VietNamNet Bridge – During winter, a fine carpet of mustard blossoms overtakes Moc Chau. The mustard blooms in the winter, from late November to March.

 In 2015 the insurance market has achieved its best performance of the last five years, growing at nearly 22 per cent and earning revenues of US$3.1 billion, the head of the insurance watchdog told an ongoing conference in HCM City.

 A woman from Cao Bang Province, with a huge facial tumour, is being treated by doctors at the Ha Noi Central Oral and Maxillofacial Hospital.

 Viet Nam has been asked to set up a training model for volunteer health workers and assistant doctors in the use of traditional medicine in primary health care in the ASEAN Community.

 Mong Cai city in the northern province of Quang Ninh has allowed certain travel companies to provide tours of the city for Chinese tourists with border passes on a trial basis.

 Ambassadors to Vietnam will be invited to visit one of the world’s largest cave - Son Doong - in the central province of Quang Binh in May 2016.

 Malaysian, Thai, Vietnamese guitarists to perform in Da Nang, Vietnam Television’s annual New Year concert to ring in 2016, Forgotten Nham Duong relic site gets restored, Famous Bollywood filmmakers to visit Vietnam

 The rate of smokers aged 13-15 in Vietnam fell by 1 percent from 3.3 percent in 2007 to 2.5 percent in 2014, according to a related survey by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organisation.

 The Vietnam Administration of Tourism (VNAT) and the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines held a seminar on December 14 in Hong Kong (China) to promote Vietnam’s tourism industry in the territory.

 The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Operation Centre adjusted the reference exchange rate between the Vietnamese dong (VND) and the USD up by 90 VND on the morning of December 15.

 Seven contractors from the US, Japan and the Europe wish to join the Long Thanh International Airport project as the Feasibility Study (F/S) contractor. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Waste from shrimp ponds is expected to be turned into electricity to serve shrimp farming or the national grid.

Typhoon Melor on early December 16 entered the East Sea to become the fifth storm hitting Vietnam so far this year, after traversing the central Philippines, said the National Centre for Hydrometereological Forecasting.

 National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung has expressed his wish for closer ties between the Vietnamese and Japanese legislatures as well as continued mutual support at regional and global forums.

 Minister of Public Security General Tran Dai Quang greeted a delegation from the Japan National Police Agency led Deputy Commissioner General Sakaguchi Masayoshi in Hanoi on December 15.

 Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh expressed his hope that the partnership and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and the EU will be deepened in a more pragmatic and effective manner in the time ahead.

 President Truong Tan Sang met with visiting Russian First Deputy Prime Minister I. Shuvalov in Hanoi in on December 15.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Changing top managers was a highlight of Vietnamese banks in 2015.

“The story of Doan Minh Dang shows one of the reasons why some overseas students like us think that we can choose another way rather than come back to work in Vietnam,” said Nguyen Thanh Vinh, the runner up at the first ‘Road to Olympia’ competition.

VietNamNet Bridge - Passionate about designing clothes for dolls, after more than five years, Than Nguyen An Kha, 26, has hundreds of dolls worth nearly VND2 billion (nearly $100,000).