HTV to screen new series

HCM CITY— HCM City Television this week will begin broadcasting a new TV series about King Ly Thai To, born Ly Cong Uan, the founder of the city Thang Long (now Ha Noi).

The 40-episode Ve Dat Thang Long (Arriving in Thang Long), which began filming four months ago, is one of the city's projects that are celebrating the 1,000th anniversary of the founding of the nation's capital.

Each episode describes historic events taking place in the country and the capital Hoa Lu before and after Ly Cong Uan was enthroned as the first king of the Ly dynasty.

In 1010, King Ly Thai To made an important decision to move the capital from Hoa Lu in present Ninh Binh Province to Thang Long.

The script for the TV series, which is directed by Tran Ngoc Phuong, is written by well-known author Pham Thuy Nhan.

Taking part in the series produced by HTV in co-operation with M&T Pictures are 80 artists of HCM City with well-known artist Ly Hung playing Ly Cong Uan.

Arriving in Thang Long which will air on HTV 9 at 8.30pm fromThursday to Sunday every week, beginning on January 1.

Capital to open music centre

HA NOI — The Ha Noi Musicians Association is planning to launch a Centre for Music Development in June 2011 to support composers in developing and publicising new works, said association chairman Ho Quang Binh.

The establishment of the centre was approved by the association's 10th Congress.

Cham site found in Quang Ngai

QUANG NGAI — The remnants of a Cham Temple dating back to the 10th century have been discovered in Mo Duc District in the central province of Quang Ngai.

The temple, named Dinh Ba So (Mother of Cham Land) by local residents, contains stone linga and yoni believed to be the first found in Quang Ngai, said Nguyen Dang Vu, director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Writers to discuss war themes

HCM CITY — Writers Da Ngan and Wayne Karlin, one Vietnamese and one American, will hold a talk about the themes of war at Hoa Sen College in HCM City today, with visiting American students from George Mason University to participate.

Ngan will discuss different aspects of the war and its aftermath in Ngan's novel Gia Dinh Be Mon (An Insignificant Family). While in Viet Nam, the American students are expected to visit the family of martyr Hoang Ngoc Dam, depicted as one of the main characters in Karlin's novel Wandering Souls.

HCM City to host audio-visual expo

HA NOI — The Recording Industry Association of Viet Nam will host an audio-visual expo in HCM City from December 31 to January 2. Gathering 14 companies from around the country, the fair will display over 5,000 products, including CDs and DVDs at discounted prices.

Pop singers and cai luong (reformed opera) performers are scheduled to appear to encourage customers to buy authorised, non-pirated products.

Capital cracks down on superstition

HA NOI — The Ha Noi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has ordered communities in the capital city to set up steering committees and organising boards to manage and control superstitious activities at traditional festivals as well as the burning of paper offerings at relic sites.

The department has also asked localities to ensure security, traffic safe and food hygiene at cultural events. — VNS

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Culture Vulture

Prof Vu Khieu is the author of many works on the capital, such as Bach Khoa Thu Ha Noi (Ha Noi Encyclopaedia) and Tong Tap Nghin Nam Van Hien Thang Long (One Thousand Years of Civilisation in Thang Long), which took him decades to complete. At the age of 95, he is still writing. He talks with Culture Vulture.

Would you say something about your research on Ha Noi?

In the last 10 years, I focused on researching the old capital. I was co-author of the four-volume Tong Tap Nghin Nam Van Hien Thang Long, Lich su Khoa Hoc Xa Hoi Va Nhan Van (History and Social Science and Humanities), in 18 volumes and I wrote many funeral orations, epitaphs and parallel sentences in tens of temples worshipping martyrs throughout the country.

Among them, Tong Tap Nghin Nam Van Hien Thang Long, a collection of writings by 1,200 authors and collaborators compiled with assistance of Prof Vu Tuyen Hoang, won a special content prize at Viet Nam Book Awards 2009 announced by the Viet Nam Publishing Association.

That's the way I pay tribute to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the country.

You are still researching and writing. How can you keep going?

When I was 80, my health was getting bad. I spent about eight hours a day studying Confucianism, the ideas of Confucius and Mencius.

Ten years ago, when I was 85, I decided to have a rest. I thought I would write poetry, play chess and have fun with my friends. Then the Party and the State conferred on me the title of Hero of Labour of the doi moi (renewal) period.

I wondered then how can a hero have a rest? So I determined to come back to work and promised myself that from then until the last breathe, I would not waste a day.

Last month, I celebrated my 95th birthday. If I can live till 100, as I would like, I will have another five years to work.

Nowadays, when I can't sleep I often read Buddhist scriptures to understand more about Mahayana Buddhism. Compassionate thought of Buddhism is a humane philosophy. I learn much from it.

What do you intend to do in the future?

I have been writing notes about Ha Noi for as long as I can remember. Now I am putting them into a book of 2,400 pages for the capital's anniversary, to be released when I am satisfied with the quality and when my heart orders. — VNS

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Ha Noi basks in 1,000 years of glory

Ngoc Le

Showing the love: A young couple show their love of the city by wearing T-shirts printed with "I Love Ha Noi".

HA NOI — Any visitor arriving in Ha Noi this past week was likely struck by the festive air, as if Tet (lunar new year) had arrived early.

But even Tet isn't comparable to the festivities this month in terms of scale and jubilation. Tet, after all, comes once a year, but this celebration is a once-in-a-millenium event.

A thousand years ago, King Ly Thai To relocated the capital from a hilly fortress region to the large flat land along the Red River, beginning an era in which the country flourished.

Since then, Ha Noi – then known as Thang Long, or the city of the rising dragon – has been almost continuously the capital of a thriving country.

"I've never seen the streets so beautiful and joyful like this before," said Nguyen Tien Thanh, 42, a resident of Hang Duong Street in the Old Quarter.

The Old Quarter is glorious, with a forest of flags, lanterns and banners along the streets and alleyways, a red glow enlivening an atmosphere already vivid with the array of colourful merchandise, the narrow, ageing homes, the motorbikes spilling onto the sidewalks and the streams of people. Even the cyclos look appealing, decorated with small flags bearing dragons of the Ly dynasty.

... while two visitors don red headbands. — VNA/VNS Photos Ngoc Ha and Thanh Tung

"I cleaned the facade and the balcony of my house to hoist the flag," said Thanh, a member of a four-generation family living together in the same house.

"At night, the streets are swarmed with people in beautiful clothes," he said, noting that the crowds were much bigger than during Tet.

Lots of Ha Noi residents want to show the world how much they love their city by wearing red bands around their heads that read "I love Ha Noi".

Ha Dong District's Nguyen Thi Thoan, 45, is one of them.

"People from Ha Noi naturally love the city," she said. "We have just 10 days to celebrate 1,000 years, so I don't want to miss them."

Hoan Kiem Lake is the focal point of all the festivities, its banks and the Tortoise Tower, The Huc Bridge and Ngoc Son Temple on the bank all colourfully illuminated, making the lake look like a sparkling jewel in the middle of the city.

Droves of revellers stream to the lake while the streets around it are closed to vehicular traffic every evening.

"A thousand years have gone by, and Ha Noi still maintains much of its antique elegance," said Pham Truong Giang, 22, a student of the University of Banking.

Giang was hanging around the lake with a group of classmates who all wore uniforms with slogans about Ha Noi.

"Its history since the reign of King Ly Cong Uan has been marked with heroic struggles against foreign invaders," Giang said. "Relics unearthed at the Thang Long Citadel testify to the talents of the Vietnamese people."

Huynh Kim Khanh, 67, who lives on Thai Ha Street and came to the lake with her children and grandchildren, said she wanted to show them the beauty and history of Ha Noi since her family members had been living abroad.

"The city has changed a lot," Khanh said. "In the past, we didn't have beautiful lighting like that."

Truong Thi Ngat, 55, and her two sisters had to travel all the way from Bac Ninh Province's Yen Phong District to see Ha Noi for themselves during its millennial anniversary.

"We will stay here until the celebrations are over, then we have to go home to harvest rice" she said, adding that this was her first visit to the capital city in 10 years.

Among foreign visitors to the city who were caught up in the festive atmosphere, Tobie Andersen, a Briton who works in Singapore, said he came to Ha Noi to visit his girlfriend's family and to "celebrate the birthday" of the city. He said that he felt a lot of energy in the celebration and that he has learned a lot about the city's history.

Apart from Hoan Kiem Lake, at scattered corners and intersections around the city, outdoor stages have been set up, and songs celebrating Ha Noi resound over loudspeakers in many neighbourhoods.

Thousands of visitors have flocked to Thang Long Citadel, which recently received a World Cultural Heritage designation, and the nearby excavation site to admire the treasured relics of past dynasties.

"I'm so proud of the depth of the nation's history," said Tran Phong, from the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta city of Can Tho.

The number of southern tourists to the capital has increased by 30 per cent compared to last month, said Tran Phi Nhan, deputy director of Viet Nam Travel, who led around 100 guests from HCM City to the citadel.

"They are eager to come to the capital on this occasion," he said. — VNS

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Revellers enjoy the capital city by night

by Ha Nguyen

Light show: Thap Rua (Turtle Tower) is more sparkling and fanciful these day to welcome the city's 1,000th anniversary. — VNA/VNS Photo Doan Tung

The clock is continuing to count down to the grand ceremony for Ha Noi's 1,000th anniversary on October 10, and the city is bustling with animation, colourful lights and symbols of the city's history.

Many people in Ha Noi want to soak up the rare atmosphere of the celebration and capture memories of the event in their photos, while others are rediscovering their love for the city by wandering around it by night.

"Hoan Kiem Lake is sparkling with LED lights, and the Turtle Tower is more fanciful during the night," said Ha Huu Vu from Ha Noi's Hai Ba Trung District. Vu and his friends made a tour through a night in the capital city on Saturday.

Vu's friend Quoc Viet sat on a stool drinking iced tea from a sidewalk tea vendor and talking with others, a long-standing pleasure of Ha Noi.

"Sitting on the sidewalk and talking to your friends is a young person's pleasure, too," said Viet. "I like to sit here and enjoy the city life and the simple sounds of the local people."

Vu's other friends Quang Thang and Dinh Hung decided to join a music night that praised Ha Noi through 40 well-known singers of the revolutionary music.

" Although hearing time and again, we are still interested in songs about Ha Noi's history and its profound beauty as well as the elegant lifestyle of the capital's residents," said Thang.

Meanwhile their other friend Huy Hung led a group of five to the Long Bien Bridge, which has long become a symbol of the city and has been lit up like a dragon across the Hong (Red) River. At night, drink and snack vendors set up shop along the length of the bridge.

"When we arrived, a crowd of people was already there enjoying the river even though it was 1am," said Hung.

At 2am, Vu and his friends returned to the inner city to eat nem chua ran (fried fermented-pork) and hot bun rieu cua (spicy noodles with crayfish) on Tong Duy Tan Street, which also known as "Food Street". The street was also bustling at this late hour, with people jostling to park their motorbikes and piling into shops for the delicious dishes.

Continuing their night odyssey, Vu's group drove their motorbikes past Tran Vu Temple near West Lake and then on to the ancient citadel of Hoang Thanh at the intersection of Phan Dinh Phung and Nguyen Tri Phuong streets. They also drove up O Quan Chuong, Cua Nam and Cua Bac streets.

"We are really impressed by the light decorations on Dien Bien Phu Street which represent 1,000 years of the nation's civilisation, with images of harps, bronze drums and the bamboo of Saint Giong, down to the time of Ho Chi Minh and a capital city of peace, with pigeons flying," said Vu. — VNS

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Thang Long-Hanoi’s millennium celebration opens

A solemn ceremony was held at the Ly Thai To Flower Garden on Friday morning to kick off 10 days of celebrations for the Millennium of Thang Long-Hanoi.

Opening the ceremony, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong, together with Party, State and Hanoi municipal leaders offered incense before the Statue of King Ly Thai To, who had a strategic and sound decision to remove the country’s capital city from Hoa Lu in the northern province of Ninh Binh to Dai La (now Hanoi), opening up a long-term development direction for following generations.

Addressing the event, Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Pham Quang Nghi stressed that the historical transfer of the capital from Hoa Lu surrounded by one mountain after another to the centre of the Red River Delta formed an extraordinary step forward for the nation, reaffirming the will to build the national independence and unification and ushering in a new era for the Dai Viet. Thang Long-Hanoi’s thousand-year history has been constantly cultivated by heroic exploits.

“Generations of Vietnamese living in the Ho Chi Minh era, owners of our majestic land and an independent and free country, will surely advance without any misgivings to the future, a future of more beautiful Vietnam so much desired by President Ho Chi Minh,” he said.

At the ceremony, General Director of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Irina Bokova presented a certificate recognizing the Thang Long Royal Citadel as a World Cultural Heritage to the Hanoi leaders.

While showing her admiration at Vietnam, one of the few countries in the world that still preserves lively memories of the capital transfer 1,000 years ago, Irina Bokova also recommended that Vietnam should take responsibility for the humankind through promoting the heritage to future generations.

The jubilant atmosphere of the grand celebrations has been seen in each street, each lane and each face of the capital. All roads leading to the Ly Thai To Flower Garden, where the opening ceremony took place, are decorated by flags, banners and flowers. Hanoi is putting on itself a new colorful dress to celebrate its 1,000th birthday.

Jeanne Huynh, an overseas Vietnamese in France, couldn’t hide her feeling when returning to the homeland to attend the great event of the capital and the country. She said she was proud of being a Vietnamese.

Vietnam’s successful hosting of many international events and the recognition of the Thang Long Royal Citadel as a World Culture Heritage have proven the country’s increasingly improved position, she said.

Jeanne Huynh also expressed her belief that in the next 10-15 years, Vietnam can stand on a par with developed countries in the world.

For the UK Ambassador to Vietnam, Mark Kent, the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi is an event of special significance for him as he is going to end his three-year term of office in Hanoi.

Mark Kent said he was honored to live and work in the 1,000-year-old city of Hanoi. He added that he will join a number of activities during the anniversary, including a race for peace around Hoan Kiem Lake on October 3.

The millennium celebrations of Thang Long-Hanoi will be held within ten days with numerous artistic and cultural activities throughout the capital city.

Highlights of the celebrations will be a meeting and a parade at the Ba Dinh Square as well as a cultural and art gala night at the My Dinh National Stadium on October 10.

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Cartoon on legendary Hanoi founder to screen

Photo: VNA

A cartoon on a legendary Emperor, who founded Thang Long capital, now Hanoi, is scheduled to air this Friday.

The film, entitled “Dragon’s Son”, is the first long cartoon using 3D technology in Vietnam, Nguyen Thi Hong Ngat, Executive Director of the Cinematography Association Studio said at a press briefing in Hanoi Monday.

The 90-minute footage is about the childhood of King Ly Thai To, or Ly Cong Uan at birth, who founded the 216-year-long Ly Dynasty in 1009.

Painters have animated over 30 characters, designed 20 major scenes and conducted almost 850 acts.

Director Pham Minh Tri said the “Dragon’s Son” is “100 percent Vietnamese”, from sounds to music and costumes. The cartoon is characterized by northern countryside sceneries such as banian trees, ferry stations, pagodas and buffalo boys playing and fishing.

Ly Cong Uan was born at Co Phap Pagoda, in the village of same name, Bac Ninh province, in 974.

At the age of 3, his mother took him to the pagoda for monks there to bring him up. He was named Ly Cong Uan by the monks and became a monk.

Under the protection and support of Ly Van Hanh, also known as Van Hanh monk, who was a respected monk in the holy Anterior Le Dynasty court, Uan came to the capital and took several promotions to the Left Guard-Commander of the Anterior Citadel, a high rank in the army system. In 1009, Le Ngoa Trieu, the last king of the Anterior Le Dynasty died under the wrath of the people because of the ferocity and cruelty brought on them in his time. Dao Cam Moc, a senior official, and Van Hanh monk used their power to enthrone Ly Cong Uan without any debate, beginning the Ly Dynasty.

The then capital Hoa Lu in the northern province of Ninh Binh was a tiny area with craggy geography bounded by mountain ranges, which had been suitable for a turbulent era but was not conducive to peacetime development and growth. Ly Thai To chose to move the capital to a broader area lying in the flat alluvial delta named Dai La, now Hanoi. In 1010, he began the move and while travelling from the former capital to the new land, he saw a Yellow Dragon ascending, so he changed the new land's name from Dai La to Thang Long.

Vietnam is celebrating the millennium anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi on October 10, which is called the Grand Festival.

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Ladies capture their love of Ha Noi

Relic: Gieng Co (Old Well) by Pham Thi Thu. Historic: O Quan Chuong Trong Mua (Quan Chuong Gate in Rain) by Kim Lan. More than words: Net Xua (Old Feature) by Thi Tho.

HA NOI — Female photographers from the Hai Au Photography Club based in HCM City have organised an exhibition entitled Ha Noi – Visual Angles featuring 100 black-and-white photos.

The exhibition will remain open at the Temple of Literature in central Ha Noi until September 3 to express the artists' love for the capital and celebrate its 1,000th anniversary.

The Hai Au Club, for female photographers only, sponsored trips to Ha Noi for its members to take photos of the capital.

Fifteen women established the club in 1990. Members range in age and profession but they all have the same passion for capturing beautiful moments through pictures.

During the last 20 years, they have taken hundreds of trips throughout the country and have won 290 awards at home and abroad.

The artists spent hours exploring the capital's streets, Old Quarter, traditional craft villages and ancient pagodas to experience local life and capture some of the beautiful images that epitomise the culture of the capital city.

Their chosen sites included Bat Trang Pottery Village, Ngoc Son Temple, Tran Quoc Pagoda, Thay Pagoda, Tram Pagoda, West Lake, One-Pillar Pagoda and the Temple of Literature.

The artworks reflect the sensitive souls of the artists and their love for Ha Noi, says Vu Quoc Khanh, chairman of the Viet Nam Association for Photographic Artists.

"It's easy to feel the tenderness and precision of the female photographers through their works," he says. "They express the lively life in Ha Noi which is both modern and traditional."

"Ha Noi has been modernised but retains the charms of its Old Quarter, traditional craft villages and ancient pagodas," says photographer Dao Hoa Nu, head of the club.

The members have selected the best shots to be included in a book to celebrate the club's 20th birthday. The book was released as a gift for visitors at the opening ceremony of the exhibition. — VNS

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