a bowl and dressed with a mixture of lime juice, fish sauce, chili, garlic, and sugar. It is garnished with roasted peanuts and crispy fried shallot before serving.

Boiled chicken involves cooking a whole chicken with ginger, salt, scallion, and turmeric powder, giving it a golden appearance. After boiling, the chicken is cooled in ice water to halt the cooking process and prevent darkening.

The dish is often accompanied by a salt and lime dip and served with sticky rice.

The top five chicken dishes in Asia are Korean fried chicken, Indian butter chicken and tikka (boneless chicken roasted over charcoal in the traditional cylindrical clay oven), Indonesian ayam goreng (fried chicken seasoned with spices), and crispy fried chicken of Guangdong (China) which is a traditional dish of the Cantonese cuisine./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A six-day spring festival officially opened at NovaWorld Phan Thiet tourism and entertainment economic city in the south central province of Binh Thuan on February 12 (the 3rd day of the first lunar month), expected to attract more visitors to the province.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Chairman of the Phan Thiet city People’s Committee Phan Nguyen Hoang Tan stressed that the Vibe Fest, featuring an array of stellar art programmes and fascinating entertainment activities, marks the start of a series of large-scale tourism events that Binh Thuan will hold in 2024 to realise it set target of 9.5 million tourist arrivals this year.

Meanwhile, Dennis Ng Tech Yow, General Director of Novaland Group – the developer of NovaWorld Phan Thiet, said that the group stands ready to join hands with the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism and localities to organise tourism promotion activities.

NovaWorld Phan Thiet, with various novel and modern amenities already or to be put into operation, is hoped to not only t
urn tourism into an economic spearhead in Binh Thuan but also help put Vietnam in the group of 30 countries with leading competitive tourism capacity in the world, he said.

A kaleidoscope of activities are organised within the Vibe Fest, including Hip-hop, Rap and dance shows, folk and modern games for both individuals and groups, and music and circus festivals.

Besides, a food festival is arranged at the Miami night fair with more than 100 stalls displaying regional staples and cuisines.

Visitors also have many opportunities to have an exchange with renowned artisans and calligraphers. /.

Source: Vietnam News Agency