Music, light show brightens HCM City

A free concert will grace HCM City with visual effects and performances of Viet Nam's leading singers.

Cao Hon, Xa Hon ­– Viet Nam Oi! (Move Higher and Farther, Viet Nam!) will take place at the Reunification Palace on October11.

The two-hour concert will include three parts, with each part spotlighting Thanh Bui, Hong Nhung or Ho Ngoc Ha.

Thanh, owner of the Soul Music Academy, said: "My performance will feature my little students. We will bring audiences songs in both Vietnamese and English. There will be dance and musicals as well."

"Each artist's performance will be supported by a light show using 3D projection mapping technology," said Pham Hoang Nam, director of the event.

The visual effects will be set up in front of the palace by young Vietnamese, Singaporean and Malaysian visual artists, and engineers from the Barco Asia Pacific.

Nam, one of the country's leading music directors, said: "He and his staff have spent one year on preparing for such a big music and light show."

The concert will begin at 8pm at 135 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street in District 1.

New calendar honours General Giap

A special calendar titled General Vo Nguyen Giap, Life and Career has been published for the New Year celebrations in 2015.

The publication, featuring 372 images plus stories on the life and career of the General was printed by HCM City General Publishers and An Hao Company.

It has six sections, each of presenting a facet of the General's life, including the time me he was born, his enrollment at Hue College, his time as a teacher, a journalist- and then as an army man.

The publication marks the first anniversary of his death on October 4.

Hanoi’s Liberation celebration: 60 Thanh Giong Statues presented

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of Hanoi’s Liberation Day (October 10), 60 statues of Thanh Giong (Saint Giong), a Vietnamese folk hero, were given to provinces, cities, organisations and individuals throughout Vietnam during an official ceremony on October 5.

The event was hosted by the Vietnamese Association of Historians and Vietnam Buddhist Academy together with the An Ninh Thu Do Newspaper and the Asia Friendship Co. Ltd.

Made by traditional craftsmen, the eighty-centimeter gilded bronze sculptures weigh 60-65kg each, and are based on the statue of Saint Giong at Soc Son Temple in Soc Son District, Hanoi.

According to Duong Trung Quoc, the Secretary General of the Vietnam Association of Historians, Thanh Giong is one of the four immortals, honored as a symbol of strength, belief and a strong will to overcome obstacles and claim victory.

The management board of the statue donation project said the legendary sculptures were special keepsakes to celebrate the upcoming 60th anniversary.

The project was also praised as a meaningful and practical deed by President Truong Tan Sang.-

Photos mark Hanoi's 60th Liberation Day

Sixty photos by local architects and photographers are on display on the pavement in Ly Thai To Street next to Hoan Kiem Lake to celebrate Ha Noi's Liberation Day (October 10, 1954-2014).

The exhibition, which ends on Friday, is titled Ha Noi Oi! and is one of many cultural activities to mark the occasion. It features heritage sites, such as Hoan Kiem Lake, Long Bien Bridge, and Thay Pagoda.

The management board of the Old Quarter will present documents and images on the capital city in 1954 to mark the day.

Dong Ho folk paintings as well as calligraphy presentations and a musical performance will be held.

Other art performances will also be organised in the Old Quarter and on the streets until Friday.

Latin American film fest opens

The Second Latin American Film Festival will return to the capital city this week, promising to provide fans of the continent's silver screen with pleasant and entertaining treats.

The festival will feature 13 cinematographic works from Argentina, Brazil, Cuba and Colombia, as well as Chile, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, Haiti, and Venezuela.

The event, which opens tonight and runs until Saturday, is part of a series of activities promoting Latin American culture to the people of Viet Nam.

"The Film Week aims to bring Latin American cinematography and culture closer to Vietnamese audiences through social, political and historical themes. Audiences will have a chance to enjoy profound works of the continent," said Jorge Rondon Uzcategui, Venezuelan ambassador to Viet Nam.

On this occasion, the ambassador expressed hopes that Venezuela and Viet Nam could work together to make a film on Nguyen Van Troi, a Vietnamese national hero in the American war who became quite familiar to the Venezuelan people.

Jean Lesly Benoit, Haitian ambassador to Viet Nam, told Vietnam News Agency that under the leadership of President Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969) and General Toussaint Louverture (1743-1803), the heroic fights of the two nations against French colonialism had numerous similarities.

The ambassador added that Haiti Culture Week in Viet Nam in January 2015 would feature a range of art performances, photo exhibits and a cuisine festival.

The comedy Vino para Robar (To Fool a Thief) by Argentina's young director, Ariel Winograd, will open the event. The film won a special award at the Huelva Latin American Film Festival in Spain in October last year.

The opening night will be followed by a Spanish-Venezuelan work: Bolivar, The Man of Difficulties. The movie is a historical drama directed by Alberto Alberto depicting the epic story of Simon Bolivar, known as the greatest leader of Latin America's independence movement. He was known as "The Liberator" due to his thirst for the liberation of Latin America from Spanish colonisers.

Also reflecting this historical theme is Toussaint Louverture, which will wrap up the festival. Through this work, Haiti's filmmakers highlight the life of revolutionary leader Gen Louverture, who led black slaves in the fight for independence against French colonisers.

The event also features other movies such as Heleno, Route of the Moon, Salt, Viva Cuba and Days of Santiago. Most of the films will be shown with Vietnamese subtitles while some will have both English and Vietnamese subtitles.

Daily screenings will take place at 6pm and 8pm at Cinematheque, 22 Hai Ba Trung Street, Ha Noi. Entrance is free but on a first-come, first-served basis.

Young people drawn to lotus tea from West Lake

Drinking lotus tea is a unique Hanoi tradition that, over time, has been somewhat overlooked, but is now being rediscovered by young people.

In the early morning or the late afternoon, many groups of young people go to West Lake's lotus ponds to take photos and enjoy the lotus tea sold there. They come here to get away from the busy city and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere around the blossoming lotuses.

Young people enjoying lotus tea at a shop built on a lotus pond.

According to one tea shop owner, many of the young people who come to her shop are interested in the art of making the tea.

When asked about the reason why he prefers drinking tea to going to a café or bar, Dung, a 21 year-old university student, said, "Tea shops are quiet and the prices are pretty cheap. It's only VND35,000 for a pot of lotus tea, you can chat with your friends here for hours."

Like Dung, many of the young people enjoy the tranquility of the surroundings. The taste of the lotus tea mixed with the peaceful atmosphere is apparently enough to attract crowds of young people.

Ba Na cable car listed among world’s most spectacular rides

The travel website Thrillist recently published an article listing the ten most spectacular cable car rides in the world, which included Ba Na.

According to Thrillist, the 5-km Ba Na cable line was built at a cost of USD39 million. Located just outside Danang, it got four listings in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2013 for the longest cable car line (5,771.61m); the highest difference in height between departure and destination (1,368.93m); the longest non-stop cable (11,585m) and the world heaviest cable rolls (141.24 tonnes).

Each car fits up to 35 passengers, and passes over a waterfall near the base station before gliding up Vong Nguyet Hill at a top speed of about 6 metres per second.

The Ba Na cable line was built by Austria’s Doppelmayr Cable Car and Switzerland’s CWA Construction Company, and became fully operational on March 29, on the occasion of the 38th anniversary of Danang's liberation.

Other cable car systems on the list includeed Hua Shan cableway in China, Grindelwald-Männlichen Gondola Cableway in Switzerland, Table Mountain Aerial Cableway in South Africa, Masada Cableway in Israel, Sugarloaf Mountain in Brazil, Aiguille du Midi cable system in France, Stanserhorn Cabrio in Switzerland, Timber Trail Cable Car in India and Ngong Ping Cable Car in China.

Recently, the Ba Na cable line was also voted among the top ten most amazing lines by the Telegraph.