Cruise ship brings 3,000 visitors

Three international cruise ships brought more than 3,000 visitors and crew to HCM City last weekend.

US vessels Nautica, which came with 7,000 passengers, and SeaBourn Pride, which had 100, anchored at Sai Gon Port last Saturday. The visitors went around HCM City and to the Mekong province of Tien Giang. The Nautica later visited Chan May Port in Thua Thien-Hue and Ha Long Bay before leaving for Hong Kong. The SeaBourn Pride anchored in Da Nang and Ha Long Bay before also leaving for Hong Kong today.

The Italian-flagged Costal Classica dropped anchor at Lotus Port in HCM City and its 2,500 passengers visited HCM City and My Tho. It later went to Da Nang, Hue, and Ha Long before leaving on Wednesday.

Plan to attract Japanese investment

Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Nam provinces and Da Nang plan to set up a joint representative office in Japan as part of a programme to attract Japanese tourists to Viet Nam.

Travel firms, Vietnam Airlines, and a Japanese organisation have pledged support, and the office is expected to open later this year.

"We want to open it soon since Japan is among our important markets," said Tran Quoc Thanh, deputy director of Thua Thien-Hue Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Regional countries to produce 3D tour

Viet Nam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar will jointly produce a documentary titled Four Countries – One Destination to promote their tourism industry.

It will make use of 3D filming to depict the countries' history, culture, and daily life.

It will focus on exotic destinations like the Temple of Literature, Thang Long royal citadel, and handicraft villages in Ha Noi, the Mekong River, the ancient capital of Luang Prabang, and Thap Luang in Laos, Angkor Wat, the ancient capital of Angkor Thom, and Sea Lake in Cambodia, and the Shwe Dagon pagoda, ancient capital of Mandalay, and Bagas city in Myanmar.

First helicopter tour takes off

An MI 172 helicopter took off from Da Nang Airport last week with 24 tourists on board to popular sites like Son Tra Beach, Mount Ngu Hanh Son, Cua Dai Beach, and Cham Island.

It was the first helicopter tour conducted by the Northern Air Services Co and the Vitours. In the beginning, besides the Russian-made MI 172, a French EC 155B1 will also be used for the tours.

There will be a flight each before and after Tet, with each tourist paying nearly VND6 million (US$300).

Phan Thiet offers Tet festivities

Phan Thiet will hold a series of cultural and sports events from January 30 to February 8 to mark the Lunar New Year in early February.

There will be music performances, sports, folk games, and lion dances in most of the city's 16 wards.

The Bien Xanh theatre group will hold music galas in the communes of Tien Thanh, Phong Nam, and Thien Nghiep.

Tien Loi - Tien Thanh Tourist Park will have a fireworks display on New Year's Eve on February 2.

A boat race will be held on the Ca Ty River on the February 4 and the Mui Ne Sand Hill Run will be held two days later.

Furama Resort to hold Tet market

The five-star Furama Resort Da Nang will organise a Tet market for tourists from January 27 to 30, offering guests the experience and colour of a Vietnamese country market and craft village.

They can witness people making banh chung (square glutinous cake with green bean and pork), fortune tellers in traditional costumes in action, and ong do (calligraphers) drawing "parallel sentences" and creating Dong Ho folk paintings. — VNS

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Their time to shine

Lakeside: Ho Guom (Sword Lake) by HCM City Fine Arts College lecturer Le Xuan Chieu. Talk to the hand: Toi Dang Lang Nghe (I Am Listening) by Tran Thi Ngoc Linh, a student at the HCM City Fine Arts College.

HCM CITY — A group of 52 artists from HCM City is presenting an overview of current lacquer paintings at their exhibition at the HCM City Fine Arts College.

Son Mai Sai Gon 2011 (Sai Gon Lacquer) features more than 50 works in different styles, using the traditional material of lacquer.

Being a native of northern province of Ha Tay (now part of Ha Noi), the influence of Le Xuan Chieu's birthplace can be seen in his art works.

The lecturer of the city's Fine Arts College's highlighted work is Ho Guom (Sword Lake), featuring Vietnamese girls in traditional costume ao dai (traditional long dress) at Ho Guom, a landmark of Ha Noi.

Like Chieu, landscapes and beautiful women are also sources of inspiration of veteran artists like 83-year-old Hoang Tram's Ha Long (Ha Long Bay) and Ca Le Dung's Xom Cau Van (Cau Van Village).

This year's exhibition features works of artists born in the 1980s, including students of the city's Fine Arts College Tran Thi Ngoc Linh and Vu Thi Thuy Dung.

The youngest participant, Linh of the college, brings a modern breath and image to her lacquer work. Linh's Toi Dang Lang Nghe (I Am Listening) portrays a girl in modern clothes listening to music with an earphone.

Held for the first time last year, the event falls on December 21 of the lunar calendar, the day that honours the memory of the ancestor who founded Vietnamese lacquer-making.

The exhibition remains open until February 12 at the Applied Arts Gallery at HCM City Fine Arts College, 5 Phan Dang Luu Street, Binh Thanh District. — VNS

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Artist donates sketches to Hue

Fantastic cat: Four of 12 cat sketches that artist Le Ba Dang has donated to Hue. .

HUE — Paris-based Vietnamese artist Le Ba Dang has donated his unique collection of 12 cat sketches to the city of Hue on the occasion of Viet Nam's Year of the Cat.

The collection will be displayed at Le Ba Dang Arts Centre, 15 Le Loi Street.

The paintings, many dating back to the 1950's, are typical of the first works Dang sold in Paris. Drawn in a Chinese calligraphy style, the ink portraits depict inquisitive, agile cats.

Dang decided he'd try drawing small sketches of cats to sell. He sold over 160 paintings in the first month and after expanding his work to ceramic plates, the business provided his family with a steady income for the next five years.

Dang, who was born in the central province of Quang Tri in 1921, immigrated to Paris in 1939. He joined resistance forces to fight fascism in France but was captured by the Germans and held as a prisoner of war.

After the war, he studied at the Toulouse Arts Institute and became famous across Europe.

He held his first exhibition in Paris in 1950 and in 1989, he was honoured by the International Institute of Saint-Louis, USA. He was also awarded the Culture and Arts Medal by the French government in 1994. — VNS

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Photos spotlight tourist attractions

HCM CITY — Two hundred photographs by journalists working for tourism publications are on display at an exhibition that opened in HCM City on Wednesday.

Sac Xuan Du Lich 2011 (Spring Colours in Tourism) marks the first anniversary of the HCM City Photographers Club, and has colour and black-and-white photos taken last year by 21 members depicting landscapes, people, and other images that attracted the photographers.

La Quoc Khanh, deputy director of the HCM City Culture, Sport and Tourism Department, thanked them for their contribution in showcasing the multi-colours and diversity of HCM City and also the country to both domestic and international audiences.

The exhibition, at the Journalists Association's office in District 1, will go on until February 10.

Last year club members held a photo exhibition in February to mark the 1,000th anniversary of capital Ha Noi last year and another themed HCM City – 24 Hours in April.

An exhibition titled Truong Sa Ngay Nay (Truong Sa Nowadays) by Hoang Chi Hung, the club's head, last August raised VND200 million (US$10,000) for soldiers on Truong Sa (Spratly) Island. — VNS

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Veteran cai luong artist dies at 74

Song in his heart: Performer Tan Tai. — VNS File Photo

HCM CITY—Veteran traditional performer Tan Tai, one of the southern region's most talented cai luong artists, passed away at his home from illness on Wednesday in HCM City.

Born in 1938 in An Giang Province's Nui Sap District, Tai, whose real name was Le Tan Tai, was a primary teacher after school, but he loved singing tai tu (a kind of Southern traditional music) when he was a child.

He began his theatre career as a cai luong (reformed opera) performer in 1962. Travelling across the region, Tai worked for leading cai luong troupes, including Buom Vang, Da Ly Huong, Hau Giang and Kim Chung.

After four years of performing professionally, he won the Thanh Tam Prize, the city award for the year's best cai luong artists.

From1962 to 1975 he worked with music producers in Sai Gon, now HCM City, to record more than 1,000 tai tu songs and perform as a leading character in 500 cai luong plays, playing an important role in preserving and developing the art.

In 1964, he opened his own troupe called Thu Do, attracting young performers.

He was honoured with the title "King of cai luong recording" by music producers and fans.

After 1975, he worked for the Hau Giang Cai Luong Troupe then in 1990, he started work as a guest artist for the city's Tran Huu Trang Theatre.

A prolific performer, Tai devoted his life to cai luong, which celebrates the culture and lifestyle of Vietnamese people in the south.

The performer's funeral will be held on Monday at the Nghe Si (Artists) Temple in Go Vap District. — VNS

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The Rice That Cures

Medicinal properties and remedies of sticky rice

Sticky rice, or glutinous rice, is a staple food of Vietnamese people, second only to plain rice. Sticky rice is also used as a main ingredient for various kinds of cakes and sweet soups.
In traditional Vietnamese medicine, sticky rice is considered to be sweet and warm, and good for the stomach. It is therefore used to refresh the body and treat asthenia, diarrhea and stomach inflammation and ulcers.

Cooked sticky rice

Simmer a little ng sâm (Codonopsis pilosula), jujubes and purified sugar; cook sticky rice and serve it in a dish; put the simmered ng sâm and jujubes onto the cooked sticky rice and then add the broth. Eat this dish to treat tiredness, sleeplessness, anorexia and edema.

Sticky rice cooked with mc nh (cloud ear fungus – Auricularia polytricha) is good for blood cells and thus can help prevent the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Regular intake of sticky rice cooked with mung beans (Vigna radiata) is good for the blood circulation, urination and the eyes. Mung bean-sticky rice is also a laxative. It is a food of choice for those in their convalescence period, or those with nearsightedness.

Sticky rice cooked with pumpkin is good for those with diabetes, as it delays the carbohydrate absorption of the body. Intake of the pumpkin-sticky rice is also recommended to detoxify the body and prevent colon cancer for the elderly.

Sticky rice cooked with sweet potatoes is good for the kidneys, blood circulation and digestive system. Intake of sweet potato-sticky rice can help lower the cholesterol level in the blood and prevent the risks of constipation, rectum cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

Sticky rice cooked with taro (Colocasia esculenta) can help detoxify the body and facilitate urination. It is a digestive food and is thus good for those with indigestion or intestinal disorders.

Sticky rice porridge

Prepare porridge with sticky rice, u en (literally means black beans), or catjang (Vigna cylindrica), and jujubes. Eat this porridge once or twice a day to treat anemia due to iron deficiency.

Grind sticky rice and cook it into a thin porridge; add honey and eat it a few times a day to relieve nausea and vomiting. This soup is also good for bile production.

Roast sticky rice and then simmer it with a little fresh ginger and water. Drink the broth during the day to cure nausea and vomiting.

The thin porridge prepared with sticky rice and jujubes is recommended to be eaten once or twice a day by herbalists to treat stomach inflammation and ulcers.

Prepare porridge with sticky rice and lotus seeds. Intake of the porridge in the morning and evening is recommended for those with asthenia or in their convalescence period.

Cook porridge with sticky rice and mung beans. Eat the porridge every day to support the treatment of diabetes.

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Saigonese Wherea bouts During Tet

As Tet (Lunar New Year festival) is in the air, discover some places of choice of the Saigonese when they are celebrating their traditional festival

Several years ago, the Weekly featured a photo essay one picture of which showed an expatriate was jogging right in front of the downtown Ben Thanh Market during the morning rush hour. Normally, it isn’t either the right place or the right time for that type of sport. But in this particular case, the expat could go jogging because he made it in the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Among the unusual things about Saigon during Tet is that this most populous city in Vietnam becomes unbelievably quiet and less crowded. Traditionally, Tet lasts three days, and thus the phrase ba ngày Tt (the three days of Tet) has been so common in Vietnam. In fact, Vietnamese have longer holidays for Tet. This year, State-employees, particularly those working in administrative agencies, will enjoy an eight-day Tet, the longest days off work in recent years.

HCM City is home to 7.2 million people with a family book (official registration). Nobody can state exactly the city’s transient population. But according to estimates, it is sure to surpass the 1-million level. So, where would those 8 million-plus Saigonese go during Tet because if they all stay inside Saigon, the streets will not be so deserted?

As is their custom, many Vietnamese return to their birthplace or the place where their parents live during Tet. Going back home to the provinces is therefore an intrinsic need of people who come to HCM City to work. With very few exceptions, visiting workers or temporary dwellers leave the city for their birthplaces on Tet holidays. On their same bus, railway coach or flight are also those Saigonese still feeling the urge to return to the provinces. At a guess, therefore, more than 1 million will be on their way out of the city.

Take to the streets during the few hours prior to the time the Lunar New Year arrives and you’ll see that it is the period the streets become most desolate. As a tradition, everybody has to return home to wait for New Year’s Eve. Then family members will get together before the altar in the house to worship their ancestors. Because everyone tries to get home to welcome the first moments of the New Year, very few are outside.

But this picture will change dramatically as soon as the clock strikes 12 to mark the New Year’s arrival. The streets then become crowded again, especially those streets leading to pagodas. Many Saigonese (and Vietnamese) keep the habit of visiting a pagoda immediately after midnight on New Year’s Eve, believing that their prayers at pagodas during the first hours of the New Year will bring them what they expect.

As many Saigonese come home at dawn, the whole city wakes up very late in the morning of the first day of the New Year.

Traffic is still light until nine or 10 o’clock. Those who take to the streets are on their way to pagodas where they will pray for health, wealth and luck in the new year. During the first days of the New Year, pagodas—big and small in town—are much frequented by Saigonese. The most famous names in this regard include Vinh Nghiem and Xa Loi pagodas in District 3, Tinh Xa Trung Tam in Binh Thanh District, and Nam Thien Nhat Tru in Thu Duc District, to name just a few.

As much frequented as, if not more, pagodas by Saigonese are recreational facilities and public places. Topping the list of the indispensable names is Nguyen Hue Flower Street. For the past few years, the flower street has become a brand name for HCM City in the Tet festival. During the week-long event, which is slated for Jan. 31-Feb. 6, sections of Nguyen Hue and other streets in the neighborhood will be turned into pedestrian areas. This year, flower displays and other shows and activities are expected to attract more than 1 million visitors.

Comparable to Nguyen Hue Flower Street is Tao Dan Park where Spring Flower Festival is held. The park in District 1 has established itself as a magnet to those Saigonese who seek places of fun to entertain themselves and their loved ones.

Amusement parks are also attractions to Saigonese during Tet. Suoi Tien and Dam Sen are outstanding venues. Suoi Tien Theme Park in District 9 is a favorite place for visitors, especially families with young children. During the Tet festival last year, Suoi Tien welcomed 800,000 visitors. The same number of visitors is expected this year.
What else aside from pagodas and theme parks?

A considerable number of residents in Saigon plan their tours during Tet, making the festival a peak time for tour operators. Of the domestic trips, pilgrimage tours are among the most frequently booked. Huong Pagoda on the outskirts of Hanoi, Yen Tu Pagoda in Quang Ninh Province, the Temple of Hung Kings in Phu Tho Province and Chua Ba Pagoda in An Giang Province are the favorite destinations.

Although smaller in number, some Saigonese, in particular those under forty of age, can afford overseas tours.
Saigonese holidaymakers during Tet will return home fresh and energetic to get ready for the year ahead. The first of January marks a new calendar year. But to Saigonese, and Vietnamese as well, a new bustling year starts only after Tet holidays.

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