People are seeking special and rare things for the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet holiday). Among them are peacocks, odd-shaped fruits, and Dong Tao chickens. Below are expensive and unusual Tet gifts this year:

Thach Xa commune in Hanoi’s suburban Thach That district has been well-known for many years for its unique traditional craft product – the bamboo dragonfly. 

 Le Thi Ha Thu, a Vietnamese beauty, who listed in the top-17 most-beautiful beauties around the world in the final round of Miss Intercontinental 2015 and received the title of ‘Most Favorite Contestant’.

 Christmas is coming to town and the capital city is covered with sparkling and splendid Christmas decorations.

 Electronic versions of various historical and folk legends of Viet Nam have been widely launched via international e-book channels and libraries in Europe and the United States.

 Viet Nam's greatest wartime artist Huynh Phuong Dong passed away yesterday, leaving behind thousands of paintings and sketches and a huge number of unfinished works.

Countries must act beyond their borders and join together to stop the illicit trafficking of irreplaceable cultural heritage, said Edouard Planche, secretary of the UNESCO's Convention for the Fight Against Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property.

 Three layers of architectural structures have been found at the Thanh Cha excavation site in central Binh Dinh province – home to vestiges of Vijaya, the political and cultural hub of Champa Kingdom.

Christine Ha, a vision-impaired woman who won the 2012 US MasterChef contest, yesterday motivated young Vietnamese, to stand up and move ahead to achieve success in life when faced with problems and upheaval.

 More than 60 art troupes from 47 countries worldwide will join 53 local ones in the 2016 Hue Festival, which will take place in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue from April 29 to May 4, 2016.

 Distinguished Professor of Music at Washington State University Gerald Berthiaume will be the special guest of honour for two upcoming concerts at the Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music.

 Missosology on December 14 chose Vietnamese representative Pham Huong in the first place of its top 15 sixth Official Hot Picks for Miss Universe 2015.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism held an award ceremony on December 15 to honour winners of the festival of photos, reportage and documentary films on peoples in the ASEAN Community.

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).

 VietNamNet Bridge - More than 500 Buddhist antiquities, including artifacts rated as national treasures, are on display at the Museum of Buddhist Culture in the central city of Da Nang.

With the novel ‘Bien Ban Chien Tranh 1-2-3-4.75’ (War Minutes January-April, 1975), veteran journalist Tran Mai Hanh was declared the winner of this year’s prestigious South East Asian Writers Awards on December 14.

 Thong Nhat and Bach Thao parks will not charge any entrance fee from the beginning of 2016 in a move to attract more visitors to public recreation centres.

 The first Vietnam Designer Fashion Week began last night at the HCM City Television's HTV Studio in District 1.

 The sixth Da Lat Flower Festival will open on December 29 with a ceremony imbued with culture of the Central Highlands, according to the organising board.

 Ho Chi Minh City authorities have recently unveiled two venues for New Year’s Eve fireworks.