Capital city assured of crafts conservation

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has promised investments in traditional crafts village conservation that will not only target production but also be friendly to the environment.

Deputy MARD Minister Ho Xuan Hung unveiled the plan at a workshop on Friday as part of a one-week festival entitled “Crafts Villages, Crafts Streets of Thang Long-Hanoi” beginning on Thursday.

Hung said the scheme would also aim to harmonize production while maintaining traditional cultural identity and focusing on crafts of rich cultural and economic value for sustainable development.

Along with the conservation of traditional crafts in danger of extinction, such as handmade Nepal paper in Van Canh village and traditional music instruments in Dao Xa village, MARD plans to develop new crafts in several villages to meet market demand, said the deputy minister.

He said the ministry has worked out numerous concrete steps to speed up the work such as upgrading rural traffic and communications systems, integrating tourism into traditional crafts development and intensifying investments in personnel training.

MARD also plans to diversify financial sources for conservation and development of traditional crafts villages, Hung added.

The scheme was prompted by the fact that craft village conservation has been ignored to some extent since 2000 and the work has revealed some problems such as serious environmental pollution, limited market share, poor product design and unknown trademarks.

Hanoi is home to 1,350 crafts villages, accounting for almost 59 percent of the total number of villages nationwide and providing jobs for over 626,000 locals.

Their production value reached over VND7.65 trillion (US$38.76 billion) annually, making up 8.4 percent of the municipal industrial revenues.

The history of municipal crafts villages dates back hundreds of years. For instance, the Bat Trang ceramics village was founded 600 years ago, the Chuon Ngo mother-of-pearl village, 1,000 years ago and the Van Phuc Natural Silk village, 1,200 years ago.

Many of these crafts were typical to Hanoi as they are only produced in the capital city - such as porcelain, gold and silver coating and natural silk making.

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Army painter receives paintings lost during war

One of the three paintings by Le Duc Tuan

US Ambassador to Vietnam Michael Michalak on Friday handed over three paintings, which were lost in a battle in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum in 1968, to army painter Le Duc Tuan.

The paintings are parts of a series of 112 sketches Tuan drew when he was in the army.

Michalak spoke highly of the exchange of war objects, saying that it is a vivid manifestation of reconciliation between the two nations.

He said he hoped that the two governments would step up activities to promote the friendship between US and Vietnamese war veterans and people on the basis of mutual respect and development.

Tuan expressed his thanks to the US ambassador and former US soldier Robert B. Simpson who prevented the burning of and then preserved the sketches.

The painter presented the three paintings to the organizers of a campaign designed to collect and introduce objects and belongings related to the war.

At the ceremony, the Thanh Nien Publishing House introduced the “Painting diary returned from the other side” comprising 109 paintings Tuan got back from American war veterans in 2009.

The diary described the real, lively and romantic lives of soldiers during the resistance war against US aggressors. It also includes articles written by US reporters and specialists about the paintings as well as their journey since they were lost and then returned.

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Central region targeted for global tourism

Hue, the former imperial city in the central region, is one of Vietnam's favorite tourist destinations

A plan to develop the tourist and aviation infrastructures in the central region was discussed at a conference on developing the central region’s tourist industry in Da Nang Thursday.

The plan is one of several efforts to develop the central region into a popular tourist destination.

The conference, jointly held by the national flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines and the People’s Committees of Da Nang, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai and Thua Thien-Hue, attracted representatives from leading travel agencies around the country and Vietnam’s key markets, including Japan, South Korea, Germany, France, Russia, Australia, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The Vietnam Airlines representative pledged to play a major role in the plan by developing charter services directly to Da Nang in the near future.

In the past, Vietnam Airlines has liaised with foreign travel agencies to operate flights to the central region. In 2009, the airline ran 15 flights from Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Cambodia to Da Nang, which were praised by passengers.

As the demands for this service are increasing, Vietnam Airlines plans to operate between 20-25 flights to the region.

In the domestic market, the airline operates 50 flights a day on 24 routes between Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City and the central region and the Central Highlands.

Vietnam Airlines also has 25 flights a week on routes from Da Nang to the Central Highlands provinces of Gia Lai, Dak Lak and Lam Dong and to the central province of Khanh Hoa, to link up with large economic centers in the central region.

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Parents favour traditional toys for Mid-Autumn fest

Many parents in Hanoi have turned to traditional hand-made toys for their children for the coming Mid-Autumn Festival instead of the once dominant made-in-China imports.

Traditional toys are cheaper and safer, they explain.

Although shops on Luong Van Can street, Hoan Kiem district, are flooded with Chinese toys of various types and designs, those in nearby Hang Ma Street display more made-in-Vietnam toys.

Nguyen Chi Hai says he has saved money buying traditional toys.

"My son already had too many modern toys," he says as he inspects a mask and a lantern from a Hang Ma street shop.

"I bought him some traditional toys so that he would know what my parents, my wife and I played when we were small."

He also worries that imported toys may contain substances harmful to children.

"I hesitate when buying such toys for my son," he says.

"Traditional Vietnamese toys are our best choice now."

Le Thu Huong, an employee of a private company in Dong Da District, also prefers folk toys.

"I can buy Vietnamese toys of beautiful shape and colour for the cost of just one Chinese toy," she says.

Hang Ma Street shop owner Truong Quoc Khanh confirms that customers now prefer traditional Vietnamese toys rather than modern Chinese imports.

"A customer asked me for a Vietnamese lantern yesterday but it was sold out," he says. "I showed her a Chinese lantern with music but she refused it."

The family shop sold only about 100 Vietnamese folk lanterns last Mid-Autumn Festival. So far this year it has sold almost 800 in the shape of a star, rabbit, fish and lotus.

"I expect to sell more than 1,000 Vietnamese lanterns this year," he says.

Other Vietnamese folk toys are also selling better.

Luong Van Can street in Hoan Kiem District shopowner Nguyen Ngan Hoa says every kind of traditional toys including drums and masks made from cardboard is selling well.

"I sell wholesale and retail an average of about 300 masks a day," she says. "Last year I sold only slightly more than 700 for the entire festival."

Customers have become saturated with Chinese toys, she argues.

Hang Ma Ward People's Committee deputy chairman Nghiem Xuan Giao says his committee joins with the Hoan Kiem District People's Committee each year to organise the Hanoi Traditional Mid-Autumn Fair.

"The fair opens a week before the day of the festival day is held to display and introduce Vietnam's traditional toys," he says.

"I'm glad to see that this year children are more interested in the toys."

Mid-Autumn Festival is traditionally celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month when the moon is at fullest and brightest.

This year it falls Wednesday next week.

It is one of the most important festivals of the year in Vietnam when family members gather for a feast and children dance and parade with colourful lanterns and cakes in the moonlight.

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Best-sellers released in audio

For the first time in Vietnam, 26 audio books featuring popular local and foreign titles have been released by a local publisher in HCMC this week.

An initiative of Phuong Nam Books, the publications target both chidren and adults who can now listen to their favourite stories and essays read out for them in their cars, homes and other places.

More importantly, the books will be of considerable help to people who are blind or suffer from other forms of impaired vision.

The titles include the world famous Chicken Soup books by Jack Canfield, works by Italian writer Edmondo de Amicis as well as famous novels and short stories by Tran Thuy Mai, Do Hong Ngoc, Nguyen Ngoc Tu, Pham Thi Ngoc Lien, Luu Thi Luong, Di Li and other Vietnamese authors.

About 40 musicians, singers and people with sonorous, emotional voices were invited to produce the audio books.

The company plans more audio books for children featuring fairy tales by Grimm, Andersen and Saint Exypery as well as works by To Hoai and Phung Quan.

It has also announced that the copyright for all its audio books will be given to the Audio Books Library two months after they are released. The library will then deliver the books to benefit the sight-impaired community nationwide, covering at least 84 schools and organisations.

Nguyen Huong Duong, director of the library, said that her library needs 30,000 tapes each year to fulfil the needs of blind children, but it only receives 1,000 titles and tapes at present.

Nguyen Thanh Thuy, director of Phuong Nam Books, and the main person behind the audio books production, also said that the company was negotiating with mobile phone service providers VinaPhone, Mobiphone, and Viettel to carry the audiobooks to a wider audience.

She also hopes the books will be popularised on the radio soon.

Meanwhile, the company has launched a contest to find people with attractive voices and talent to work on audio books that it plans to launch in the future.

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Get wed without getting married at Ramana

A model performs wedding dress in a fashion show in HCMC - Photo: Kieu Giang

The Ramana Hotel Saigon will hold a special evening event about weddings on September 18 at 5 p.m.

The event called “Wedding Experience Night” will be organized in conjunction with companies that specialize in wedding services and products such as Milan for wedding gowns, make up and photo albums, Y Tuong for wedding cards, Graphic Chocolate for wedding gifts and Lolita Lempicka for perfume .

The event aims to give couples an experience of what it is like to organize a wedding. There will be screenings of real wedding videos; brides to be will invited to organize a wedding party; try on wedding gowns; be served food like a real wedding party and consulted on health and beauty care before the wedding.

The hotel and vendors will give out prizes such as accommodation, dinners at the hotel for two, expensive perfumes, make-up vouchers at wedding studios and beauty salons.

The hotel will also give 5% discounts to any couple who books their wedding party that night.

For reservations or inquiries, contact Banquet team at 3843 9999 or email to events@ramanasaigon.com

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Ethnology museum hosts Mid-Autumn celebration

Hands-on fun: In addition to taking part in folk games and performances, children will learn how to make traditional toys at the museum. — VNS Photos Ancient games: Children play tug-of-war at the Museum of Ethnology.

HA NOI — The Viet Nam Museum of Ethnology in Ha Noi will host its annual celebration of the Mid-Autumn festival through next Monday, with a theme this year of Viet Nam – China Colours.

This year's programme will include traditional games of both countries, as well as toys such as lanterns, kites and Chinese masks, and performances of lion and dragon dances and water puppetry, making this a great opportunity for children to explore the similarities and differences in the Vietnamese and Chinese cultures, according to the museum.

Visitors to the museum during the celebration will have the opportunity to compete and win prizes in Chinese games, dress in traditional costumes, and hear story tellers share legends of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The museum will also screen films about the cultures of Viet Nam and China and – new to the venue this year – will host a performances of boi singing, a traditional music of southern Viet Nam.

Visitors will also be able to experience the brewing and drinking of Pu'er tea from China's Yunnan Province, as well as participate in traditional cake-making classes. Representatives of the Naxi culture of southern China will also talk to visitors about the ancient hieroglyphs of the culture and the Mid-Autumn Festival of their homeland.

People who purchase tickets in advance for Monday will enjoy a compelling programme including a lion dance, animal circus, Chinese opera, lantern parade, and sampling of Vietnamese and Chinese mooncakes.

The celebration is being held with the co-operation of the Ethnic Museum of Yunnan, the Yunnan Opera Institute, and the Chinese Embassy in Viet Nam. Tickets are available at the Viet Nam Museum of Ethnology for VND25,000 for adults, VND3,000 for children, and VND5,000 for students.

For this year's celebration, the museum will make an extra effort to serve disadvantaged children, and will present 100 gifts to kids from craft villages and vocational training centres. — VNS

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