Friday, February 11, 2011

Poetry Day set for next week

HA NOI — The annual Poetry Day will take place next Thursday in Ha Noi, Nghe An and HCM City.

Huu Thinh, chairman of the Viet Nam Writers Association, said the occasion would also be used to mark the 100th anniversary of Ho Chi Minh who left the country in 1911 to seek ways for national salvation from the French colonists.

"There will be a soil and water procession at Ha Noi's Temple of Literature," Thinh said. "A delegation of writers from the central region will bring some soil from President Ho's home in Sen Village to the temple."

They will also bring some water from the source of the historical Pac Bo Cave's Lenin Stream, where the president lived and worked in the 1940s, in the northern province of Cao Bang to the temple.

The soil and water will be housed at the association's museum in Ha Noi.

Poetry readings will take place in President Ho's homeland, Nghe An Province, and at Nha Rong Wharf in HCM City.

At Ha Noi's Temple of Literature the busts of 30 famed writers will be displayed.

Lanterns bearing 100 verses will also adorn the temple.

The first Poetry Day was held in 2003 at the Temple of Literature. — VNS

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Coffee buzz surrounds festival

The third international coffee festival will be held in Buon Ma Thuot in the Central Highlands on March 10 - 13.

At the event, more than 160 foreign and local coffee firms will showcase their technologies, products, and services at 500 booths.

There will be an international seminar on coffee attended by representatives from the world's biggest coffee producers, including Brazil, Columbia, Indonesia, and Ethiopia.

Ethnic groups from the Central Highlands and artists from coffee-growing nations will put on performances.

Brazilian football legend Pele will be among the attendees.

Hotels, resorts make ‘best' list

Four hotels and resorts in Viet Nam have found a place in Conde Nast Traveller's 17th Annual 2011 Gold List of World's Best Places to Stay.

Sofitel Legend Metropole Ha Noi, Life Heritage Resort Hoi An, Evason Ana Mandara & Six Senses in Nha Trang, and Park Hyatt Sai Gon were the ones making the list published in the magazine's January issue.

The list was selected by readers.

Life Heritage and Evason were also among Conde Nast Traveler's 20 Best Resorts in Asia last November.

Last year the Conde Nast Traveller Readers' Choice Awards ranked Evason Ana Mandara & Six Senses eighth followed and Life Heritage Resort Hoi An, ninth.

Trekkers race to summit Ta Cu

Thousands of local and foreign visitors gathered in Tra Cu Mountain in Binh Thuan Province on Wednesday to watch a contest to trek to the top.

The 15th annual contest attracted 250 male and female athletes from Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai, Tay Ninh, Binh Duong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, and Binh Thuan Provinces.

The course measured 6.3km for men and 5.3km for women, including the 2,300 steps leading up to Linh Son-Truong Tho Pagoda.

Ta Thanh Xinh of Binh Thuan won the men's open division in a time of 40 minutes. Nguyen Ngoc Quang of Dong Nai and Tran Cong Binh of Binh Thuan came second and third.

In the women's division, Nguyen Thi Diem My of Binh Phuoc was first followed by Nguyen Thu Hiep of Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Nguyen Thi Dung of Binh Phuoc.

Travel firms call off Egypt tours

Vietnamese travel agencies have cancelled tours to Egypt though it is the high season due to security concerns following spreading unrest in the country.

Viet Media Travel cancelled tours departing on February 4 and 5 for which 62 persons had booked.

Perfect Tour Travel and Vietravel also cancelled trips scheduled to start during Tet last week. Vietravel said it will resume the tours when the political situation in Egypt stabilises.

VN welcomes 470,000 foreigners

Viet Nam welcomed 470,000 foreign visitors in January, a year-on-year increase of 8.9 per cent, according to the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism. The largest number came from Cambodia, followed by France, China and Japan.

HCM City received 310,000 of them, a 10 per cent rise.

The figures include overseas Vietnamese, mostly from the US, Australia, and France.

2,000 cruise tourists visit Nha Trang

More than 2,000 passengers and crew on board three cruise ships visited Nha Trang on Wednesday. Minerva, a Marshall Islands-flagged vessel brought 400 passengers, mainly American tourists, Princess Dauphine (Portugal) came with 300 visitors from Australia and Europe, and Nautica (Marshall Islands) had 700 Americans.

According to Khanh Hoa Province tourism authorities, the city had also welcomed 1,800 foreign visitors on board the cruise ship Artermis (Bermuda) on February 5.

In the first five days of the lunar year – starting on February 3 — the city welcomed 96,000 visitors, including 19,000 foreigners, a year-on-year increase of 9 per cent. — VNS

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Tickets for Backstreet Boys concert set to go on sale

HA NOI — Tickets for a concert by the Backstreet Boys will go on sale tomorrow in Ha Noi, HCM City, Bien Hoa and Hai Phong.

Tickets can also be booked online by visiting the website www.bsb.com.vn, according to Water Buffalo Productions, the organisers.

Tickets cost VND500,000-VND2 million (US$25-100).

The This Is Us concert will take place on March 24 at Military Zone 7's Stadium in HCM City, and on March 26 at My Dinh National Stadium in Ha Noi.

Viet Nam to host inaugural international choir competition

DA NANG — The first ever International Choir Competition will be held in the central city of Hoi An between March 15 and 18, according to Le Van Giang, chairman of the Hoi An People's Committee.

Already, 34 choirs from various countries and territories including Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong and Estonia have registered to take part in the contest, he said.

Around 900 singers and musicians will compete in 13 categories of six different choir groups of various ages.

The opening performance will be held on March 16 on a floating stage in the Hoai River Square.

The event has been jointly organised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Quang Nam Province authorities and the Germany-based Interkultur organisation.

Tour operator plans underwater weddings in Nha Trang

HCM CITY – HCM City-based tour operator Vietravel has unveiled plans to organise underwater weddings for a record nine couples in Nha Trang on Valentine's Day, February 14.

The Viet Nam Dive Centre, or Vinadive, a branch of Vietravel, said it will organise the 30-minute underwater nuptials with traditional Christian rituals like exchange of rings and kissing of the bride.

Other rituals like popping the champagne and cutting the wedding cake in front of the two families and friends will be held on board the Vinadive off Mun Islet off the central city.

The day before the wedding, Vinadive instructors will teach the couples to dive.

For Valentine's Day this year, Vinadive is offering the package at VND8 million per couple, a discount of VND2 million.

The centre organised Viet Nam's first underwater wedding in 2007.

Further information is available at Vinadive, Biet Thu Street, Nha Trang and www.vietnamdive.com.

Pirated DVD copies of ‘Bi, Don't Be Afraid' flood local shops

HCM CITY — Illegal copies of the award-winning film Bi, Don't Be Afraid are flooding shops in Ha Noi and HCM City a month ahead of its release around the country.

"Many people have bought the bootleg DVDs but they have hazy pictures and awful sound," Chu Tat Khang, a representative of Galaxy, the distributor of Bi, Don't Be Afraid, said.

"I believe buyers of the pirated DVD will buy tickets to see the film at cinemas to enjoy its picture and sound quality," he added.

Bi, Don't Be Afraid, directed by Phan Dang Di, tells the story of a family in Ha Noi as seen through the eyes of Bi, a six-year-old boy.

It won several international prizes last year, including the Best Screenplay Award at the Cannes International Critic's Week and the New Talent Award at the 54th Hong Kong Asian Film Festival.

The film is scheduled to hit the screen on March 13. — VNS

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Backstreet Boys tickets sell online Saturday

The U.S. male pop band Backstreet Boys will perform in Vietnam in March, following their tour to Latin America. The American band said on its website that it expected a total of 55,000 concert attendees in HCMC on March 24 and 26 in Hanoi.

According to the organizer, Water Buffalo Productions, the show is the same as the one performed on other stops during the band’s worldwide This Is Us Tour. The four members of the group, Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell and A. J. McLean, will perform at Military Zone 7 Stadium in HCMC on March 24 and My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi on March 26.

The company says the tickets will sell online from Saturday via the site www.bsb.com.vn.

For online bookings, bring ID card or passport to pay and get tickets. The tickets will be available in Hanoi at: MegaStar VinCom City Towers, Floor 6 VinCom City Towers, 191 Ba Trieu, Hai Ba Trung Street; 11B Tran Quoc Toan Street; 20 Phan Dinh Phung; VIT Building, 519 Kim Ma Street; My Dinh National Stadium, Tu Liem District; and in HCMC at: 75 Pasteur, District 1; Galaxy Nguyen Du Cineplex, 116 Nguyen Du, District 1; Galaxy Tan Binh, 246 Nguyen Hong Dao Street, Tan Binh District; MegaStar Hung Vuong, 126 Hung Vuong Street, District 5. In addition, tickets will be available at MegaStar Cineplexes in Hai Phong and Bien Hoa. 

Tickets range from VND500,000 to VND2 million each.

Backstreet Boys will have two meet-and-greet sessions with fans. The “Fan Meet and greet” will take place on March 23 and the “VIP Party” will be March 25.

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Ticket sale to Backstreet Boys concert announced

Tickets for Backstreet Boys Concert Tour “This is Us” in Vietnam will be available officially from February 12 with prices ranging from VND500,000 (US$25) to VND2 million, according to the tour’s organizer Water Buffalo Productions.

Fans can buy tickets at official ticket outlets in Ho Chi Minh City  and Hanoi (mentioned in the box below), or book online at http://www.bsb.com.vn/bookticket.html, or call 1900 6604 (Hanoi) or 1900 6608 (HCMC) for phone booking and ticket delivery.

Backstreet Boys is scheduled to perform in Ho Chi Minh City-based Military Zone 7's stadium on March 24 and grace Hanoi's My Dinh national stadium two days later.

According to the organizer, a total of 55,000 tickets for the two performances will be sold in Vietnam.

A 30-strong technical and support team is expected to accompany the band.

The band consisting of four members A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter and Kevin Richardson, was formed in Orlando, Florida in 1993.

They rose to fame with their debut international album, Backstreet Boys in 1996.

They reached to superstardom with their album Millennium in 1999 and its follow-up album, Black & Blue one year later.

Richardson left the group in 2006 to pursue other interests, leaving the band as a four-piece, but the remaining members did not rule out a possible return of the singer.

The Backstreet Boys have sold over 130 million records worldwide, making them one of the biggest selling artists of all time.

According to Billboard, they are the first group since Sade to have their first seven albums reach the top 10 on the Billboard 200. 

backstreet Boys

Hanoi’s five ticket outlets:

- Megastar Cineplex Vincom City Tower
- 11B Tran Quoc Toan
- 20 Phan Dình Phung
- My Dinh National Stadium
- VIT Tower – 519 Kim Ma

HCMC’s ticket offices:

- 75 Pasteur Road, District 1.
- Nguyen Du Galaxy Cinema – 116 Nguyen Du
- Tan Binh Galaxy Cinema – 246 Nguyen Hong Dao, Ward 14, Tan Binh District.
- Megastar Cineplex Parkson – Level 10, Parkson Plaza, 60A Truong Son, Tan Binh

Hai Phong and Bien Hoa's ticket outlets: 

Tickets can be purchased at any Megastar branch.

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Moscow State University could teach Vietnam novel

A Russian professor has proposed the Vietnamese novel “Cô gái đến từ hôm qua” (The girl comes from yesterday) be included in official curricula at the Moscow State University.

Dr. Maxim Syunnerberg, of the Vietnamese faculty belonging to the Moscow State University, wants his faculty to teach the novel written by the famous 46-year-old Vietnamese writer Nguyen Nhat Anh.

Syunnerberg is one author of the Russian-Vietnamese dictionary published in 2008.
The 10 chapters of the original novel are suggested to be arranged into 16 chapters to fit the 16-week study schedule.

In related news, last month, Anh officially allowed Thailand-based Nanmee Books publishing house to translate his short story "Give Me a Ticket Back to Childhood" into a Thailand version.

The book last year won the Southeast Asian Writers Awards 2010 in Thailand.

It is expected to be released in Thailand in early August to mark the 35th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic relations.

Anh is a Vietnamese author well-known for his engaging stories for both teenagers and adults. He also works as a teacher, a poet and a reporter.

His works are enormous, including approximately 24 short stories, two giant novel series and poetry collections.

He is regarded as one of the most successful writers for teenagers.

His most well-known series "Kinh Van Hoa" (Kaleidoscope) which contains 45 volumes about three teenagers and the stories around their friendship and school life, has recently been adapted into four drama series of the same name.

In 1995, he was voted the most popular writer in the last 20 years (1975-1995) and the most talented individual through a poll held by Tuoi Tre newspaper.

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January, a month of festivals and feasts

Vietnam celebrates more than 9,000 local and national festivals that can be categorized as folk, historical-revolutionary, religious, foreign-origin, and cultural-sport-tourist.

They mostly have their origins in the north, according to cultural scholars.

The first lunar month is a “month of festivals and feasts,” according to an old saying.

The New Year marks the arrival of spring according to the Chinese and Vietnamese calendars, and people are eager to visit historical sites and temples and pagodas, go sightseeing, and participate in festivals.

Many of the festivals are aimed at invoking patriotism and solidarity among people and act as platforms to preserve and pass down the nation’s culture to future generations.

Some commemorate national heroes. The Dong Da festival in the north, for instance, pays homage to King Quang Trung’s glorious feat of arms against 29,000 Qing invaders from China in 1789.

Festivals in the 1st lunar month

- Saint Giong Festival in Phu Linh Commune, Hanoi, 6th to 8th.

- Tich Dien Festival on Doi mountain, the northern Ha Nam Province, 5–7.

- Huong Pagoda Festival, Hanoi, starts on the 6th and goes on for three months.

- Gia La night-festival in Duong Noi Commune, Hanoi, 6-14.

- Sai Temple Festival in Thuy Lam Commune, Hanoi, 12.

- Tu Xa Festival in Tu Xa Commune, Lam Thao District, Phu Tho Province, 11 and 12.

- Lim Festival in Lim town, Bac Ninh Province, 13.

- Co Loa Festival in Dong Anh District, Hanoi, 6-15.

- Ba Chua Kho (Queen Kho) Temple Festival in Co Me village, Bac Ninh, 14.

- Va Temple Festival in Trung Hung Commune, Hanoi, 15.

- Tam Thanh pagoda festival in the northern city of Lang Son, 15.

- Long Tong Festival in Cao Bang Province on the China border, 6-15.

- Vieng Market Festival in Kim Thai Commune, Vu Ban District, Nam Dinh, 8

Dong da fest

Dong Da Fest

Co Loa fest

Co Loa Fest

Many of the festivals feature traditional sporting events -- like crossbow shooting and wrestling at the Co Loa Festival in Hanoi’s Dong Anh District, fighting, wrestling, and running at the Vi Khe Flower Festival in Nam Dinh Province and the Buffalo Stabbing Festival in Mo Hra village in the Central Highlands.

Dam Trau fest

Buffalo Stabbing Fest

They also showcase traditions like singing love duets, weaving fabric, and many others.

In the south, most festivals are meant to worship ancestors and deities and seek their protection and blessings for prosperity. Like the festival on Ba Den Mountain in Tay Ninh province during spring which people attend to pray for a year of prosperity and success.

ba den pagoda

Ba Den pagoda

The southern celebrations also often feature ornamental flowers and trees grown by traditional trade villages.

Ethnic peoples usually have spectacular festivals -- like the Tay and Nung’s Long Tong and the Hmong’s Sac Bua in the northwestern region and the Kho Me’s Lunar New Year celebrations in the south.

long tong fest

Long Tong Fest

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