Ancient artifacts discovered in Ha Tinh  

The Ha Tinh provincial Museum on July 21 found a set of three ancient jack-tree wooden bells preserved in Ha Linh pagoda in Tien Loc commune, Can Loc district.
 
They include one rough wooden bell in oval shape measuring about 3.5 kg in weight, 40 cm in height and 50 cm in width. Two others, weighing about 2-2.5 kg, are engraved with images of moons and clouds.

Ha Linh pagoda also preserves a yellow stone worshiping statue measuring some 50-55 kg in weight and nearly 1m in height. The statue is said to date from the 15 th -16 th century.
 
Prehistoric remains found in Ba Be Lake  

Traces of prehistoric man have been found near Ba Be Lake, in the northern province of Bac Can.  
                          
Members of the Vietnam Archaeological Institute and the Bac Can Museum have been excavating the area for possible prehistoric remains since June.

Numerous artefacts, dating from 20,000BC to 10,000BC, have been found in Tham Hau, Tham Coc Nghiu and Tham Mya villages in the Nang River valley.

Trinh Nang Chung, from the Vietnam Archaeology Institute, said Stone Age people inhabited the area for many thousands of years and were responsible for what has become known as the Hoa Binh culture (10,000 BC).

HCMC to host Asia-wide bartender contest

Professional bartenders across Asia will have a chance to showcase their talents at a competition to be held in Ho Chi Minh City next Tuesday.

Titled “Bar Pro Flair Challenge Asia Sobieski Grand Final Vietnam 2011,” the competition will gather professional bartenders from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.

A national competition to find the best bartender to represent Vietnam will take place one day before the regional round.

The winner of the national round will receive VND10million (USD500) and the Asian champion, US$1,000.

The competition, to be organized by HCMC – based wine distribution Tan Khoa Corporation and the Saigon Bartender Guild Association with Pole Sobieski Vodka’s sponsorship, will take place at Hard Rock Café at 39 Le Duan Street in District 1.

More information can be found at www.tankhoa.com.

More Korean literature should be translated here: conference

Though more Korean literary works have been translated into Vietnamese recently, it is Chinese and Japanese literature that is dominating the translation landscape, a conference has heard.

Organized by the Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH) and the Korean Literary Translation Institute yesterday, the international conference drew a great number of translators from across Asia to discuss the translation of Korean literature into Vietnamese.

Phan Thi Thu Hien, a professor of the HCMC USSH said more Korean literary works the number of Korean literary works that have been translated in Vietnam is not on par with the scale of Korean literature.

Since 2006, only 30 Korean books have been published in Vietnam. And this is out of more than 13,700 international literary works that have been translated here, Hien said.

Of these 30, Hien said the National Library of Vietnam keeps 9, against 85 translated works from Japan and 539 from China.

In addition, while most of the Korean works translated in Thailand and Mongolia are commercial ones that have been adapted into popular movies or dramas, which are the dominant products of the Hallyu (Korean) wave, Vietnamese readers prefer a wider range that includes more serious works of poetry and fiction.

Le Dang Hoan, a professor at Hanoi USSH, said as more than 10 universities in Vietnam now have their own Korean-language departments, all of the Korean literature that has been translated into Vietnamese has been translated directly from the originals rather than through the English translations as before.

The quality of these translated works is a problem as most of the translators are young and have a linguistic background, rather than literary ones, Hoan said.

Professor Han Mei from China said more Vietnamese literature works should be introduced in Korea as well since cultural and literary exchange should be two-sided and the two countries have established a strategic relation in all fields since 1992.  

Translation and literature can help strengthen the ties between cultures and ease friction through cooperation and conversation, Mei said.

According to professor Hien, around 2,400 South Korean companies are now operating in Vietnam, employing more than 400,000 Vietnamese. Every year Vietnam sends tens of thousands of workers to South Korea and there are more than 40,000 Vietnamese-Korean marriages.

Art performance in commemoration of war invalids and martyrs

An art performance was held in Hanoi on July 21 to mark the 64th anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs’ Day (July 27).

The art performance is a present dedicated to Vietnamese heroic mothers and families of invalids and martyrs credited with revolutionary services.

Renowned songs composed during wartime were performed by famous singers such as Quang Tho, Trong Tan, Thanh Thanh Hien, Anh Tho and Thai Bao to give the audience a flashback of the Vietnamese nation’s glorious time.

In her speech, Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan extended her best regards to Vietnamese heroic mothers, families of invalids and martyrs. She said the event offers businesses, collectives and individuals a chance to pay “debts of gratitude” to those who laid down their lives for the national revolutionary cause.

On this occasion, the Organising Board presented gifts to a number of disadvantaged families in Thanh Hoa, Nghe An and Hanoi.

Mystery Hunting season 3 in Hue, Hoi An, Danang
 
Vietnam’s popular Mystery Hunting series reaches its third season with brave participants seeking adventure in Hue, Hoi An and Danang from September 6-12.

The contestants will hear some mysterious stories and then try to heed their instincts as they hunt down the treasure in ‘Hidden City’.

The program is organized by Red Spirit Group and HCMC Student Cultural House and aimed at those who love traveling and being challenged. Throughout the season, participants will have to use knowledge, critical thinking, spirit and teamwork.  

The successful Mystery Hunting, which had seasons one and two in Dalat and Nha Trang, will be exported to Cambodia, Laos, Singapore-Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and China.  

For more information, contact Mr Nguyen Quoc Thang 0903621823, email thang.nguyen@redspirit.com, info@mysteryhunting.com, website: www.mysteryhunting.com, www.facebook.com/mysteryhunting
 
Hoi An builds traditional medicine museum
 
An ancient house located at 46 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street in Hoi An City will be turned into a traditional medicine museum of Hoi An, reports Tuoi Tre.

The People’s Committee of Hoi An City of Quang Nam Province has asked Hoi An’s Center for Monuments Management & Preservations to build this construction.

The museum will display materials, artifacts and some activities related to traditional medicine of Hoi An. Recently, Hoi An has received many documents and objects about the traditional medicine from a French man, Jean Cousso who is also a chairman of Friends of Hue City Association. These invaluable items help contribute to the establishment of the museum.
 
Chinese drama troupe performs in Hanoi

A Chinese drama troupe will perform the play Dau tranh nay la tran cuoi cung (This fight is final) which deals with the issue of corruption at the Youth Theater in Hanoi at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Forty-five artists from the National Theatre of China (NTC) will take part in the event which is part of an exchange of activities between NTC, Youth Theater and Vietnam Drama Theater.

The play takes place in the house of a former senior official on New Year’s Eve. The reunion of the three members of the Ha family is spoiled when an unwelcome guest gives them some shocking news. The family has to face the tough choice between money and faith, loyalty and betrayal, justice and personal feelings.

Former senior official Ha Quang Minh cannot adjust to the constant change of modern life, loses his faith and is tortured by his inner thoughts. His first son has a complex personality deriving from traditional and modern life and is stuck between the idea and reality. The second son goes along with the negative ideas of society to get on with his life even though deep down he is strongly against them.

The last son’s marriage is a sham, which is exposed by Minh’s grandson, Tieu Kiem. Kiem’s mother is the first daughter of Minh, who has been forced to live in poverty.

Burning with hatred, Kiem hides his identity and works for his third uncle’s company in order to plan and seek his vengeance.

New Year’s Eve highlights the tough transition between traditional and modern life and behind the warm atmosphere inside the Ha family home lies strong conflict in each of their souls.