The events bringing Thang Long-Hanoi’s 1,000th anniversary to a close yesterday unfolded smoothly as over 40,000 people packed in Hanoi’s Ba Dinh Square, with millions more watching on television nationwide, to hear the President’s address to the nation and assist to the closing parade.
At 8 am a solemn torchlight procession started at the Ho Chi Minh Museum and ended at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum as its sumptuous passage through the grand Staircase epitomized the strength of the Vietnamese nation.
It was followed by the raising of the flag accompanied by the national anthem sung by 1,000 Hanoians and a 21-round gun salute.
Amid the joyful atmosphere, President Nguyen Minh Triet offered his sincere thanks to Hanoians, Vietnamese at home and abroad and foreign friends, for their fine sentiments during the grand anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.
In referring to Thang Long-Hanoi’s great history, the President said on Sunday: “From one thousand years ago to the autumn of 1010, following the Hung kings’ nation-building exploits, Ly Thai To King strategically moved the capital from Hoa Lu to Thang Long leading the way to a new era of splendor for Dai Viet.
“From that historic landmark to the era of Ho Chi Minh, Thang Long-Hanoi has stood tall through 1,000 years of struggles and splendors to today proudly represent the heart of the nation”.
“We are proud that Hanoi is the Heroic Capital – a noble title granted by the Party, the State and the Vietnamese People,” said Triet. “We are here today to express our sincere, deep, and endless gratitude to our predecessors, the late President Ho Chi Minh, and all those who were and are contributing to the capital’s development and security”.
He emphasized how, throughout history, Thang Long-Hanoi has never stopped symbolizing the nation’s desire for peace, and friendship. Adding that it is the place where the Vietnamese people’s traditional values, intellectual wealth, culture and dignity have converged and crystallized.
According to Triet, the millennium anniversary should serve as an impetus to continue to celebrate the heroes, culture and noble traditions of the capital in particular and the country in general; to uphold the Vietnamese people’s fundamental moral values of peace, friendship, and humanity and the invaluable heritage handed down by the country’s ancestors. Values, that we are responsible to preserve respect and bequeath to our next generations.
“As Vietnam is a heroic nation, so Hanoi is Vietnam’s heroic capital. Vietnamese people love peace, justice and loyalty but never yield to violence,” said Triet.
However, State President Nguyen Minh Triet also noted that at the historic moment of the grand anniversary, the country and the capital have many difficulties and challenges ahead. Thus, to honor their ancestors, all Vietnamese people, at home and abroad, must unite in a determined effort to make the capital more modern, civil and prosperous, and to build the Vietnamese nation into one of peace, independence, unity, democracy and prosperity to keep up with other capitals in the world.
After the President’s opening speech, ten helicopters carrying Party and national flags and banners bearing the slogan “Celebrate Thang Long-Hanoi’s 1,000th anniversary”, flew over Ba Dinh Square, signaling the beginning of the parade.
Following a car carrying the national coat-of-arms, a car carrying the portrait of late President Ho Chi Minh was surrounded by children and teenagers to symbolize the late President’s love for Vietnamese children and youth.
They were followed by vehicles carrying the Ly Dynasty dragon – the symbol of Hanoi – and the UNESCO certificate recognizing Thang Long Citadel as a World Cultural Heritage site.
The parade also included armed forces representatives, civil servants, police officers, war veterans, intellectuals, government officers, farmers, workers, ethnic communities’ representatives and youth and religious groups all demonstrating the strengths and achievements of the nation’s capital over the past 1,000 years and the national pride of the Vietnamese people.
According to organizers, this was the biggest parade in the country’s history with the participation of around 40,000 people, including 16 armed forces.
At 9:15 am, balloons and pigeons were set free towards the skies while 1,000 children closed the parade and Thang Long-Hanoi’s grand 1,000th anniversary sending a message of enduring peace.
