VietNam Life Style: Trang

Showing posts with label Trang. Show all posts

Monday, February 21, 2011

Piano's journal at Opera House offers glimpse into life

Trang Trinh

Young pianist Trang Trinh will perform her “The Piano's journal” show featuring Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart and other famous composers in Hanoi this Wednesday and Ho Chi Minh City this April.

The show in Hanoi’s opera house at 8pm at 1 Trang Tien Street is designed to display passions in a person’s life cycle from innocence of a child to pain in love and sadness and wisdom in separation, expressed in classical and romantic styles.

Song without word (Mendelsshon), Salut d’amour (Edgar) and the complete three-chapter Moonlight Sonata (Beethoven) will take audience a tour around various human emotions.

Born in 1986 in Vinh Phuc Province, Trang Trinh has just graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in the UK.

She has been invited to work for the London-based All Souls Orchestra, and she has had various performance tours in Italy, Austria, Hungary and Ireland.

In 2007, she won the Francis Simmer Prize for playing solo piano, and the Lilian Davis Prize for her performance of Beethoven‘s Sonatas.

One year later, she was awarded the Gretta GM Parkinson Prize for her outstanding academic records.

Tickets are available at the Opera House at VND300,000, VND500,000 and VND1 million.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Sea Festival to spotlight Spratly Archipelago

NHA TRANG — The fifth biennial Sea Festival will be held in the central coastal city of Nha Trang on June 11-15 with the Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelago as a key topic.

Khanh Hoa People's Committee deputy chairman of Le Xuan Than said the festival would introduce the archipelago in a photo exhibition, a music show and a conference on the Truong Sa District.

Various activities will be held at Nha Trang and Doc Let beaches in Ninh Hoa District and Bai Dai Beach in Cam Lam District of Khanh Hoa. Such events like the Salagane Festival, Miss Khanh Hoa contest and Made-in-Viet Nam Goods Fair will be held for the first time.

The festival will open with a fireworks display. The provincial authorities expect foreign partners from France, South Korea, Cuba and Japan to join in the event.

The festival will also host many environment protection activities including rubbish clean-up in the city and a scientific conference on preserving Nha Trang Bay.

Nha Trang ranks second as best pageant host city

HA NOI — Beauty pageant website Globalbeauties.com has announced the winners of the Global Beauties Awards 2011 in categories including Best in an Evening Gown, Face of the Year, Best Host City and Sexiest Woman Alive.

The website ranks Nha Trang city, in the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa which hosted Miss Earth 2010 as the second best host city after Sanya, China.

Miss Earth Viet Nam Luu Thi Diem Huong stands in third place in the Best in Asia category after Miss Earth India Nicole Faria and Miss Universe Philippines Venus Raj. — VNS

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Young pianist to celebrate homecoming at Opera House

Home sweet home: Pianist Trinh Mai Trang is returning after eight years abroad and will perform at the Ha Noi Opera House. — File Photo

HA NOI — Young pianist Trinh Mai Trang has returned after eight years abroad and will celebrate the occasion with a concert at Ha Noi Opera House next Wednesday.

"When I came back, I was told that my music might be difficult for audiences to understand," said Trang. "The thought of that scared me. So, I wanted to put together a concert to show people that piano and classical music are not alien."

The programme she selected will include pieces by Mendelssohn, Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann and Debussy, each chosen to express the emotions of different stages in a man's life.

For an artist, Trang said, the most painful thing was not finding the sympathy of her audience, so she thought of new ways to make her music accessible. There, her concert will be accompanied by elements from other media, including film and photographs that Trang hopes would help bring her music closer to the audience.

"I will perform with my heart and I expect that the audience will open their minds and hearts," she said.

Trang is also celebrating her recovery from an injury in 2009 that temporarily prevented her from playing piano. She wasn't allowed to touch the piano keys and felt a door had closed in front of her eyes. But, with an unstoppable passion for music, she placed a mirror beside her piano and played on the imaginary keys reflected in the mirror.

As her hands recovered, she had to resume practicing as if she were a beginner.

Trang was born in 1986 and began her musical training at the age of four. She received a scholarship to study at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London in 2004. As a soloist, Trang has won many awards, including the top prize at the Paganini Festival, second prize in the Beethoven Competition in London, and the Jacque Samuel Competition's Mozart Prize. She has also performed in festivals in Austria, Italy, the UK, Hungary and Spain. — VNS

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Piano show by Trang Trinh

New Year concert with National Symphony Orchestra

Pianist Trang Trinh - Photo: The pianist

Pianist Trang Trinh, a graduate from the Royal Academy of Music in the U.K., will have a performance called “Diary of Piano” at the Hanoi Opera House, 1 Trang Tien Street at 8 p.m. on February 23.

The show is about the ups and downs in life from innocence to pain and wisdom.

Born in Vinh Phuc Province, the pianist was invited to work for the London-based All Souls Orchestra, and she has had various performance tours in Italy, Austria, Hungary and Ireland.

In 2007, she won the Francis Simmer Prize for playing solo piano, and the Lilian Davis Prize for her performance of Beethoven‘s Sonatas.

One year later, she was awarded the Gretta GM Parkinson Prize for her outstanding academic records.

She will perform the show in HCMC early April.

Tickets are available at the Opera House at VND300,000, VND500,000 and VND1 million.

*Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra concert conducted by Tetsuji Honna featuring piano soloist Isadora Kim will play at Hanoi Opera House February 18 and 19.

Pieces to be played include Overture from Opera “Russlan and Ludmilla” by M.Glinka and Piano Concerto No.2 by S.Rachmaninov.

The painting “Ascending Dragon” by Do Hong Quan depicting Hanoi, past and present, will be on display during the concert. The event will also include a famous waltz and polka by Johann Strauss II and the waltz, Gold and Silver, by Austrian musician Franz Lehar.

Ethnic percussionists will perform with the orchestra to add a traditional Vietnamese flavor to the European classics.

Tickets are available at the Opera House for VND450, 000, VND350,000, VND250, 000, and VND150,000 and discounted 50% for students.

Opera House to host pianist's homecoming concert

HA NOI – Young pianist Trinh Mai Trang has returned after eight years abroad and will celebrate the occasion with a concert at Ha Noi Opera House on February 23.

The programme she selected will include pieces by Mendelssohn, Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann and Debussy, each chosen to express the emotions of different stages in a man's life.

"I will perform with my heart and I expect that the audience will open their minds and hearts," she said.

As her hands recovered, she had to resume practicing as if she were a beginner.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Exhibition of Chinese artworks opens in Ha Noi

HA NOI — An exhibition of Chinese paintings, photos and calligraphies was opened recently in Ha Noi to mark the 61st anniversary of the establishment of Viet Nam-China diplomatic ties.

The event was jointly organised by the Viet Nam-China Cultural Exchange Club, the Ha Noi Library and the Federation of Literature and Art of China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

On display were 32 paintings, 60 photos and 40 works of calligraphy in Chinese script by 27 artists from Guangxi province, some of which were photos of President Ho Chi Minh taken during his visit to the province 50 years ago.

Rising star named as VN's first ‘Next Top Model'

HCM CITY — Khieu Thi Huyen Trang, 21, from Bac Giang Province won the first Viet Nam's Next Top Model competition on Sunday at the InterContinental Asiana Sai Gon Hotel in HCM City.

Fashion designer Huy Vo, a judge on the show, noted that Trang had not been the clear winner in previous shows.

"I was surprised by her excellent performance on the final night," said Vo. "She deserves the prize."

Trang, who stands 1.78m will sign a two-year contract with CA Model company worth US$50,000. She will receive a scholarship to take a model training course at the Wilhelmina Models Company. She also won a diamond ring worth VND200 million and a Piaggio LX125.

"I feel very happy about the prizes," Trang said. "This is my gift to my mother, who has supported me during the past few months."

During the past five months, the programme aired every Thursday night. On the show, 18 Vietnamese women, between the ages of 18 and 25, competed to become Viet Nam's Next Top Model.

Da Lat flowers showcased at blooming extravaganza

LAM DONG — The launching ceremony for a fresh flower showroom was opened in the Central Highlands city of Da Lat on Sunday by the Rung Hoa Biotechnology Joint Stock Company.

The 1,200 sq.m showroom features thousands of flowerpot including 60 varieties of temperate and tropical flowers, especially flower varieties specific to Da Lat such as orchid, cymbidium orchids, lyli, daisies and green apricot blossoms.

According to Rung Hoa company's General Director Nguyen Dinh Son, the showroom is built not only for business but also for introducing Da Lat's flowers to visitors. — VNS

VN's first 'Next Top Model' named

Khieu Thi Huyen Trang performs at the final show of the Viet Nam's Next Top Model. VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY - Khieu Thi Huyen Trang, 21, from Bac Giang Province won the first Viet Nam's Next Top Model competition last night (Jan 23) at the InterContinental Asiana Saigon Hotel in HCM City.

Fashion designer Huy Vo, a judge on the show, noted that Trang had not been the clear winner in previous shows.

"I was surprised by her excellent performance on the final night," said Vo. "She deserves the prize."

Trang, who stands 1.78m and measures 81-63.5-93.5, will sign a two year contract with CA Model company worth US$50,000. She will receive a scholarship to take a model training course at the Wilhelmina Models Company. She also won a diamond ring worth VND200 million and a Piaggio LX125.

"I feel very happy about the prizes," Trang said. "This is my gift to my mother, who has supported me during the past few months."

During the past five months, the programme aired every Thursday night. On the show, 18 Vietnamese women, between the ages of 18 and 25, competed to become Viet Nam's Next Top Model. - VNS

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Singer returns with Latin twist

by Van Dat

Hot chocolate: Singer Doan Trang holds an irreplaceable position in audiences' hearts. — File Photo

HCM CITY — When she was a child, Cao Thi Doan Trang practiced diligently and won her audiences' hearts with her sweet voice.

Today, although she is not as popular as other top singers, she holds an irreplaceable position in audiences' hearts. It's all thanks to her creativity and hard work.

From her early years in singing, during her 20s, Vietnamese pop and Latin-influenced singer Doan Trang won listeners' acclaim with the song Khi Toi 20 (My 20s). Now in her 30s, Trang has sung the song again, but in English.

Trang is marking her decade of professional singing by creating something new and surprising for her audience. All of her hit songs have now been transcribed into English and performed with a Latin style.

Everyone says that Trang, the girl who loves to wear an ao dai (traditional long dress) with jeans and was given the name "Chocolate" because of the colour of her skin, wants to try her luck beyond the country's borders.

But Trang says that what she has done in her latest album, the Unmakeup, is a gift for local audiences.

When she participated in the Hattori Memorial Music Festival in Osaka in 2006, Trang won approval from foreign audiences there.

After the recent scandal in the media about Trang's miniskirt that she wore during a social outing, she wants more than ever to prove her real talent to the public.

Though there have been other singers with a Latin style, Trang, who graduated from the English Department of HCM City University of Foreign Languages and Technologies and the city's Music Conservatory, believes the new album and her renditions of songs will fire up audiences.

Several songs that have made her a well-known quantity composed by musicians Vo Thien Thanh, Quoc Bao and Luu Thien Huong are part of the album.

The slender singer started the project more than three years ago when she recorded her first English album in Germany with her team.

"It was the first time I had the pleasure to work with the all-German Band and with a talented sound engineer Sebastian in the famous city of Weimar," Trang recalled.

During the time in Germany, Trang had to get up at seven in the morning and work until 10pm every night.

Trang's manager, Cao Trung Hieu, her youngest brother, the person who always offers new ideas and consults on her singing style, named the album the Unmakeup.

"Don't misunderstand. This doesn't mean that I don't have my face made up or I am not well dressed while singing. What my youngest brother means is that we can find simplicity in each work of the album," she explained.

The entire album was made unplugged: no wires, strings, no electrical connections. It is simple and plain yet pleasurable and intricate once its core structure is dissected and explored.

Trang wrote one of the 10 songs, Cinderella, and performed with foreign musicians Roland Buettgen, Rainer Peter, Thomas Lieven and Vincent Nguyen. Though Trang sings of a fairy tale in her song, she gives it fire with a Latino music and singing style.

"I feel that my music and foreign language is mature when I work with a team of professional musicians," she said.

The fan of pop singers Shakira and Jennifer Lopez has released several albums, including Bon Mua Tinh Yeu (All Season Love), Chocolate, Socodance, Am Ban (The Negative) and Da Khuc (Serenade)

Trang is currently recording an album with songs combining modern and traditional styles, which will be issued in a few months.

Chocolate was born during a time when she was taking part in several musical competitions as a girl, which gave her more confidence to perform on the stage.

During her time in primary, secondary and high school as well as university, she was a key amateur singer at the schools.

At the age of 23, in 2001, she began her professional career after getting a second prize from HCM City Television's singing contest.

Friends say it's Trang's creativity and character that have brought her success and a stable position in Vietnamese show business.

Trang says she's happy with what she has achieved. Though she has never been listed among the top singers of the country, she is distinguished from others by her unique style. — VNS

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Rival for old ceramics village

by Cong Thanh

Theme park: A craftsman makes a clay jar at Minh Hai craft village in Gia Lam District, Ha Noi. Tourists can practice pottery-making skills during a visit to the site.

A new craft village site, the Minh Hai ceramic village, which has been built near the Bat Trang ceramic village, began welcoming tourists last month, and offers more choice for tourists looking for a day out from Ha Noi.

Bat Trang Village is a well-known half-day tour from Ha Noi, but the new site will offer travellers more choices in exploring a large natural site with folk performances and a backdrop modelled in the typical style of craft villages in the northern delta region.

The 10-ha Vietnamese art village displays different traditional handicraft trades, such as ceramics, silk, woodwork and bamboo.

A lake stage has been set up at the site to feature traditional Vietnamese folk performances such as cheo (traditional opera), chau van (spiritual music), quan ho (love duet) ca tru (ceremonial singing), and water puppetry twice a day every Saturday and Sunday.

Visits cost from VND150,000 (US$7.5) to VND300,000 ($15) for a day-time tour.

The cost includes pottery practices, cultural performances, lunch and fishing from the lake.

Getting there

What's for dinner? Different galleries in the Minh Hai craft village display tri-coloured ceremic products, a unique ceramic product of northern Viet Nam. — VNS Photos Hoai Nam

The site is situated near Bat Trang Village, near the foot of the Red River dyke, and is a 20-minute bus journey from the city centre. The No 47 bus leaves from Long Bien station to Bat Trang Village every 15 minutes from 5.30am to 8.20pm daily.

The bus route winds the 12km river dyke from Chuong Duong Bridge to the east and runs across the site gate, which is 300m from Bat Trang.

Visitors can explore both the site and Bat Trang Village over a few hours.

Hanoian Nghiem Huyen Trang and her friends visited the site as soon as it opened last month.

The 19-year-old student said she preferred taking a motorbike rather than the bus along the river dyke road, but the unfinished road was particularly dusty. However, the Hanoian had a perfect day at the site after touring the ceramic village on a buffalo-drawn cart.

The group also saw water puppetry shows, pottery, reading and fishing with lunch on a raft.

Trang, who grew up in the Old Quarter, said she enjoyed the peace and quiet of the place, just 20-minutes from the crowded city centre.

"I still remember the dust and smoke emitted by the kilns in Bat Trang Village a few years ago when I first visited, but I'm excited by the new craft village site," Trang said.

"I was clumsy when trying the pottery and fishing, but it was interesting to give it a go as I'm a city girl. It was great when we caught some fish from the raft," she said.

Pottery gallery

Nguyen Minh Hai, the owner of the Minh Hai craft village, designed the gate of the site in the shape of a pottery-kiln, while pavilions and stilt houses surround a big lake.

The passageway imitates a stream with dotted stepping-bricks in the middle.

Hai, 40, who has 20 years of experience in the tourism and pottery industries, wanted the site to offer a new look at traditional ceramic villages.

"Bat Trang Village has been long-known as a pottery centre, but it's not easy to promote it as a charming destination due to its polluted environment. Although villagers have introduced gas furnaces to replace coal-fired kilns," said Hai.

"I launched the cart-buffalo service 10 years ago, but I want to lure tourists with a new tourist product," he added.

The site has different galleries showcasing silks from Van Phuc Village in Ha Dong town; brocade weaving from Sa Pa; wooden furniture, rattan and bamboo products, terracotta from Bau Truc in Ninh Thuan Province and precious stone from Yen Bai Province.

"It's like a miniature centre for Vietnamese craft villages. I even made myself a flower pot with the help of a craftsman in the ceramic workshop," said Tran Thanh Van.

Van, 28, a shop assistant from Ha Noi, said she was glad to make the clay pot within half an hour.

Craftsman Nguyen Van Doanh, 36, instructs visitors practising with porcelain clay.

"I teach them how to form thing with hands and a slab-roller. It lets them do a bit of handicraft," Doanh said.

"Tourists can take home unfinished things that they make themselves. We want to let visitors have a bit of fun for a few hours."

The tour closes with cultural performances. — VNS

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Japanese film week promises exciting fare

Akira Kurosawa’s “Rashomon” will be among eight films to be screened at a Japan film week to be held in Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang this month.

The movie, which has become a cult classic since being released in 1951, is about the rape of a woman (Machiko Kyo) and the murder of a man (Masayuki Mori), possibly by a bandit (Toshiro Mifune).

At Kyoto's crumbling Rashomon gate, several people shelter from a storm and discuss the crime which has shocked the region.

It won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 1951 and the won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1952.

The other films to be screened are “Happy Flight”, “Tony Takitani”, “Kamikaze Girls”, “Sansho the Bailiff”, the cartoon “5 Centimeters Per Second”, “Yunagi City, Sakura Country” and “Memories of Tomorrow”.

The program is sponsored by the Japanese consulate in HCMC and the Japan Foundation.

“It will provide an opportunity for people to further understand the Japanese land, people, culture and society, from traditional to modern, through films,” the consulate said in a release.

The films will be shown from October 8 to 14 at BHD Star Cinema in HCMC’s district 10 and from 22nd to 24th at Hoang Hoa Tham cinema in Nha Trang.

Free tickets are available at the consulate in Nguyen Hue Street, HCMC, and the venue in Nha Trang.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Best shots of Thang Long win awards

HA NOI — Dawn at O Quan Chuong by Nguyen Hoang Duong upstaged 1,500 photographs of Ha Noi to win the Thang Long Moments photo competition on Saturday.

"We hoped to find refreshing angles and emotions of our near and dear city of Ha Noi through this competition. All competing photos were able to capture the normal life of Ha Noi, which is simple but glorious, down-to-earth but classy," said Nguyen Tuan Duc, deputy editor-in-chief of Ha Noi Moi newspaper and the head judge of the competition.

Summer noon by Tran Thi Tuyet Mai and Old Quarter Cafe by Ta Quang Bao were the competition's runners-up.

The 52 final-round photo exhibition, jointly held by Ha Noi Moi newspaper, Sony Electronics and Santa Viet Nam, are now on display at 29 Hang Bai Street, Ha Noi, until Thursday.

Famous stoneware showcased

HA NOI — The famous Bat Trang pottery village in Ha Noi's Gia Lam District is marking the capital's millenium anniversary by producing and showcasing 1,000 stoneware items.

The stoneware will be exhibited from today to Saturday at the village.

"The exhibition aims to celebrate Bat Trang Pottery's cultural and artistic values and its talented potters," said Gia Lam District's Culture and Information Department head Do Van Thinh.

Themed Bat Trang Pottery – Traditional and Contemporary, the exhibition brings together antiques and commercial items, which account for 30 and 70 per cent of the pieces, respectively.

The crafts are dragons from the Ly dynasty, which established Ha Noi as the capital; a carved portrait of King Ly Thai To's historical edict to relocate the capital to Ha Noi; and a 3.15m-tall vase.

Classic Japanese films to be screened

HCM CITY — Akira Kurosawa's cult film Rashomon (1950) will be among the eight to be screened at a week-long festival in HCM City beginning on Friday.

The festival will open with Happy Flight (2008) by Shinobu Yaguchi at the BHD Star Cinema, February 3 Street, District 10, from October 8-14, with support from the Japan Foundation.

Tony Takitani (2004), Kamikaze Girls (2004), Sansho the Bailiff (1954), 5 Centimetres per Second (2007), Yunagi City Sakura Country (2007), and Memories of Tomorrow (2005) will also be shown.

All of them will have Vietnamese voice-overs and English sub-titles.

Tickets can be obtained free at the Japanese General Consulate, Nguyen Hue Street, District 1.

The festival will then move to Nha Trang from October 22 to 24. — VNS

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Events celebrating 1,000th anniversary of Ha Noi

HTML clipboard

Event	Vennue
October 1
Opening ceremony	Ly Thai To Garden/ Hoan Kiem Lake
Exhibition: literature and art works through history	Centre for Exhibition, Culture and Arts, 2 Hoa Lu St
Photo exhibition on Ha Noi	Exhibition House 45 Trang Tien St
Revolutionary film week	National Cinema Centre
Art show	Hoan Kiem Lake
October 2
Exhibition on ancient materials and artefacts on Thang Long Citadel	Thang Long Citadel relic
Thang Long international tourism festival	Bao Son Paradise Resort (Hoai Duc Dist)
October 3
Ha Noi Moi newspaper run	Hoan Kiem Lake
October 4
Exhibition: National heroes and cultural figures	Revolutionary Museum
Exhibition: Historic battles in Viet Nam	Viet Nam Military History Museum
Calligraphy exhibition	Literature Temple
Thang Long old dances	Ly Thai To Garden
October 5
Official opening of the Ceramic Road	Yen Phu Road
Bat Trang ceramic exhibition	Bat Trang Village, Gia Lam Dist
October 6
Kite festival	My Dinh Square
Traditional martial arts performance	Quan Ngua Sports Palace
Exhibition: Old Ha Noi Food festival	Ha Noi Museum West Lake Water Park
October 8
Art shows by young people	Out-door stages all over the city
Street festival	Square in front of the State Bank Headquarters
October 9
Art show by international art troupes	Out-door stages all over the city
October 10
Official ceremony celebrating 1,000th anniversary of Ha Noi	Ba Dinh Square
Gala night	My Dinh Stadium

Friday, September 10, 2010

Remembering old Nha Trang

On entering Nha Trang Xua visitors go back in time to a golden era of peace and tranquility

The central coastal city of Nha Trang has long been famed for its beautiful palm-fringed beach, breath-taking vistas and succulent seafood. But if you're bored with lazy days by the beach, Nha Trang Xua (Old Nha Trang) is the place for you.

It's hard to believe the resort, which occupies 2ha in Thong Thai Village at the foot of Giang Huong Mountain, is just 3km from the chaotic city centre.

The resort has 11 bungalows nestling in a field of rice. The air is scented with the sweet smell of lotus flowers, and a gentle breeze wafts your cares away.

The resort is owned by Truong Dinh Ngoc Yen, a Nha Trang-born woman, who loves peace and quiet.

"I used to spend a lot of time living with my grandma in the village when I was a child," she says.

"Later, I went to university in Nha Trang, before opening a business in the bustling city. However, I always longed for the peaceful atmosphere that I remembered from my childhood.

"I love seeing small birds pecking at food on the ground. I have always dreamt of building a small secluded garden like my mum's. My childhood is full of fond memories."

She followed her dreams and bought a small plot of land which she turned into a picturesque garden.

Visiting friends urged her to open the garden to the public, so she established Nha Trang Xua in 2009.

In the beginning it was just a small garden and a food court. But even then, about 200 people would visit daily – three times that number on the weekends.

To create a local atmosphere, Yen has bought plants native to the area to her garden. There are also vegetables, fruit trees and herbs.

"The resort reminds me a lot of my grandparents' house in Vinh Phuong Village 30 years ago," says local resident Huynh Phuong.

"Every corner of the resort is a reflection of different parts of Nha Trang in days gone by. The wet yin-yang roofed house in the middle of the garden, the pond, the mossy brick path."

Yen has relocated houses dating back 100 to 300 years to the resort, which now comprises 11 houses; a food court capable of accommodating 250 diners; a food centre for package tourists and formal functions, which has a capacity of 700 guests; and a seven-room hotel.

The restaurant offers more than 100 traditional local dishes, which are served authentically.

"The resort is unique, local but professionally run," says Bui Minh Thang, director of Phuong Thang Tourism Company. "Nha Trang lacks places like this. It gives visitors an incite into local culture."

However, Thang says the owner should advertise the place better to foreign visitors and provide better car-parking facilities.

But these shortcomings do not put off Beth Keyser from Australia.

"I like the small cozy and nature-friendly atmosphere of the resort," she says. "I have stayed in similar places in Thailand, but here, I feel like I'm experiencing Vietnamese life as it was in the early 19th century. All the furniture inside the old house is authentic."

Yen says she wants visitors to feel like they are in a time warp.

"I want visitors to see a different world, to escape from the hustle and bustle of city life and return to the old peaceful days when people had time for one another. I want people to hear birds singing in the morning, smell the scent of flowers and discover themselves, something that can only happen in a place of quietness and harmony," she says.

Lovely as the resort is, Yen is not happy – she has expansionist plans.

"I want to relocate more old houses so that I can host wedding parties. I love to imagine a wedding procession proceeding down the path in a field of mature rice," she sighs.

Remembering old Nha Trang

by Le Huong

Garden of Eden: On entering Nha Trang Xua visitors go back in time to a golden era of peace and tranquility. — Photos courtesy of Nha Trang Xua

Tranquillity: A lotus pond is a resfreshing respite from the heat of summer.

It's hard to believe the resort, which occupies 2ha in Thong Thai Village at the foot of Giang Huong Mountain, is just 3km from the chaotic city centre.

The resort has 11 bungalows nestling in a field of yellow rice – at least when I was there. The air is scented with the sweet smell of lotus flowers, and a gentle breeze wafts your cares away.

The resort is owned by Truong Dinh Ngoc Yen, a Nha Trang-born woman, who loves peace and quiet.

"I used to spend a lot of time living with my grandma in the village when I was a child," she says.

"Later, I went to university in Nha Trang, before opening a business in the bustling city. However, I always longed for the peaceful atmosphere that I remembered from my childhood.

"I love seeing small birds pecking at food on the ground. I have always dreamt of building a small secluded garden like my mum's. My childhood is full of fond memories."

She followed her dreams and bought a small plot of land which she turned into a picturesque garden.

Visiting friends, urged her to open the garden to the public, so she established Nha Trang Xua in 2009.

In the beginning it was just a small garden and a food court. But even then, about 200 people would visit daily – three times that number on the weekends.

To create a local atmosphere, Yen has bought plants native to the area to her garden. There are also vegetables, fruit trees and herbs.

"The resort reminds me a lot of my grandparents' house in Vinh Phuong Village 30 years ago," says local resident Huynh Phuong.

"Every corner of the resort is a reflection of different parts of Nha Trang in days gone by. The wet yin-yang roofed house in the middle of the garden, the pond, the mossy brick path."

The restaurants offers more than 100 traditional local dishes, which are served authentically.

However, Thang says the owner should advertise the place better to foreign visitors and provide better car-parking facilities.

But these shortcomings do not put off Beth Keyser from Australia.

"I like the small cosy and nature-friendly atmosphere of the resort," she says. "I have stayed in similar places in Thailand, but here, I feel like I'm experiencing Vietnamese life as it was in the early 19th century. All the furniture inside the old house is authentic."

Yen says she wants visitors to feel like they are in a time warp.

Lovely as the resort is, Yen is not happy – she has expansionist plans.

"I want to relocate more old houses so that I can host wedding parties. I love to imagine a wedding procession proceeding down the path in a field of mature rice," she sighs. — VNS

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Da Lat, Nha Trang link up for tourism

The world-famous beach destination Nha Trang in Vietnam

The charms of the world-famous beach destination Nha Trang and quaint mountain town Dalat could get linked under a plan being hatched by tourism authorities in the two places.

Starting a tour themed “Len rung xuong bien” (jungle and sea) was one of the options officials from Khanh Hoa and Lam Dong Provinces considered at a tourism conference in Da Lat Monday where they also signed a cooperation agreement.

They discussed measures to generally link the two localities by combining promotions, providing specialized training for human resources, and assisting travel agencies.

The agreement will facilitate both destinations to showcase their specialties and handicrafts.

The two provinces will make films and have advertising campaigns to promote their tourism, and organize cultural and sporting events to attract tourists.

They urged tourism companies, hotels, and resorts in both places to cooperate with each other to promote tours to both Nha Trang and Da Lat.

Last year Lam Dong welcomed 1.6 million visitors, including 260,000 from overseas, while Nha Trang received 1.61 million people, including 280,000 foreign tourists.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Nha Trang hotels slash rates to attract tourists

Photo: Tuoi Tre

Hotels in Khanh Hoa Province, home of the world-renowned Nha Trang Bay, are offering discounts of up to 50 percent to attract tourists.

The province’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has said the discounts are aimed at enabling the tourism sector to achieve its target of attracting 1.76 million visitors and earning VND1.75 trillion (US$92.2 million) this year.

The five-star Evason Ana Mandara & Six Senses Spa in Nha Trang is offering discounts of 10 to 50 percent between May 1 and December 31.

The Sunrise Nha Trang Beach Hotel & Spa also has a promotion offering free stays for guests staying three days and longer between May 1 and September 30.

Other three- to five-star hotels like the Nha Trang Lodge Hotel, Liberty Hotel, Hai Yen Hotel, and Vinpearl Land Resort & Spa Nha Trang are offering discounts of 10 to 30 percent.

Khanh Hoa has more than 400 hotels, resorts, and guest houses, almost all of them in Nha Trang, which is home to one of the world’s most beautiful bays.

It has 20 hotels rated three-star and above with a total of 2,450 rooms.

The city has attracted around 500,000 visitors this year, with the tourism industry earning VND500 billion (US$26.5 million).

Monday, February 21, 2011

Trang Trinh

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Photo: Tuoi Tre

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