Those not having enough time on the weekend for a long trip could take note of the following destinations in HCMC.  

 The Ho Chi Minh City Ballet is presenting A Night of Ballet in the Saigon Opera House on Saturday, September 30. It contains a very varied program.

 More than 100 artists across the country has come together to sing a song giving a blessing to the stage’s ancestor by musician Nguyen Minh Anh.

 The first-ever German book stall was inaugurated at Fahasa bookstore at 42 Nguyen Hue Boulevard in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 on September 29.

 Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the first nine months of 2017 grew about 6.41 percent as compared to the same period last year, reported the General Statistics Office (GSO). 

VietNamNet Bridge - Though provincial real estate developers are less known than bigger firms in Hanoi, HCMC and Da Nang, they are rivals with powerful financial capability.

The Mid-Autumn Festival programme officially opened at the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, in Hanoi on September 28, as part of the activities to promote the world heritage values of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long.

Ambassador Tran Thi Hoang Mai, head of the Vietnamese Permanent Delegation to the UNESCO, presented her credentials to UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova at the organisation’s headquarter in Paris, France, on September 28.

 Belarusian agencies on September 28 handed over a wanted Vietnamese man to the Vietnamese police for extradition.

 Government agencies and the Ha Tinh People’s Committee were assigned by the prime minister to hand in recommendations the Thach Khe iron ore mining project before October 5.

 The long-delayed Thai Nguyen iron and steel plant-phase 2 will be revised after the investor Tisco and the Chinese contractor reached a compromise in resuming the unfinished construction.

In Asian cultures with a strong patriarchal system, women are considered the weaker sex and caregivers. Nowadays, many women replace their husbands as breadwinners instead of doing household chores. 

La Ca Phe, Nu Bistro, The Dome Kaffe, and Tron Coffee are hot spots for young people who love cafe culture in Ho Chi Minh City.

 Hanoi Temple of Literature has been decorated with colourful lights in preparation for a three-day cultural event celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival starting from September 29.

 A 59-year-old woman in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap is teaching hundreds of local children to swim for free despite being deep in poverty herself.

 VietNamNet Bridge – It’s nearly two weeks since a Government decree increasing fines on those who let their dogs run wild took effect. However, violations are still common.

 Hanoi’s Cat Linh-Ha Dong urban railway route is expected to be piloted in April next year after being delayed several times.

 Linh Quang is often described as the most polluted lake in Hanoi by many people as it is full of rubbish.

 Huge amounts of locally-produced sugar are stockpiled, while the land given to sugarcane growing plummets as imported and smuggled sugar proves more competitive.

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has pledged $1 billion to the Mekong Delta to fund projects aimed at tackling climate change amid warnings that the country’s rice basket is disappearing.

 Problems with healthcare, culture, and finances make Vietnam a less favorable second home for foreigners, according to HSBC’s latest Expat Explorer survey. 

 Chinese tourists have continued to take the lead in the number of foreign visitors to Vietnam, up more than 47% to more than 2.9 million arrivals, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

 The Korean band T-Ara has unveiled that they will perform on November 4 at Phu Tho Indoor Sport Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City.

 A Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) took effect in December 2015. However, Vietnamese businesses are finding it more and more difficult to penetrate the market as the RoK tightens up on rules and regulations.

VietNamNet Bridge - A large company in Hanoi has sacked 80 percent of workers, replacing them with robots.