Over 1,000 instructors to attend international martial arts festival

More than 1,000 martial arts instructors from over 40 countries and over 500 Vietnamese instructors and athletes will take part in the international martial arts festival in Binh Dinh Province from August 1-3, 2008.



This is the second international martial arts festival held in Binh Dinh but this will be the first time that the festival is mixed with the Tay Son-Binh Dinh Festival.

Binh Dinh is famous for its own martial art, called Vo Binh Dinh, which is based on the assumption that the opponent is probably taller and heavier. So the Vo Binh Dinh fighter is constantly on the move, making counter-strikes to attack arms or legs.

The three-day festival will take place in the Quy Nhon City, the Nhon Hoi Economic Zone, Quang Trung Museum, and neighboring areas.

The opening ceremony and the coronation ceremony of King Quang Trung will be organised at the Quang Trung Museum in Phu Phong Town, Tay Son District in the afternoon on August 1. A lantern festival will be held at Thi Nai Lagoon with a fireworks ceremony and lantern releasing. In the morning on August 2, international martial arts instructors will give special performances.

The celebrations will also include activities such as an exhibition to promote tourism, trade villages, and traditional food.

At a promotion meeting in HCMC, the organisers said that the festival will also include programmes to introduce Vietnamese classical drama, a kind of operatic theatre that to the untrained eye may resemble Chinese opera. The final Dao Tan classical drama competition will take place on August 2.

On the night of the gala there will be floral garlands and coloured lanterns, speeches and traditional music performed by artists from around the country, as well as from abroad.

However, the most important events at the Tay Son-Binh Dinh Festival will be traditional martial arts competitions with international and Vietnamese competitors, who will compete in various forms of martial arts and there will also be a special performance by Binh Dinh martial arts instructors.

The organising board has commandeered nearly 4,000 rooms, including 1,800 that meet international standards, for domestic and foreign tourists. The board has also upgraded facilities in the culture and information centre for the hundreds of domestic and foreign reporters covering the event.

Binh Dinh expects that the event will attract many martial art clubs in the province and hopes that the competitions between Binh Dinh's martial art instructors, other instructors from across the country and foreigners will help the province to introduce and preserve the beauty of Binh Dinh martial arts.

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Phong Nha – Ke Bang marks 5th anniversary of world heritage recognition

A ceremony was held in Son Trach Commune, Bo Trach District in the central province of Quang Binh on July 26 to mark the 5th anniversary of Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park’s recognition as a world natural heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).



A number of activities to promote the world heritage site’s image were also held on this occasion. They included a photo exhibition titled “Joining hands to protect the world’s heritage site of Phong Nha – Ke Bang” and a screening of a documentary themed “Tourism in Quang Binh – 5 years after Phong Nha – Ke Bang’s recognition as a world heritage site” and many other cultural activities.


Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park was recognised by the UNESCO on July 5, 2003, making it the fifth Vietnamese place known as the world heritage site, following the Complex of Hue monuments in 1993, Halong Bay in 1994, My Son Sanctuary in 1999 and Hoi An Ancient Town in 1999.

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Vietnam gears up to host Mrs World 2009

Vietnam is getting ready to host the Mrs World beauty pageant in September 2009 in southern coastal Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.



Mrs World President David Marmel and CIAT Company Chairwoman Doan Thi Kim Hong signed an agreement in HCMC on July 22.

More than 100 contestants around the globe are expected to participate in the event that is organised annually to honour beautiful and successful married women.

The Mrs World pageant crown, worth USD 100,000 will be funded by the Huy Hoang Company.

Vice Chairman of the Ba Ria-Vung Tau provincial People’s Committee and head of the organising board, Vo Thanh Ky, said the contest will be a valuable chance for Vietnam and the province to promote people, culture, land, tourism and economic achievements to the world.

Mrs World 2007 Diane Tucker is now on a visit to Vietnam to join charity activities and present VND 60 million as gift to the Vietnam Women’s Union and the province’s study promotion association.

Vietnam successfully hosted Miss Universe 2008 in mid-July in central Khanh Hoa Province. The country will host Miss World in 2010.



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Vietnam Tea Days held in Hanoi

The fifth Vietnam Tea Days officially opened in Ly Thai To flower garden in downtown Hanoi on July 19 to honour tea culture and promote the Vietnamese tea trademark.



The two-day event, held by the Vietnam Tea Association, displays tea products from across the country.

It also features many special programmes, including street performances, drum playing, concerts, traditional opera, and royal dance.

In the spotlight is a programme introducing different ways of brewing and serving tea, ranging from the simple to the luxurious.

Visitors to the tea festival can taste various kinds of tea, talk with artisans and view an ancient tea tree brought from the northern mountain province of Thai Nguyen.

Vietnam is one of the world’s five largest manufacturers and exporters of tea and its tea is shipped to 70 nations and territories worldwide. Tea has actually helped reduce poverty among local people in many remote and mountainous areas of the country.

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Valuable Buddhist antiques displayed

A collection of 120 valuable Buddhist antiques are on display in northern Ha Tay Province from July 17-30.



Many of the items are considered national treasures, such as a statue of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva that is available for public viewing for the first time. Made of elephant’s tusks, the statue dates back to the 18th-19th centuries.

Another treasure is a Thanh Mai bronze bell that is believed to be made in 798, making it the oldest in Vietnam.

The show has been organised by the Ha Tay Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the UNESCO Club.
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RoK beauties show off traditional dress

Fifty-two candidates for this year’s Miss Korea title showed off their nation’s Hanbok traditional dress in Hanoi on July 16 evening.



Their show featured 50 traditional Tangui dresses, which were worn by women under the Chosun reign on major occasions.

They joined RoK artists to give art performances, including flute, dancing and violin.

In particular, the presentation of Vietnamese traditional costumes by 10 RoK women made the programme more significant as the two countries are celebrating the 16th anniversary of diplomatic ties this year.

Before arriving in Hanoi, the delegation of beauties visited HCMC and Nha Trang City in central Khanh Hoa Province.

All proceeds collected from the event, co-organised by the Korean Association and Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry, will be donated to help sick children in Vietnam.

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Vietnam attends Brest Sea Festival 2008 in France

Brest Sea Festival 2008 opened in the port city of Brest, France on July 11 with the participation of representatives from 25 nations in the world including Vietnam.



A delegation from the northern port city of Haiphong represented Vietnam to attend the festival as a honourable guest together with Croatia, Madagascar, Norway, Spain.

During the festival, Vietnamese delegation composed of artists, sailors and fishermen will provide a Vietnamese sea village model with 14 different kinds of boats on show and fishermen involved in making coracles or rowing in traditional costumes.

Hoang Xuan Son, vice director of the External Relations Office in Haiphong city, who is also deputy head of the Vietnamese delegation said the team’s diverse activities, especially its Vietnamese sea village model have attracted a lot of attention from international friends.

He added that through these activities, Vietnam wants to introduce its potential and advantages in the field of maritime sector to international partners and to seek business partners.

This year’s event has attracted the participation of 2,000 artists, 11,000 sailors and representatives from 350 enterprises with more than 300 pavilions introducing the maritime sector of each participating country.

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Khanh Hoa introduces local specialties to foreigners

Businesses in central Khanh Hoa Province and neighbouring localities are introducing their products at an exhibition-cum-fair in Nha Trang City – the venue of the Miss Universe 2008 beauty pageant.



On display at 50 booths are products made from salangane nests, fish sauce, mineral water, interior decorations, handicrafts and ostrich eggs, which are local specialties.

Foreign tourists and beauty contestants for the Miss Universe 2008 title showed their keen interest in the unique method to breed salangane indoor of the Khanh Hoa Salangane Nest Company.

The event will run through July 15.


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Furama Resort becomes Vietnam’s leading resort

The five-star Furama Resort in the central city of Danang has won the “Vietnam’s Leading Resort” title for 2008 by the World Travel Awards, the most prestigious awards programme in the international travel industry.



A total of 800 nominated companies and organisations were holding their breath to see if they had captured one of the coveted awards, bringing the recipients worldwide recognition as supreme center’s of excellence.

As designed, Furama Resort covers almost 4ha on Vietnam’s Bac My An sea beach. It was 198 orientally elegant rooms equipped with state-of-art utilities.

The awards cover Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Macau, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, among others.

“The awards are not gold medals but they certainly carry the same kind of kudos and international acclaim that the gold medal winners receive”, said Graham Cooke, President and Founder of the highly respected World Travel Awards


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Vietnam to host Miss World 2010

A signing ceremony on the organisation of Miss World 2010 in Vietnam took place on July 9 in HCMC.



The agreement was signed by Hoang Kieu, CEO of the Shanghai Rare Antibody Antigen Supply Inc. (RAAS) group, representative of the Miss World organiser in Vietnam, and Julia Morley, president of Miss World Organisation.

The RAAS group will pay about USD 10 million for the right to hold the Miss World 2010 pageant. The group will use proceeds from the international event for charity in Vietnam.

Morley and Miss World 2007, Zhang Zilin, visited Vietnam from June 28 to July 9 for charitable activities and surveys in big cities including HCMC, Hanoi and Quang Ninh.

During the visits, the RAAS group donated nearly VND 6 billion to various charitable organisations including VND 1.1 billion for parade ceremonies to welcome the 80 contestants of Miss Universe 2008 in Nha Trang.

In addition, the group along with Vietnam Airlines presented USD 50,000 to Miss World Organisation and Miss World 2007 Zhang Zilin to help earthquake victims in Sichuan province in China.

The organisation board also said that Vietnam Airlines will participate in transportation for Miss World 2010 in Vietnam



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Top tourist businesses to be honoured

The ninth annual Guide Awards 2007-2008 will recognise 106 businesses in the tourism sector in Vietnam, the Vietnam Economic Times magazine has announced.



According to the sponsor, the prestigious awards will honour businesses ranging from hotel and resort services to travel and transport services all over the country.

This year also see new awards, called Green Lotus, to be presented to businesses that have creative ideas and actions to protect the environment.

Six businesses will receive the Green Lotus awards this year, including the Topas Eco Lodge in Sapa, Mango Bay Resort in Phu Quoc Island, Evason Ana Mandara Villas & Six Senses Spa in Dalat, Evason Hideaway & Six Senses Spa in Nha Trang, Victoria Chau Doc Hotel in Chau Doc Town and XQ Vietnam

The presentation ceremony will be held in Dalat on July 12.


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Artistic photo exhibition of Vietnam

The Khanh Hoa Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism organized an artistic photo exhibition entitled “An overview of Vietnam” which opened on July 6th.



60 artistic photos about historical and cultural relics, beautiful landscapes and traditional festivals in Khanh Hoa and nationwide are on displayed.

Several beautiful and lively photos left deep impression for visitors.

The exhibition will be opened until July 20th.
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First traditional tuong (classical theatre) festival to be held

The traditional tuong (classical theatre) festival will be organised from July 25-30 in Binh Dinh Province with the participation of seven theatres



This is the first festival for traditional tuong art and particularly, it is held in the cradle of the art, Binh Dinh Province.

The festival will focus on traditional plays which are considered a challenge for artists, particularly young ones. Recently, they have only staged plays with historical and contemporary themes while traditional plays are only preserved in files in museums.
,The traditional tuong festival is seen as an effort to preserve the art which is now rarely seen on stage as well as on television.

The tuong festival is one of the main activities of the Tay Son – Binh Dinh Festival which will be held from August 1-8 with various activities such as incense offering ritual, lantern night, poem recital, Miss Martial Arts and Vietnam traditional martial arts festival.
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Plateau of imposing limestone mountains

Ranges of limestone mountains and hills move up and down along winding roads on Dong Van Plateau in northern Ha Giang Province, making this tableland a destination of original stone landscapes that capture the eyes of all nature lovers once they travel to the province.



Every year, a lot of local and foreign tourists travel by motorcycle and car through more than 460km of passes and curving roads from Hanoi to the plateau to see with their own eyes the imposing natural wonders at more than 1,000m above the sea level.

The Quan Ba Heaven Gate leads visitors to this plateau of magnificent wonders. There, winds, sunlight and fog have carved limestone mountains and hills into magnificent natural works and whatever shapes that visitors can imagine.

It is hard to describe the beauty and magnificence of the open world. Many visitors call it a painting featuring shy ethnic lasses nestled in their traditional costumes in the morning when it is shrouded by clouds of thick mist and then burly mountainous men with strong muscles when they are shined under the sunlight.

The painting looks more beautiful on clear days in summer and spring when ethnic people, especially women in their colorful costumes, climb on the mountains to do the farming. Wild flowers blossoming from stone cracks also add liveliness to the painting.

No one knows exactly when the limestone mountains and hills came into existence. Geologists say they must be hundreds of millions of years as they provide links and clues to the development of the earth's crust and keep geological heritage values.

There are caves and grottos under the limestone mountains, where geologists have discover astonishing landscapes and biodiversity. These factors are the reasons behind a plan to establish a geological park from 2007 till 2012 to restore natural heritages of the plateau covering Quan Ba, Yen Minh, Meo Vac and Dong Van districts in the province.

Dr. Vu Cao Minh of the Vietnam Institute of Geology says that the geological diversity and the restoration of stone sediments on the Dong Van Plateau will make this region a great destination for research, geological education and sightseeing.

Of course, the Dong Van Plateau attracts visitors near and far because it is home to not only ranges of mountains and hills but also streams, rivers and passes including Ma Pi Leng Pass located between Dong Van and Meo Vac in the northern province.

The 15km pass on the sides of magnificent mountain ranges runs along a certain section of the Nho Que River that weaves its way like a white silver ribbon through the limestone ravines.

A good time to visit the pass is from July to October, when the imposing views of mountains and rock walls shine under the blazing sunshine. This pass turns into a festive street in the early morning of Sundays when lines of Dao, H'Mong and people of other ethnic groups walk from all directions of the mountains down to the pass before heading for the colorful Dong Van Market on that day.


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Sheraton remains leading business hotel in Vietnam

The five-star Sheraton Hanoi Hotel has received the title as “Vietnam’s Leading Business Hotel in 2008” awarded by the World Travel Awards.



This is the second consecutive year the hotel was honoured by the prestigious award programme for the global tourism industry which saw the voting from 167,000 travel experts and passengers worldwide.

Situated on the picturesque shore of West Lake, Hanoi’s largest lake, Sheraton Ha Noi includes 299 guest rooms and suites featured by a classic design and modern facilities.

Last year, the hotel was elected as one of ten best convention hotels in Asia and among the top fifteen best convention hotels in the continent in 2006 by Smart Travel Asia’s Best In Travel Poll.

The awards of World Travel Awards are considered the most prestigious event on the travel calendar with travel professionals voting worldwide.

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Fruit Festival opens in Can Tho Province

The Mekong Delta Fruit Festival opened in My Khanh Village, Phong Dien District, Can Tho Province on May 28. It is part of activities to welcome the Mekong-Can Tho National Tourism Year 2008 held from May 28 to June 2.



The festival will display and sell select varieties of fruit, ornamental plants, and handicraft products. It attracts more than 200 renowned orchards from southern Tay Ninh Province and Mekong Delta provinces.

There will be 10 stands displaying 30 traditional dishes from the south. In addition, a wide range of activities, traditional games and other entertainment activities will be held for children.

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Ha Tinh commerce – tourism festival to kick off in mid-July

Ha Tinh Province will celebrate its commerce – tourism festival from July 18 to 24 in Ha Tinh City to mark 40 years since the death of 10 young volunteer girls in Dong Lap T-junction and 10 years since the establishment of Ha Tinh City.



This is a significant event to propagandize and educate revolutionary tradition and national cultural character as well as a chance for businesses to advertise their products and trademarks, exchange commerce and tourism cooperation promotion experience.

The Ha Tinh is introducing solutions addressing shortcomings in tourism activities to greet one million domestic tourists and fifty thousands foreign arrivals by 2015. The festival is expected to contribute to promoting tourism development.

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Nha Trang welcomes Miss Universe 2008 contestants

Thousands of people and tourists in Nha Trang City have flocked to Tran Phu Road on June 30 to welcome the contestants in the Miss Universe 2008 contest.
Around 18 carriages, decorated with colourful flowers and the symbols of Nha Trang such as the conical hat and the crane, carried the beauties, many of them dressed in the Vietnamese traditional ao dai for the parade, waving and smiling at the crowds. A number of art performances such as the dragon dance were also held during the parade with many artists from HCMC and Nha Trang taking part. The contestants’ first event will be in the swimsuit show on July 2 at the Vinpearl Resort.

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