Art exhibition to mark Vietnam-US ties

The Vietnamese Women’s Museum has announced an art exhibition will be held December 8-10 to mark the 20th anniversary of Vietnam-US ties (1995-2015).

The event will showcase more than 40 works of US painter Soraya Runke, wife of first US diplomat to Vietnam Chris Runkel, and the daily life of Vietnamese people.

An auction to raise funds for disabled and disadvantage children is planned for the event sponsored by the Vietnam-US Friendship Association and the US Embassy.

Vietnam Designer Fashion Week aims to boost local industry

The Vietnam Designer Fashion Week 2016 will open next weekend with an ambitious goal: bringing 20 top local designers closer to the general public and giving the nascent fashion industry a much-needed boost.

Famous designers and fashion houses including Do Manh Cuong, Ha Linh Thu, Le Ha, Anno Vo, An Huong-Le Minh (Rue Des Chats), Li Lam, Maschio, Cashew, and V64 have confirmed their attendance.

This event will also promote top new graduates from leading universities’ fashion departments.

The catwalks will be anchored for the first time at two venues, Ho Chi Minh City Television Studio and Celadon City Apartments on Dec 14, 15 and 17.

The organizers said that this international standard fashion week will be highlighted with commercial workshops, trade exhibitions and a new marketing campaign, launched on December 18 and 19 at the Rex Hotel.

A panel of famous fashion editors, models and designers said that the fashion week will also see the creation of the Association of Vietnam Designers.

Scholarships as well as seminars will be offered to young designers, who are hoped to be the next generation that can help commercializing Vietnam’s fashion industry and globalizing domestic brands.

Food festival welcomes ASEAN Community formation

The Foreign Ministry’s Service Department for Diplomatic Corps hosted a food festival themed “the ASEAN community and international friends” in Hanoi on December 5.

The event, the third of its kind so far, featured 96 booths serving culinary delights from the bloc’s ten member nations and different localities across Vietnam.

Displayed handicrafts, a musical concert and a fashion show of ASEAN’s traditional costumes entertained attendees.

All proceeds will be donated to the Association for the Support of Vietnamese Handicapped and Orphans and other charities. The first and second festivals had raised a total of nearly 400 million VND (17,801 USD) for charitable activities.

Speaking at the event, Nguyen Nguyet Nga, spouse of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, stated it is an opportunity for regional countries to learn about each other’s gastronomy ahead of the formation of the ASEAN Community.

It also helps further the friendship and cooperation between ASEAN nations and international friends in the three pillars of the community, namely politics-security, economy and socio-culture, she added.

Hanging library gets kids reading

Quiet for once: Students enjoy reading books from hanging bookshelves in the school yard at Hai Hoa Primary School in Quang Tri Province's Hai Lang District. — Photo Trinh Bang Nhiem

Breaks during school time are now more exciting for students of Hai Hoa Primary School in the central province of Quang Tri's Hai Lang District. During the break, the students quickly go to the special "bookshelves" hanging from trees in the school yard.

This is a "friendly" library set up at the beginning of this school year with the support of the World Vision organisation.

"We want to inspire more students to read," Nguyen Thi Mien, headmistress of the school, told Viet Nam News.

"The main reason for the hanging library is that our library room is too small to accommodate many students. Our teachers got the idea of taking books to the school yard for students to read outdoors."

The books have been put inside 10 plastic boxes. Each can contain betwen 10 and 20 books. The boxes are hung from the trees. Students choose their books and sit on stone benches under the trees to read.

"Students are free to choose the books they like. At the same time, they have greater responsibility of taking care of the books," she said.

"We feel more comfortable as we can sit outdoors to read and chat with each another at the same time," Nguyen Thi Kieu Nhung, a fifth grade student, said. "We like to read even more now."

The project has been running since the 2012-2013 school year.

"With an eye-catching display, the library has attracted many students who have improved their reading skills," Huynh Thi Vinh, teacher-in-charge of class 4A, said.

Beside this library, the school has also organised a mobile library for students. Book shelves have been placed in the corridor for each class. The students can take the books easily and also take care of them.

The school has also set up some popular musical instruments such as guitars and drums, as well as chess boxes for students' entertainment during breaks in the corridors.

The school would encourage parents and teachers to contribute more books and to give financial support to allow the opening of the tree-library every day, Mien said.

Activities held to mark great poet Nguyen Du’s birthday

A stately ceremony to celebrate the great poet Nguyen Du’s 250th birth anniversary was held in his birth place, the central province of Ha Tinh on December 5, drawing the participation of State and Party leaders, and many other provincial officials.

The event aimed to honour Nguyen Du’s contributions to Vietnam and humanity’s culture while promoting the roles of literature in nurturing souls and sentiment, and popularising Vietnamese culture.

In his opening remarks, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung highlighted the poet’s reputation and literacy career with his most influential work, The Tale of Kieu (Truyen Kieu), which has transcended national borders and made Vietnamese literature a part of human cultural quintessence.

Over the past two centuries, his works have conquered the hearts of both Vietnamese and international readers, he said, underscoring that his poetry includes a deep philosophy on life and humanity.

He expressed his hope that Vietnamese people in general and Ha Tinh residents in particular will preserve and spread the immortal value of The Tale of Kieu far and wide.

The ceremony was followed by an art performance themed “Tieng tho ai dong dat troi” (the poem touches the soul of the Earth and Heaven).

Earlier, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung and other delegates offered incense at the poet’s worship house and tomb in Tien Dien commune, Nghi Xuan district.

On the same day, a set of stamps marking Nguyen Du’s birthday was officially issued. The set features the great poet writing Truyen Kieu, an epic written in Nom, under the moonlight. It will be available on the public post network until June 30, 2017.

Nguyen Du (1766-1820), also known as To Nhu and Thanh Hien, was recognised by UNESCO as a World Cultural Celebrity with 108 others in 2003.

In his 55 years of life, the great poet left a monumental legacy that includes three collections in Han (Chinese) script, with 250 poems in Thanh Hien Thi Tap (Poems of Thanh Hien), Nam Trung Tap Ngam (Various Poems) and Bac Hanh Tap Luc (Miscellaneous Writings in a Trip to the North), as well as the most well-known, the Tale of Kieu.

The Tale of Kieu is a 3,254-line classic verse novel written in "luc bat", a traditional form of Vietnamese poetry that consists of alternating lines of six and eight syllables.

Kieu's story is vastly popular in Vietnam. Many people know the epic by heart, and it has been translated into 20 different languages including French, Chinese, English, Russian and Japanese.

The tale was recognised by the World Peace Council as one of the world's most celebrated cultural works in 1965.

Cuisine festival offering international flavours

The annual food festival titled Taste of the World Culinary Festival , featuring Vietnamese and international dishes, is underway in HCM City .

The event kicked off on December 3, organised by the municipal Department of Tourism, has 80 display booths with dishes from more than 20 countries and territories.

A line-up of activities will be held during the festival, including a Five-Star Chef Party and a programme setting up Vietnamese Guinness records on vegetarian dishes and fruit carving in form of a bronze drum decorated with dragons.

Experts from the World Food Culture Centre (WFCC) will also give cooking demonstrations.

Other activities include a wine tasting, music, dance performances and bartender shows.

The four-day festival is expected to welcome around 300,000 visitors.

Phu Tho province revives Hung King culture

After years of dedicated work, half of the 326 Hung King relics found throughout Phu Tho province have been successfully restored.

In 2012, the Vietnam Institute of Culture and Arts Studies launched a programme across 11 northern provinces and cities to preserve and promote the worship and values of the Hung faith, honoured as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

The project not only restores and rebuilds relics intended for the worship of Hung Kings, but also collects and preserves festivals, documents, worship customs, legends and folk games.

The institute says the programme has also enhanced communities' awareness of their cultural heritage by including them in ritual activities such as le ruoc kieu (palanquin procession), le dang huong (purification ceremony) and traditional games like cock fighting, rice-cooking contests and a dragon boat competition.

According to legend, Lac Long Quan, the father of the first Hung King, and his wife, Au Co, gave birth to a sack of 100 eggs from which 100 sons were born.

Half of the boys followed their mother up to the mountains, the eldest of which named the country Van Lang and made a capital in present-day Phu Tho. The other half of the sons followed their father down along the coast, settling in various locales.

Ha Noi hotels scoop up cooking prizes

Teams from Ha Noi's Lotte Hotel have won first prize and Sofitel Plaza Ha Noi second prize at the 3rd Chiec Thia Vang (Golden Spoon) cooking contest 2015.

The "Nutritional Dish" prize went to Thao Ngoan Restaurant in Dong Nai Province; the "Good Food Arrangement" to Continental Hotel in HCM City; and the "Common People's Special Food" to HCM City's Kim Do Hotel.

Under the theme of "Huong Vi Que Nha – Hanh trinh Gia Vi Viet" (Homeland Tastes – Journey of Vietnamese Spices), the contest tour from Ha Noi to HCM City, Can Tho, Nha Trang, Da Nang and Sa Pa in the northern province of Lao Cai between June 2 and December 2. The contest aims to identify talented chefs who can create world-class Vietnamese dishes from each region across the country.

The Golden Spoon cooking contest was joined by 357 chefs from 119 hotels, restaurants and resorts from 39 cities and provinces, bringing in a dozen new spices and introducing 1,400 delicious dishes.

The best 15 teams were selected for the final round of the contest, which was held in Binh Duong Province on December 2.

Taste of the World attracts thousands

The Taste of the World festival in HCM City has attracted thousands of foodies who have learned how to cook Korean dishes from the South Korea World Food Culture Centre, watched Malaysian chefs make traditional roasted cakes and observed the Saigon Professional Chef Association set a new Guinness Viet Nam record for vegetarian dishes.

The annual food festival kicked off at the September 23 Park in HCM City on Thursday and will end tomorrow.

In the afternoon, around 80 food stalls of 20 countries, including newcomers Greece and New Zealand, attracted a great number of visitors.

Highlights of the festival include hundred of dishes from Viet Nam, Thailand and Japan. A stall of Japanese food serves sushi in the shape of colourful cartoon characters at VND4,000-7,000.

The Thai stalls, which serve grilled meat in sticks, and glass noodle salad with seafood, have been especially popular.

Vietnamese stalls of deep-fried fish ball, deep-fried beef ball, young green rice meat patties, fried scallops and others are offered at VND15,000 to 20,000 a stick.

Dishes from Viet Nam nationwide have also been presented, including banh duc (cake made of rice flour and lime water), banh xeo (crepe filled with shrimp, meat, squid, and soya bean sprouts), che (sweet pudding), pho, and others.

Tran Thanh Anh Thu, a visitor, said the food price was "cheap", citing her dish of banh canh (rice spaghetti cooked with shrimp, crab and meat) with half a crab for VND45,000 (US$2).

Other highlights include Hong Kong dim sum, Taiwanese egg pipe-shape cake; South Korean kim chi and bibimbap; and India's masala dosa, chicken roll, potato-and-peas-samosa, and pepper chicken masala one.

The Five-Star Hotel Chef Party at 3.30pm today, which will feature 22 five-star hotels and high-ranking restaurants, and a talk show tomorrow with winners of the three latest seasons of the cooking contest Golden Spoon are expected to be exciting activities of the festival.

Speaking at the opening ceremony on Thursday evening, Pham Huy Binh, deputy director of the HCM City Department of Tourism, said: "Through the festival, Vietnamese and international visitors will have a chance to taste specific dishes of regions, and contemplate stalls featuring regional special characteristics."