Hanoi moves to protect intangible cultures

The Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has implemented a number of projects to preserve the city’s intangible cultural heritages, including a project carried out from 2014-2015 to review the city’s intangible cultural heritages and apply effective conservation methods.

The sector will continue working to protect intangible cultural heritages fading into obscurity and those in urgent need of preserving.

According to Pham Thi Lan Anh, an official from the Department, the sector will focus on protecting the Trong quan singing in Phuc Lam village, Phuc Tien commune, Phu Xuyen district and Khanh Ha commune in Thuong Tien district by recording its lyrics and tunes this year.

Other practical activities will also be organised to raise community awareness of their heritages, such as publicity campaigns and mass media communication products.

Hanoi is home to more than 850 intangible culture heritages, including oral literature, performing arts, social customs, festivals and traditional handicrafts, n early 100 of which have begun to vanish .

Besides Trong quan singing, other heritages in urgent need of protection for not having been regularly practiced in communities include slang in Da Chat village, Dai Xuyen commune in Phu Xuyen district; Tuong co (traditional theatre opera) in Coc Thuong village, Chuong My district; wrestling in Thao Chinh village, Phu Xuyen commune, Phu Xuyen district; and embroidery and lacemaking in Binh Minh commune, Thanh Oai district.

According to Pham Van Nam, a cultural official from Phuc Tien commune in Phu Xuyen district, the locality has seen its traditional trong quan singing falling into oblivion. A very small number of local residents still practice it and those who do are all over 60 years old.

The loss of intangible culture heritages is attributed to quick changes in social environment and living style and modernisation.

Can Tho City hosts Southern Folk Cake Festival

Can Tho City held its fourth traditional rice, vegetable and fruit cake festival on April 27-May 1, attracting more than 70,000 visitors and participants from Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The organisers of the festival wanted to attract more international visitors to the city this year, which they describe as ‘the spiritual home of traditional Vietnamese baking’.

The five-day event was rounded off with international baking exchanges and a wide variety of artistic cultural exchanges featuring ethnic groups in Southern Vietnam such as the Kinh, Cham, Chinese and Khmer.

All told the festival showcased more than 100 kinds of cakes and 50 local specialties in roughly 100 booths along with a diverse number of other activities including photo exhibitions, folk games and art performances.

The Central Highlands province of Dak Lak, home to a large number of ethnic minorities and their distinct cultures and heritages, is looking to develop tourism while preserving traditional cultures.

Dak Lak is proud to fall within the cultural space of gongs, recognised by UNESCO as an intangible and oral masterpiece of human culture in 2006.

Boasting traditional craft villages and a series of festivals, the locality has great potential to develop community-based and cultural tourism.

In order to implement its strategy of tourism development and cultural conservation, local authorities have focused investing in constructing and upgrading infrastructure. Natural landscapes have been preserved while cultural and historical relic sites have been restored and embellished.

The organisation of traditional festivals contributes to promoting the locality’s image to domestic and foreign visitors.

In recent years, Dak Lak has seen a considerable amount of socio-economic development, especially in tourism.

In 2011, the province welcomed about 310,000 tourists, earning 235 billion VND (10.8 million USD). The number of visitors to the locality increased to 467,000 in 2014, raking in 360 billion VND, up nearly 16 percent against the previous year. According to Nguyen Thuy Phuong Hieu from the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the local cultural sector is working with travel firms to develop cultural and tourism activities, generating jobs for local residents and preserving cultural values.

The locality is set to become one of the nation’s tourism centres, making tourism its spearhead economic sector.

Hue ancient capital steadily approaching former glory

After more than 20 years since the ancient Vietnamese capital of Hue was recognised as a world cultural heritage site, it has been appraised by UNESCO officials and international organisations as a good example of heritage conservation.

The Hue ancient capital complex in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue was the national capital from 1802 to 1945 under the Nguyen dynasty.

The success of the August Revolution in 1945 put an end to the 143-year reign of this dynasty. Fierce fighting, notably in 1947 and 1968, and two severe floods in 1953 and 1971 subsequently ruined many buildings in the complex.

In 1982, a Hue-UNESCO working group was established to take charge of the restoration of the relic site and in 1993 the complex became the first in Vietnam to be recognised as a world cultural heritage by UNESCO.

Since then, Hue city has exerted every effort to preserve the heritage’s value. The Hue Relic Conservation Centre has coordinated with provincial departments and offices to conserve the site, particularly through a project that lasted from 1996 to 2010.

Thanks to the project, conservation work has been carried out systematically, restoring relic sites, intensifying international cooperation and applying scientific advancement.

During 1996-2013, 800 billion VND was spent on restoring 100 architectural buildings. Most recently, a project on the entire restoration of the complex worth nearly 1.3 trillion VND has been implemented, opening up the promise of the comprehensive recovery of the whole site

The work has received praise from UNESCO and other international organisations. However, the locality is facing a lot of challenges, including the impacts of environmental pollution and climate change. The resettlement of people living around the complex is also concerning local authorities. At present, there remain over 3,000 households living within the complex planning area.

The ‘Amazing Race’ unprecedentedly held across Phong Nha-Ke Bang

An unprecedented race across the UNESCO-recognized Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park, home to Son Doong Grotto- the world’s current largest- held both participants and spectators spellbound.

The “amazing race,” which wrapped up on April 30, was organized for the first time ever by Oxalis Adventure Tours, a local tour operator, within the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park.

The park, located in the central province of Quang Binh, boasts Son Doong Grotto- the world’s current largest; and Thien Duong (Paradise) Grotto- Asia’s longest, along with scores of other cavernous marvels.

The race covered a total length of 30 kilometers and involved a clutch of taxing challenges including canoeing, trekking through boundless expanses of pristine forests, traversing through treacherous, rugged terrains and crossing pitch-black underground streams, which pushed the participants’ to their very limits.

Less than two months from being launched online, the race drew some hundred participants.

The organizers finally decided to trim them down to only nine teams of five members each.

Though racers came from different countries and backgrounds, they shared their ceaseless passion for exploring natural wonders and seeking thrills.

What came as a nice surprise was that most of them are office and civil service workers, female teachers and dancers, who tend to be deemed unlikely adventure seekers.

Dang Dinh Si, an employee at Oriental Sky Travel Co., a travel firm based in Hue City in the central province of Thua Thien- Hue, shared that his five-member team comprised two other Hue natives, another from Hanoi and the other from Ho Chi Minh City.

Three female maths teachers at a school in HCMC also teamed up with their two friends from France and the US for the race.

Before showtime, Howard Limbert, 58, an expert from the British Caving Association and head of the exploration team that has detected hundreds of caves in the Phong Nha-Ke Bang area over the past 25 years, mapped out the treacherous itinerary and warned racers of the tremendous challenges that they would be faced with.

The expert could not hold back his anxiety about the racers, who were all new to such strenuous challenges.

Limbert and his wife made a last-minute decision to join the racers along with a medical care provider.

Nguyen Chau A, director of Oxalis Adventure Tours, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) Newspaper that the event was meant to build a thrilling playground for young people, raise funds for the construction of three libraries in the province, further promote the provincial tourism potentials and provide jobs for locals in remote poor areas.

The racers showed up on April 29 morning in Tuyen Hoa District, where they soon found themselves maneuvering dugouts with great caution along Phu Nguyen underground river.

Its rocky bed and shallow water posed a daunting challenge to amateur rowers, who were set on reaching Tien (Fairy) Grotto, some five kilometers from the river’s headwaters, at 4:00 pm.

There were sections of raging currents where some dugouts collided, leaving one sinking.

After successfully crossing the river, the contenders trekked a distance of almost three kilometers across rugged, slippery terrain to make it to Tien Grotto on time.

Despite the organizers’ markings, some teams went astray and ended up lost before tracing back to the destination some time later.

No race members completed the ordeal without scratches or bruises, but they were hugely relieved to survive it and fight another day.

They were tended to by over 30 porters from Oxalis Adventure Tours, who normally take care of those joining tours to explore the breathtaking Son Doong Grotto.

The race members spent the night in tents after being informed of what the following day had in store for them.

Luu Van Long, of HCMC-based Vietmark Co., who designed the race, warned that the trials awaiting the members the following day would be four times as overwhelming as those on the first day.

The teams might choose to take on or opt out of the fazing challenges, including canyoning steep slopes which tower almost 30 meters tall and wrestling with the pitch-black underground rivers which snake themselves through grottos, he cautioned.

The next morning saw the members panting while trekking through a stretch of over 20 kilometers of jagged terrain, including Hung Nhai, Hung Run and Dung Slopes.

The teams then waded with great caution in an underground spring beneath Doi (Bat) Cave.

The intimidating cave, which is over 50 meters in length and is eerily murky, was previously home to flocks of forest bats.

The race began to gather momentum and heat as the teams picked up speed and crawled across Chuot (Mice) Cave, which nestles deep inside La Ken Valley.

Thong Nhat team triumphantly emerged as the winner of the four-hour ordeal.

Hue traditional craft festival closes after five days

The biennial Hue Traditional Craft Festival closed in the central province of Thua Thien – Hue on May 2 after five days of display.

Themed “Quintessence of Vietnamese crafts”, the event attracted over 150 artisans from 34 traditional villages of Bat Trang pottery, silk and brocade garment, embroidery and handicrafts.

The spaces dedicated to artisans and craft villages were made available in Nguyen Dinh Chieu walking street, Tu Tuong park and the Museum of Hue Culture.

The festival also showcased items made by Japanese and Korean artisans, including kimono outfits, rice crackers, seaweed, lanterns, among others.

Paintings on bamboo paper by artist Pham Hai Bang, 10 Japanese kimonos and 80 embroidery paintings by artisan Le Van Kinh also caught public attention.

Before the closing ceremony, ceremonials to remember the ancestors of traditional crafts and honour traditional artisans and craft villages were launched.

Belgian novel hits the shelves

The Vietnamese version of novel La Terre Gourmande by Belgian writer Jacques Danois has just hit bookstores throughout the country.

Entitled Tro Lai Voi Doi (Return to Life), the novel was translated by Phan Quang and published by the Kim Dong Publishing House.

The story is set in the border area between Cambodia and Thailand. Various people, including tourists, smugglers, spies and Vietnamese soldiers frequent the area.

In 1985, when the book was first published, the book helped audiences throughout the world understand the real situation in the region..

One of the most interesting parts of the book is about Tran, a Vietnamese soldier who saved the life of a Khmer Rouge soldier in the jungle.

Danois was a reporter and writer and a director of information at UNICEF. He was born in Brussels in 1927. Upon retirement, he became secretary, then vice-president, of the World Association of Children's Friends. He died in France in 2008.

UP Station offers Latin music

Lovers of Latin music can find live music from authentic Latin bands and remixes by DJs at UP Station, a cafe and bar that has been recently opened in downtown HCM City.

Located in Thi Sach Street and with a rustic brick and wooden decor, UP Station creates an environment where travellers and locals can readily meet up and learn about each other.

People can also enjoy the fantastic performances that cover a range of genres like rock & roll, salsa, contemporary dancing.

Actor Nguyen Anh Dung dies at 64

Emeritus artist Nguyen Anh Dung, a leading actor on the Vietnamese screen and former director of the Viet Nam National Drama Theatre, died on Thursday after suffering a stroke two months ago. He was 64.

He was best known for his roles in the films Hon Truong Ba Da Hang Thit (Truong Ba's Soul in Butcher's Body), Co Gai Tren Song (The Girl on the River) and Ky Niem Doi Trang (Memories at the Hill in the Moonlight).

He met his wife while working on Ky Niem Doi Trang. A veteran actress, she also died of a stroke in 2009.

Ao Dai fashion show at Paris fair 2015

Vietnam’s traditional long dress (Ao Dai) fashion show has attracted numerous international friends at the Paris fair 2015, the largest of its kind in France and the seventh biggest in Europe.

The annual event running from April 29 to May 10 has drawn 3,500 pavilions from 50 nations around the globe and nearly 575, 000 visitors.

Around 42 Vietnamese businesses showcase traditional food and fine arts and handicraft products such as lacquer, silk and rattan bamboo.

Visiting Vietnamese stalls, Vietnamese ambassador to France Nguyen Ngoc Son encouraged Vietnamese entrepreneurs to maximize efforts for greater penetration of the French and European markets. He also proposed measures to help high-quality Vietnamese commodities be sold well in foreign markets.

Apart from the Ao Dai fashion show, Vietnam also gave traditional music and dance performances which have earned international plaudits.

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