Danang hosts green photo contest

A photo contest focusing on young people’s appreciation of the local environment was on Wednesday launched in Danang City as part of the project ‘Environmentally-and-Climate-Friendly Urban Development in Danang’ by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (GIZ), attracting more than 200 participants.

Erik Schweikhardt, advisor of GIZ, said that Danang is a beautiful city with many stunning beaches, magnificent mountains and rivers. However, the city has been affected with climate change and rapid urban development.

“The contest will help young people realize the real situation of their environment as well as challenges facing the environment in Danang,” he said.

Therefore, in photos, contestants will express personal views on his or her local environment and they can use cameras supplied by organizers to take the photos.

Each contestant will submit three photos with clear captions. The contest will end on August 24 with a star prize of VND10 million.

 Student guides at War Remnants Museum

Many students of Le Chi Truc Primary School listened with rapt attention to a young guide named Tran Vo Minh Man, a student of Ban Co secondary school, as he narrated the historical events at the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City.

Using students as museum guides is an experimental project aimed at educating pupils in traditional and historical knowledge.  (Photo:baotangchungtichchientranh)

Visitors to the museum were also impressed by the moving accounts of Agent Orange victims who have tried to overcome disabilities and pain to integrate in the community and find meaningful lives, by young narrator Phan Ky Khanh, an eighth grade student.

This is the best way to learn Vietnamese history, said Luong Thuy Duong, another eighth grade student from Ban Co secondary school.

Using students as museum guides is an experimental project aimed at educating pupils in traditional and historical knowledge, said the director of the War Remnants Museum.

I think this activity will help students to study better, said Dao Thi Kieu Phuoc, principal of Le Chi Truc Primary School.

Seminar drafts plans for festival organisation

A seminar focused on drafting a general plan for nationwide organisation of festivals was held in My Tho city, Tien Giang province on July 31 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Discussions at the seminar centered upon guidance for festival planning, classifying the scale of festivals for 2012-2015 and 2015-2020 and appointing solutions to preserve and uphold cultural heritages of such events, particularly traditional celebrations, which account for more than 88% of the almost 8,000 festivals held annually in Vietnam.

Participants also determined ways to restore ceremonials and folk games true to the original festivals in order to celebrate in conformity with tradition.

 Ancient tower discovered in Da Nang City

An ancient tower of the Champa period has been discovered in Phong Le Commune of Cam Le District in Da Nang City, after a fortnight of excavation.

The ancient architectural find dates back to more than thousand years, measures 16 x 16 meters and has one main door and three side doors.

Not many valuable objects have been found in the relic site, besides   its large-diameter foundation, said Mr. Vo Van Thang, director of Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture.

Archaeologists have sort to find the ancient tower that was known to exist in their research studies.