CONTENT No 6, VOL.7, DECEMBER 2017 - JANUARY 2018
6 Expelling the evil spirit RITUAL
8 A gift of words 10 Hair washing ritual of the Thai people
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NATURE
12 The flower village 14 A cave that makes gods forget the way back to heaven SPORTS
16 Full of country vigor, horses race in spring RELIGION
18 Chinese chief lord of morality and fortune worship pedat Nhi Phu clubhouse PEOPLE
20 A Nhu - The artist of the forest 22 Highly dynamic artist makes perfectly still sculptures CRAFTS
28 The way Danang people love stones AGRCULTURE
32 Green flakes of sticky fairy rice 34 Stone house village by famous rock formations FISHING
38 The big catch 46 EVENT 48 DIRECTIONS Cover photograph:
Choreographed and performed by Sung A Lung. Photo by Hoang Trung Thuy
Published by the Cultural Heritage Association of Vietnam
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Expelling the evil spirit
The shaman comes out in the dim light of an eerily silent scene. His body shakes as he deliriously chants something unclear. Suddenly he leaps up, falls and staggers in strange postures and motions. He spreads white powder to see capture the footprints of ghosts. He plays a flute to lure wandering spirits. A deadly fight follows. Finally, when everything is over, the shaman re-spreads the powder to remove the traces of what happened. Sung A Lung blends inspiration from spiritual life of the highlands and knowledge from his maternal grandfather, who was a shaman, into a dance full of emotions, to cast an unforgettable spell of a mystical world.
Choreographed and performed by Sung A Lung A number in the 5th Ho Chi Minh City Dance Festival, Nov 23, 2017 at Bong Sen Theater.
RITUAL
T A gift of words TEXT BY MY HANH PHOTOS BY LAI DIEN DAM
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hough not an obligatory rite, asking for and giving written words is a cultural feature of the New Year celebration, especially popular in the cities. Morning on the 9th day of New Year at the Temple of Truong Han Sieu, a famous scholar in Ninh Binh, I saw a lot of people offering incense, begging for good fortune and asking for written words. 80year-old Mr Trinh Dinh Bao came with a grandson from Ninh Phuc Commune, Ninh Binh City and told me that in the days of his youth, the
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custom of asking for written words was very inspirational and popular. People take home the written words they are given to hang on the most visible place on the walls as mottoes for the family members to follow, to remind them to do the right things and improve themselves in the spirit of those words. This year, Mr Bao asked for the word ‘Heart’ to worship because he believes the heart is the origin of human deeds. A good heart motivates good deeds and brings success and everything one wishes for.
RITUAL
As a part of their New Year’s celebration Vietnamese people have an age-old custom of asking for and giving written words.
Ms Le Kim Son from Khanh Trung Commune, Yen Khanh District, a teacher at the vocational college Lilama I, holds a word ‘Peace’ waiting for the ink to dry. She happily shares that as an educator she values literacy and wishes for a peaceful life. The word ‘Peace’, simple though it may seem, includes big aspirations about a peaceful, settled life, security and certainty in everything. People asking for written words belong to all ages, all professions. They come from all walks of life. Those of mature age ask for ‘Heart’, ‘Righteousness’, ‘Patience’. Young souls ask for ‘Fame’, ‘Charm’, ‘Piety’, ‘Loyalty’. Students want ‘Light’, ‘Excellence’, ‘Intellect’, ‘Ambition’. For parents they wish ‘Heart’, ‘Health’, ‘Peace’. For the elderly it’s definitely ‘Tranquility’, ‘Godsend’, ‘Longevity’. Businesspeople value ‘Godsend’, ‘Honor’, or ‘Prosperity’. Each word can suit a person, a situation, a job, a sentiment, a desire, a secret wish, or a state of mind, a moral for oneself and for one’s descendants to live up to. Each word takes less than a minute to write, and a lot more time to dry. But everybody waits patiently and happily till it’s absolutely dry before going home.
The givers put their whole self into each meticulous and virtuoso stroke of the brush, to make the letters full of spirit, matching the meaning it carries. The words given are usually written on red or pink papers, the colors of good luck. Depending on the word to be written, the writer uses black Chinese ink or gold emulsion to accentuate its meaning for the person who asks for it. To His Venerable Thich Minh Quang who spent 30 years studying Mandarin Chinese, a Doctor of Philosophy and member of China’s Association of Calligraphers, it’s best to use the first brushstroke of spring to convey the simplest, deepest wishes and bring hopes to people. I hope that in the coming years, this refined and meaningful tradition will be maintained and spread over again. It is a soft manifestation of the fact that the hectic rush of everyday life will not make people forget about the good New Year customs. n *The article in Vietnamese version was printed on www.pgvn.vn, 21 February, 2013
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RITUAL
HAIR WASHING RITUAL OF THE THAI PEOPLE TEXT BY LE HOA KHANH; PHOTOS BY PHUNG CHI
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egends have it that once upon a time, there was a Thai female warlord named Lady Han, who defeated northern invaders on the eve of a new year. Coming home from the battle field, Lady Han told her troops and the people to rinse their heads in the river to celebrate the victory and the New Year. They met the New Year with high spirits and serenity, a happy state of mind they had never felt before. Since then, to celebrate the lady warrior who taught them the way to dispel bad luck and attract good fortune, Thai people have their hair washing ritual every New Year’s Eve.
RITUAL
In the hair washing celebration, Thai people worship Lady Han and make offerings to the god of the mountains. After that, they enjoy Thai dances which are widely famous today, and traditional games such as tug of war and pole push. This hair washing ritual, called ‘Lung Ta’ in Thai, is very important to Thai people. As an expression of loyalty and gratitude to their ancestors and traditions, and a means of communication with the spiritual world, it is a uniquely Thai ethnic and cultural feature. Today, in many places such as Phu Yen District of Son La Province, Muong Lay of Dien Bien Province, Muong Te of Lai Chau Province... Thai people still preserve the Hair Washing Ritual. Perhaps Quynh Nhai District of Son La Province is one of the places where the ritual is the most vibrant, attracting more tourists than the others. The shaman and many families at Quynh Nhai begin the preparations a few weeks before the ritual date. Women wash rice to get a white liquid, which they put in big jars and leave to ferment for over a week. On the eve of the lunar New Year, hundreds of people gather at a village square. When the drums and gongs announce the time, the shaman, dressed
in his traditional outfit, leads a procession of folks carrying jars of fermented rice water and fresh green tree branches. At the bank of the Da River, they divide in to two groups. The men and boys go upstream and stand about 50m from the group of women and girls. The shaman begin the ritual, praying to heaven, earth and other gods, asking them to dispel the old and bad things and cast good omen over the community. Prayers read, drums and gongs announce it is time now for the hair wash. People walk down from the bank and bend down over the water. Women unpin their meter-long hair and let it fall bobbing on the water, a mesmerizing sight Then they use the branches to sprinkle water on their head, at the same time praying for the bad things to vapor away. After that, they pour the fermented rice water on their head and pray for health and happiness in the coming year. Finally, they wash clean all their clothes before leaving for home. Thai people believe that failing to have their hair washed on the New Year’s Eve means not having washed away bad moods, bad feelings, bad emotions, which may remain and bring bad luck, diseases and bad business in the coming year. n DECEMBER 2017-JANUARY 2018
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NATURE
The
Flower Village BY NHUT TRANG
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Photo: Hieu Minh Vu
a Dec City, Dong Thap Province, has long been famous as a ‘flower source’ for Southwestern provinces and Ho Chi Minh City. Close to lunar New Year, more and more tourists and flower buyers add heat to the flamboyant whirl of
colors. Old local documents say that the city, formed over 250 years ago, has become famous for supplying flowers to many destinations at home and abroad. In 1867, southern governor L. A. Bonard signed the decree of establishment of Sa Dec county. Since that time, flowers followed the French to this land and it gradually became the flower garden of the South of Vietnam. One can’t talk about Sa Dec flowers without mentioning artisan Tu Ton. Mr Tu Ton is one of the descendants of the generations of ornamental plant growers, who made the name of the Tan Quy Dong Flower Village of Sa Dec known far and wide.
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Photos: Le Huu Thiet
At first, Sa Dec Flower Village was limited to Mr Tu Ton’s garden and those of a few neighboring households. They had only a few varieties of roses growing on a total area of several thousands square meters. From around 1958, more than 100 rose species were imported to Sa Dec from France, and Mr Tu Ton has selected and acclimatized over 50 of them. The roses Mr Tu Ton grows and looks after are no less glamorous than their cousins from the western countries. Today, the flower business is no longer restricted to Tan Quy Dong Village. It has spread to the neighboring wards and communes, forming the Sa Dec flower community with more than 1,900 households, having 485ha of gardens and over 2,000
species of flowers and ornamental trees, supplying many regions in the country and exporting to Laos, Cambodia and China. Not only famous for the flowers, Sa Dec is also home to many rare ornamental plants, some of which are a century old. Each posture, shape and stance represents a value of Oriental culture and philosophy. Many of the plants such as star fruit, betel, apricot, pine, conifer and bailey are very ordinary, close to our everyday life, but in the hands of the masters have become great and unique works of art. The colors and perfume of the flowers here are present in dwellings, offices, theaters, cultural centers and parks, turning Sa Dec Flower Village into a true tourist attraction. n DECEMBER 2017-JANUARY 2018
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A cave that makes gods forget the way back to heaven TEXT BY NGUYEN HOA; PHOTOS BY THANH VUONG
f you are planning on a trip to Quang Binh Province, a land of splendid caves, do not miss the ‘Cave of Fairies’, Cao Quang Commune, Tuyen Hoa District. The cave, about 70km northwest of PhongNha Cave, was discovered by members of the British Royal Caving Association in 1994. But it became a tourist destination only in 2016 as soon as Mr Howard Limbert from the British Royal Caving Association told the press the ‘Cave of Fairies’ is the most beautiful among the 57 caves of Quang Binh Province discovered in a weeks-long expedition in Phong Nha – Ke
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Bang National Park and the surrounding areas. Locals have given it the rather ornate name of the ‘Cave of Fairies’, due to a legend which says that since the beginning of time, fairies have come here to contemplate the beauty of the stalactites and forget the way home. Today, it is considered a place to conduct spiritual rituals to pray for rain and peaceful life. The ‘Cave of Fairies’ has two branches including ‘Cave of Fairies 1’ and ‘Cave of Fairies 2’. The area between of them is a pristine forest with age-old trees. The two caves are the last two
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Hanoi
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of Tu Lan cave system. Both of them are dry during the dry season and have creeks inside during the rainy season. Plants grow lush at the well-lit main entrance area. Wild trees growing among mythical-looking stalagmites and stone scales make it an absolutely surreal world. The 3km long, nearly 50m wide magnificent cave with 70 100m high vault looks like a royal palace. Its walls and ceiling are majestically decorated with black and white limestone stalactites. Mysterious stalagmites crowd the cave floor, looking like the fairies that came here a long time ago and have forgotten the way
Quang Binh
The People’s Committee of Quang Binh Province has agreed to allow Oxalis Adventure Tours to organize tours (at most 3 per week) to the ‘Cave of Fairies’. No tour is allowed from mid September to the end of November, which is the rainy season when the cave may be flooded. Guests must be 16 or older, have good health and basic trekking skills. One-day tours take 2-12 persons, cost VND2,000,000 ($100)/person and consist of 8km trekking in forest trails and caves. Two-day, one-night tours take 2-10 persons, cost VND6,500,000 ($295)/person and consist of 13.5km trekking in forest trails and caves.
home back to heaven. Mr Chau A, the owner and General Director of Oxalis Adventure Tours, said: ‘The entrance to ‘Cave of Fairies 2’ is quite small (3 meters high, 1.5 meters wide), so there is often strong and rather cold wind blowing through. Though the outside temperature may be 380C, people can barely stand for 10 minutes at the entrance due to the strong and cold gusts of wind. When visiting Tu Lan Caves travelers must swim through water. At the ‘Cave of Fairies’, however, they can walk through streams. If they choose to, swimming in the lake is possible.’ n DECEMBER 2017-JANUARY 2018
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FULL OF COUNTRY VIGOR, HORSES RACE IN SPRING
SPORTS
TEXT BY KHANH LE; PHOTOS BY NGUYEN TRAN VY
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n hilly Phu Yen province, horses have been pooling carts to transport farm produce since the dawn of time. And every year on the 9th day of the 1st lunar month, the petite ponies and their masters gather at the Thi Thung earthen hill of An Xuan Commune, Tuy An District to take part in a flamboyant race, a lungful of country vigor.
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Thi Thung hill is about 15km west of Chi Thanh Township of Tuy An District, and about 45km northwest of Tuy Hoa City, Phu Yen Province. A tradition since the French colonial times, Thi Thung hill horse races in recent years have become more and more gay, attracting more and more racers and audience.
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People begin to call each other merrily starting in the early morning of the 9th day of the New Year. At about 8.30 a.m., as the drum beats announce the start, the horses plunge forward, raising a huge cloud of dust. The sound of the drums and the cheering of the crowd echo back from faraway mountains. The racing horses are not the big and tall kind as in
the race courses, but the type of pack-horses farmers use to transport their goods. Riding them are young farmers who work their fields all year round, not professional jockeys. Prizes include a small amount of money and some souvenirs. But this is one of the most popular festive events in mid-Vietnam during New Year holidays. n
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RELIGION
The statue of Chief Lord of Morality and Fortune
CHINESE CHIEF LORD OF MORALITY AND FORTUNE WORSHIP PEDAT NHI PHU CLUBHOUSE
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A procession marching to the shrine
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TEXT AND PHOTOS BY THAI HOA
mong the deities worshipped by the Chinese in Ho Chi Minh City, perhaps the Chief Lord of Morality and Fortune is the most revered and followed. This god is the guardian of land, and protector of ‘safe residence and prosperous business’ of the Chinese community in the new home land. So, all Chinese worship him. Whether for a sick kin, a child facing an exam, a marrying daughter, a son joining the army, or in cases of losses and accidents, for every matter they come to the Chief Lord of
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Morality and Fortune, begging for peace and good fortune. Builders of houses, roads, bridges, hotels and offices, pray and consecrate to him every time they break the ground for a new construction in hopes that the work will be smooth, people safe and the structures strong. In Ho Chi Minh City, the oldest and biggest shrine of Chief Lord of Morality and Fortune is the Nhi Phu shrine in District 5, also called shrine of Lord Bon. The shrine holds the votive tablets of ‘Great Ba Cong’. According to a member of the
RELIGION
People offering incense to the lord
managing board of the shrine, Great Ba Cong, or the Chief Lord of Morality and Fortune, is actually Chau Dat Quan, a real historical figure of China. The wooden 1.5m high statue of Chief Lord of Morality and Fortune resides in the main compartment of the shrine. The Lord sits on a throne, one hand on the chair and the other stroking his beard. The side compartments are dedicated to Lord Quang Trach and Lord Thai Tue. The Chief Lord of Morality and Fortune is celebrated on the 15th day of the 1st and 8th lunar months, believed to be his birthday and the day he died. The biggest festivities take place on the 15th of the 1st lunar month. Early in the morning on the day of the main events, offerings get readied and offered to the Lord of Land. These include a goat and a pig (already gutted and cleaned), a roasted pig, two boiled chickens and a pair of boiled ducks, fishes, stuffed buns, fruits and flowers, votive money and dresses and three cups of tea and three glasses of wine, all beautifully arranged on the altar. The incense offering ritual of the managing board lasts about 10 minutes. After that, the offerings are quickly moved to the kitchen to get
prepared to treat visitors. A band with old instruments, drums and bells begins playing, making the atmosphere warm, happy and unifying. At about 10-11 a.m., Phu Nhi shrine becomes even more boisterous as a procession heads in to kowtow to the Lords. There is always such a procession on both the 15th day of the 1st and 8th lunar months. Hundreds of people march on the streets from Chau Van Liem to Lord Bon shrine, carrying many typical cultural attributes of the community. The rest of the time, from the afternoon till night, the managing board receives visitors who come to make offerings, and worship and meet up with people. In the clubhouse courtyard, they conduct rituals and prayers to heaven and earth, and artists perform a lion dance, songs and dances, variety shows, attracting tens of thousands of enthusiasts and onlookers. n DECEMBER 2017-JANUARY 2018
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A Nhu
The artist of the forest BY HONG THUY TIEN
e manages to remain so elusive in this age of global connection through IT, cell phones and the internet. In this era of flattened world and greatly reduced distances, differences in geography, lifestyle and customs become even more prominent, and meeting this ‘surreal’ character, who lives a hermit-like life with a quiet and modest but no less zealous passion for the game of colors becomes even more urgently desirable. He, A Nhu, the artist of the forests,
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Artist A Nhu and his painting Photo provided by Hong Thuy Tien
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son of the Xe Dang, son of the majestic Ngoc Linh mountain remains so unassuming even though he is the very first ethnic Xe Dang artist to have his paintings exhibited in Tay Nguyen region and around the country. Under the bridge of Dak Mong Village, Dak Tram Commune, Dak To District of Kon Tum Province, his rustic wooden house looks painted by time. The tall slim man with high forehead, deep set eyes, gentle smile and long hair coiled in a bun behind his head immediately evokes a
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warm sense of good will and trust. A Nhu was born in 1957 in DakbLai Village of Tu Mo Rong District, behind the pass of Falling Bamboo Shoots (it’s so rough that the bamboo shoots fall from the highlanders’ back packs,) a Gate to Heaven away from where he lives now. His birthplace is truly the most desolate district of Kon Tum Province, in the deepest recess of North Tay Nguyen, at the foot of Ngoc Linh mountain, the highest (2,598m) in the Truong Son range. These details of his background
PEOPLE explain the sense of deep origin and the vibrant non-awareness that flicker in his paintings which intensely reflect the everyday life of his own people, their spirit, community and customs amongst the paddies, mountains and forests. As a child he began drawing with black charcoal from the kitchen and little twigs. This innate talent, this exquisiteness could perhaps build up and flourish even more had that incident not happened. The fiery summer of 1972, in the frying pan of Dak To – Tan Canh, battles raged in his rugged native land under heavy rains of bullets and bombs, and ‘stray’ bomb shrapnel cut away his golden right hand. He had but the left hand left to hold the painting tools. A Nhu revealed, ‘For a long time I had nightmares, screamed and started in my sleep. I had difficulties in everything I did, had to learn to do everything. Sometimes I thought I was disabled and just wanted to cry...’ A blessing event changed his fate. In 1977, artist Xu Man of Bahnar ethnicity, a massive figure in the highland art community, in a trip with his students looking for real life inspiration, has discovered A Nhu, a young man with great passion and talent. A Nhu followed his teacher Xu Man to the vocational school of the then Gia Lai – Kon Tum province and studied there from 1977 to 1983. Since then he discovered different aspects of the kind of art that he wanted to pursue. Initiative and creativity that came out of his loving heart have blown spirituality and spine into his every brush stroke. Living in desolate mountains, how did he manage to feed almost a dozen mouths and at the same time pursue what they call the ‘aristocratic’ game of the art world?
The recognized achievements of years of dedication and contribution to the arts helped A Nhu’s talent glow bright. A member of Kon Tum Association of Literature and Arts, he has been admitted to the Vietnam Association Ethnicities and Vietnam Association of Literature and Arts. Many of his paintings are hung in the Offices of the Vietnam Association of Literature and Arts, Association of Fine Arts, and even in Vietnam Museum of Arts. Stepping out of the forests and being social brought him chances of joint exhibitions, and his works got more exposure to art-loving audiences. And they, the fans of his art have also bought his work, as a show of appreciation and encouragement. But that is just like a grain of salt dropped in the A painting by artist A Nhu sea, and he, the poor artist, has Photo: Lai Huu Kim to postpone his projects to earn a living for his family. Passionate and dedicated to his art, A Nhu wants to travel and paint He laughed - it’s the land and the more, but tied up by poverty, he can only forest that took care of everything. Life is rough, and after so many years he amassed express it in austerely sad, longing eyes... Many things move people, making only less than a hundred paintings. them think and cherish. What I am He shared, ‘I used all the support describing is not just a portrait of a money of the Association of Literature and Arts to buy colors and canvas. In those character or a model of resilience and perseverance. times I worked with joy and inspiration. I I have seen lively cultural features in use mostly oil, but oil is so expensive I can strong, simple and confident lines and hardly afford. When it runs out, I use fresh, exuberant colors in his, artist A water color to satisfy my addiction. A Nhu’s paintings. personal exhibition is a beautiful dream, Artist A Nhu – the talented left hand too expensive that the thought of it alone painter – the son of Tay Nguyen mountains makes my heart sour...’ and forests goes on quietly and diligently How could it not be sour! In his less creating and recording images and cultural than twenty square meter dwelling, dark features of his Xe Dang people, and low, beside his paintings there are unmistakably recognizable, boisterous and only certifications of merit and plaques of modest, simple but not simplistic, appreciation. Even those are so valuable unaffected but affectionate – just like his that he hangs them in the best spots on own artistic personality. n his walls. DECEMBER 2017-JANUARY 2018
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Highly dynamic artist makes perfectly still sculptures INTERVIEW BY TRUONG KIM YEN
A portrait of ‘Ceramic Tuan’ by Hoang Tuong
Famously known by his nickname, ‘Ceramic Tuan’, the young artist, born in 1981 in Hai Duong, spent 14 years of his life in a village, creating a unique strain of ceramics that is rich in Buddhist elements, or a ‘Vietnamese sutra’ as an art critic and artist Le Thiet Cuong calls it. Having graduated from the Ceramic Department of the Hanoi School of Industrial Art in 2006, from 2008 he has had several impressive personal exhibitions: Human manuscript (2008), Feast of Art (2009), Nguyen Tuan’s Ceramics (2010), Migration (2013). In 2014 he joined the artists representing different strains of ceramics such as Nguyen Khac Quan, Le Quoc Viet, Nguyen Quang Thu and Pham Anh Dao in the Davines Art Series program, which is overseen by artist Le Thiet Cuong, on the theme Vietnamese Ceramic Art.
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An expert on many purely Vietnamese strains of ceramics, what brought you to Phu Lang ceramics and bonded all your young years with the village? Phu Lang’s land and people mesmerized me the very first time I put my feet on that soil. I was an art school student on a field trip. Phu Lang at the time was still very vibrant. The scenes of women gracefully shouldering loads of things in the fields, strong young men loading kneaded clay into kilns or carrying ceramics to the bazaar, fuming kilns, boats going back and forth busily in the Cau River, the hard and strong feel of the ceramics, the strong, pristine smell of clay and fuel wood...all of it excited me so. A prosperous, vibrant countryside by a river, a chance for me to learn about the trade and the materials for artistic creation, that’s all I needed. As a child, I always wished to have a piece of clay to knead. Now I can have a whole field of clay to play with. Love was ignited, and I pedaled long distances back to the village whenever I had spare time. In those days that you shared hardship with the pottery workers, what mementos helped form your artistic personality? I was almost expelled for skipping classes to go and learn the trade. Lucky me, my advisor appreciated my method of learning by doing, by living on the field with those who do it for a living. He defended me and made sure I was granted the right to
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graduate with a real product. I did not bury or waste my young years in the countryside. I learned my trade there. Many thought I was a village boy. Sure, I drank the water there; I even acquired the local accent. Our fates are predetermined. As my grandpa was an antique collector, I came to love ceramics since my childhood. The soil and ceramics here are extremely mystical and alluring. At that time, there were no roads to the big kilns. I had to swim across the river Cau to reach them. I stayed with each family for some time, sharing the workers’ meals and beds. It was quite hard. For that price, they loved me as one of their own. They generously taught me all their trade secrets. Our century-old ceramics remain so rare in the whole world. And our people made mostly jars, urns and ossuaries, rarely any elements of art. My obsession in those years was about learning to make ceramics and create new things of my own, things that only I can make. The idea of creating works of art seemed crazy to most pottery workers, until I met Mr Pham Thang, owner of a generations-old kiln, who understands the miracle of clay, water and fire. He joined my dance, facing all challenges to make oversized pieces with a lot of details. It’s not like sculpting at all, because ceramics are hollow. Finding the formula of materials and conditions for molding and baking, is a long process full of pain, failure and awakening. Those are the most valuable lessons to me.
Given the situation of the ceramic trade villages today, what worries you the most? Is it what motivated you to give a new life to Phu Lang ceramics, making it your life’s mission? The villages forget their traditions, looking for something new without any definite direction. Worse, they don’t believe in simple beauty anymore. Only the mud from the convex side of the river, mixed with charcoal, lime and rice husk ash in a certain proportion that only masters can feel can make the Phu Lang enamel colors. Mud of this same river but from another place would have a different spirit. The form can be bell-mouthed, bee-waisted, with a rope winding around or some modern deco element added. All goes well with the traditional eel skin enamel. But some learned nerds come from god knows where and tell folks here to use garish chemical colors and paint god knows what, destroying the inherent beauty of Phu Lang ceramics. Only knowing one’s own blood and bones and skin can one love and be oneself. Bringing the West closer to the East, expressing Buddhist dharma in colors of life, taking humans back to their pristine self ... is the art of your strain of ceramics a kind of ‘Vietnamese sutra’, perhaps? To use the language of Western forms on traditional materials of the East, I have chosen Phu Lang ceramics and the language of Buddhism to tell my story, to bring Buddhism nearer to the people. DECEMBER 2017-JANUARY 2018
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I am telling the story of society today with so many losses and damages that the soul has to endure. After 14 years of silent wandering around so many ceramics-making villages, flaring and subsiding, getting hurt and challenging the traditions again, in 2013 the exhibition at the National Museum of Art titled Migration was my pilgrimage to the Buddhist nature of humans. People seem to be scrambling against their own nature, against what used to be their best values, and the society piles materialistic waste upon human soul and body, fracturing human spirit. In this exhibition, I have found the infinitely strong but invisible tie between Buddha and the living world through the three compositions. ‘Bird-shaped Buddha’, ‘Plant soul’ and ‘Forest of Buddha’. Buddha takes a bird form to migrate to a different world because the Earth is getting more and more exhausted in the race with mankind, and perhaps one day, the human race will have to put its own name into the Red List. Plant soul and Forest of Buddha are nowhere far away as superstition points. Buddha is in every person’s self, in the plants and in everything around us.
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What thoughts, what emotions helped you remove the boundaries? Avoid looking for strange new things if they are detached from real life. My principle is to develop traditions based on traditions. And sometimes one has to have courage to discard some old traditions to build new ones. Would you share some technical secrets of how to make big ceramic sculptures with meticulous details and miens of utmost tranquility and purest innocence at the same time? At first, everybody found the idea completely...crazy! But we managed to do it, and even the village masters were astounded. We reversed not only the way of thinking, but the thousand-yearold procedures too. Instead of transporting the dried clay forms through the kiln mouth, we broke a big hole on the wall, moved the works of art in through it and then made a door to close it. Making hundreds of such big bird wings requires money, materials, strength and passion. My ceramic workshop is like a factory and everybody can visit it. Being highly dynamic helped make perfectly still works of art. The tranquility and innocence comes from the soil to the ceramics. The soil is where I plunged into, ate, lived and shared everything with the people and the spirit of Phu Lang. I encourage myself everyday by diligence, patience and determination. Being free to live with my own emotions was a process of hoarding I had to experience in order to succeed. What motto helped you pursue to the end the road you have chosen? Take the plunge while young, and overcome your own self. What makes you fear the most? Living without health and without love to artistic creation. What do you think of the beauty of love? There is no beauty of love. Love creates beauty. What is your biggest dream? To have a last exhibition in which each village will be represented by a ceramic sculpture. I want Vietnamese ceramics to manifest itself in every famous architectural achievement of the world. Coming to the Garden by the bay in Singapore, I only thought of very big sculptures. In my vision, the pure white beach of the bay was a roofed stadium which is a gallery of rows after rows of Phu Lang ceramic sculptures. That would be visually impressive! n Photos provided by Nguyen Tuan
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Aodai
MUSEUM
and a life’s story
‘Ao dai and a life’s story’ is the name of the on-going exhibition at Ao dai Museum in Ho Chi Minh City featuring 78 photo images of Madam Vi Kim Ngoc, the wife of late Prof. Nguyen Van Huyen, Minister of Education of Vietnam ( 1946-1975). The story was told by Mr Nguyen Van Huy *, the youngest son of Prof. Nguyen Van Huyen and Madam Vi Kim Ngoc, currently Director of Nguyen Van Huyen Museum.
rowing up, I was enlightened by one thing: My mother was a lover of beauty, with high selfesteem. Under any circumstance, be it the shortage of necessities for life, or the hardship during nine years in the remote areas in the mountains of North Vietnam or 10 years during the reform of the bourgeoisie or 12 years of a fierce war, with the daily roar of aircraft or the "time of eating wheat flour and barley" until she passed away, my mother had always reminded me of nourishing good behavior, and inside-out beauty. She often reminded her children and young people: if you fail to make yourself beautiful, and do not respect yourself, how can other people respect you in return? She handled haircare and makeup and dressed in a polite yet suitable way. She loved the Aodai. Her life was attached to the Aodai. Times changed, but the Aodai was always her hobby. She delicately amended the Aodai in line with the trends and always wore an appropriate one. Fortunately, my mother, Madam Vi Kim Ngoc, kept many photos of her life of 72 years. Connecting the photos over the years, we have the opportunity to understand more about a mother, a person who loved the Aodai. And also through the story of a person who understands the "spirit" of the Aodai in the lives of Hanoians.
Youth
My mother was born in Lang Son, a province bordering China. Her grandparents were from the coastal areas in
Hanoi friends were her peers—children of Mr. and Mrs. Nguyen Van Vinh, a well-known journalist and scholar at the time. Many family photos of this period showed that she often wore Aodai going out, visiting pagodas, historical sites, going to weddings or traveling to Phnom Penh or Angkor Wat. My mother wore a white or a black Aodai. She had a collection of Aodais in the 1920s-1930s as the traditional, then the new styles of aodais (high neck, low neckline), Cheongsam-style. (left photo)
The wedding
Van Phan, Nghe An Province. They followed King Le Loi for the struggle against China. Her grandfather then gained the title of Duke and the land of Loc Binh to inherit for all time. For five centuries their ancestors had mixed with local people to become the Tay ethnic minority. My grandfather, Vi Van Dinh, was a mandarin in Lang Son, Cao Bang then assigned to the provincial governor of Phuc Yen (1922), Hung Yen. At the age of seven, my mother, a young woman in the mountainous region, first came to live in the plains. My grandfather, on a weekly basis, would send my mother from Hung Yen to Hanoi to study and learn drawing. My mother began to interact with the culture of Hanoi. Her first
In the spring of 1936, my parents were married. At that time, my mother was the daughter of the governor of Thai Binh, and my father Nguyen Van Huyen, a young Hanoian, had returned home after nine years studying in France with a doctorate in literature and bachelor of law, a high and rare degree back then. My parents chose the traditional costume for their wedding, in a society where the trend was Western culture. When the groom's family came down to pick up the bride from Thai Binh, the bride was dressed in the trendiest fashion of the time: a robe and a royalpatterned Queen Nam Phuong-style wedding dress of vivid colors. The three bridesmaids and sisters of the mother were dressed in modern white robes. The wonderful contrast between the bride and the gorgeous costumes of the bridesmaids gracefully highlighted the solemnity of the wedding. The groom and his brothers and his nephews, the groomsmen, were all dressed in delicate Aodai with turbans.
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Madam Vi Kim Ngoc’s wedding. 1936
Following the custom of celebrating the second day of happiness, my parents chose to dress in a modern way to come back to Thai Binh to show respect to their parents. My father was wearing a black suit, white bow and mother wore her hair up, in a white dress with a bracelet. They managed to take a photograph of this important day.
Mother and child
In 1937 my mother gave birth to her first child. I am the youngest, born in 1945. My parents were joyful. At this time, my father focused his research on the history and culture of the nation in the École française d'Extrême-Orient. His salary was high enough to support his family, so my mother did not go to work but took care of the four of us at home. She often wore Aodais. She let my sisters wear traditional aodais, or European-style dresses from time to time. My parents’ nieces in the Nguyen family, the Vi family in Hanoi often wore Aodais. Perhaps we were the last generation in Hanoi to wear Aodais as a casual dress from a very young age. My eldest sister clearly remembered in a photograph taken before my father went to the Fontainebleau Conference in 1946. All three sisters, herself and Bich Ha and Nu Hieu, were dressed in red aodais and white silk trousers. My mother appreciated this photo and spoke of it as a very beautiful
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memory. My sister Hanh wrote about this in "Following Father’s Steps".
In the mountainous North Vietnam
During nine years living in the war zone, while in Phu Ninh, Phu Tho, or on evacuation to Chiem Hoa, Tuyen Quang, my mother cleverly arranged the family for my father, then Minister of Education, to have time to take care of the country’s mission. The intellectual families were close together. Although everyone was dressed in wartime clothes, they stood out with the elegance of the Hanoians. Leaving Hanoi late 1946, my mother brought along many of her aodais. Wartime offered very few chances to wear aodais, except for Tet holidays. Each time a photographer came, the families gathered as for a festival. Adults and children alike were given the opportunities to wear clothes brought along in suitcases from Hanoi. The desire to dress nicely, with Aodai and wartime clothes was reflected in these rare photos. At that time, we girls were growing up. Money for clothes was tight. My mother, however, cleverly cut the clothes for the children from her precious Aodais. "I still remember my mother selling her flowered aodais on Chiem Hoa Street. She would pick one, then another, take a few of them and then put the rest away. She told me about a memory with each aodai. Then there came
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the next time my family needed the money. My mother retained a gown, the inside of which was yellow, the chiffon blouse was red and the flowers were sewn on the occasion of my uncle Nguyen Manh Tuong's wedding. " (Following Father’s Steps) My aunt was married in 1951. Perhaps this was the only chance for everyone to dress up in aodais in a formal ceremony. My mother wore a delicate Aodai, the one worn on her own wedding day. This aodai was handled with care until my mother passed away. In 2005, we daughters decided to donate this aodai to the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology for long-term preservation.
Together again
In wartime, families were separated. Due to circumstances, some people left, some stayed in Hanoi, but the love never faded. My mother’s sister had to make a living by herself, and raising her kids in Hanoi. For nine years, their love was kept warm via letters with nicknames. Sometimes she sent "supplies" for two sisters in the forest. My mother wrote in her diary on the days of Geneva convention: "Oh, being apart for eight or nine years, expecting the reunion, my hair was already grey. The longawaited day was about to happen. My beloved Kim Yen, we sisters are about meet again. I miss you so. I long for it each day, to
Nation’s pride
reunite with my sisters. Kim Thanh was in deep water, I do not know if she can make it to the capital so that the four sisters can be together. I hope Kim Thanh can overcome all difficulties.� Nothing was happier than that reunion. Vi Kim Yen, Vi Kim Ngoc, Vi Kim Phu, with their husbands, children and grandchildren took photos of this memorable moment. The ladies wore formal Aodais. My mother regretted that her sister Vi Kim Thanh was not in the picture, but in return, she had the presence of her granddaughter in military uniforms.
Happiness
When the children grew up, the country again was enduring war. My sisters gradually married in 1965, 1966 and 1971. The wedding in wartime, though simply held at home, was made in a sacred and solemn atmosphere. Aodais were a concern for the brides. My mother advised the children to change their wedding attire with their own colors at times such as meeting with the gown’s family, or at the reception. She made Aodais for her children. My third sister, Nguyen Kim Nu Hieu, was fortunate to have a piece of flowered cloth, bought on a trip to China by her father, for her wedding aodai. Her mother gave her a fashionable vinilon cloth to make clothes for the wedding. But the wedding which was supposed to be crowded with relatives and friends did not take place due to the flood of 1971. The bride and groom and the family decided the wedding could be held with the presence of only two families. My sister
was wearing a flowered aodai as her wedding dress, and her vinilon dress, which was not used, was kept as her memory until now. My mother also bought two white sheets of white and red parements for aodais on my wedding day. My mother arranged the white aodai to be worn at the main ceremony, the red aodai at the home reception.
The exhibition “Ao dai and a life story� is held until 17 March 2018 at Ao Dai Museum, 206/19/30 Long Thuan, Long Phuoc Ward, District 9, Ho Chi Minh City. Opening hours: 8.30a.m. - 5.30p.m everyday except Monday Mobile: 0914726948 / 0914912 982
MUSEUM
From 1955 to 1975, as the minister’s wife, my mother would accompany my father in state celebrations such as the National Day of September 2nd, the ceremony to welcome the heads of state or high-ranking officials of the visiting countries or ambassadors. My mother would accompany my father to the international reception with the ladies of the ambassadors. My mother was always very thorough when it comes to dresses and makeup, as she thought her presence was not only personal but also a matter of national pride. She often chose Aodais to fit the seasons. When she went abroad with my father, she also brought some of the best aodais. "I wish my daughters, sons, sons-in-law and daughters-in-law live together as happily as we parents did, and at the same time, I hope you can hand the noble traditions down to your descendants. From generation to generation, it is a demand that you keep tradition in the family the way it was. "(My mother's will) * Mr Nguyen Van Huy is an ethnographer and has been pursuing museum work for more than 20 years. He has held such well-known exhibitions as Vietnam Genealogy (2001), Vietnam One Hundred Years of Weddings (2002), Vietnam - The journey of humans, spirit and soul (2004), The life of the Hanoians in the subsidy period (2006). He is currently Director of Nguyen Van Huyen Museum, former Director of the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology.
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CRAFTS
THE WAY DANANG PEOPLE LOVE STONES
L
TEXT BY THANH PHONG PHOTOS BY AN THANH DAT
ocated at the foot of Ngu Hanh Son (Five Finger Mount), marble sculpture trade village Non Nuoc (Mountain and Water) of Hoa Hai Commune, Ngu Hanh Son District, is considered the oldest and most famous trade village of Danang. Through 4 centuries of refinement, Non Nuoc pieces of stone art have taken a firm place in the market, at home and abroad. The main material for stone sculptures is marble, a noble specimen, with colorful veins, very suitable for construction and sculpturing. Available in Ngu Hanh Son mountain in large quantity, this stone takes hard work and knowledge to extract. Leading a team of marble miners is normally an experienced man of mature age, who can identify where to get high quality marble with elegant veins of beautiful colors. This man is usually called the ‘Martial Man’. Under the ‘Martial Man’s’ direction the team extracts stones of suitable size as ordered. ‘Letter Man’, who has years of experience in stone processing, will take over the materials
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CRAFTS
from the ‘Martial Man’s’ team. For each stone he cuts a base and identifies a starting point. Following his instructions, stone workers make a sketch on paper, and draw or print the figure to be made on the marble face. Then the rough cutting begins. As the desired figure is formed, the worker begins carving decorative patterns and designs, whetting and polishing. This meticulous part of the job, full of details, requires from the worker dexterity, skills and a keen sense of beauty. Looking at working sculptors, it seems that every move of the chisel, every strike of the hammer is full of love towards the insentient stones, and towards the ancestral traditions and trade. Marble products made by Non Nuoc villagers and masters are very diverse, including statues of Buddha, saints, humans, animals, and other adornment items. Each piece is a result of hard work and refinement of diligent and talented hands, reflecting moral, spiritual and cultural values of the local people. Historical records show that the marble sculpture trade village of Non Nuoc was formed in the XVIII century by a man named Huynh Ba Quat from Thanh Hoa. On his way looking for livelihood, Mr Quat
found beautiful stones at Non Nuoc. He tried carving them to make steles, grinders and mortars for rice, pepper and herbal medicines for sale. It was a success. The profitable trade grew quickly and Mr Quat began teaching it to his descendants and the folks around. In the Nguyen Dynasty era, Non Nuoc became a very prosperous and busy marble trade village. Currently, Non Nuoc has nearly 500 marble sculpting businesses with about 4,000 workers and many famous masters. Many families have been carving marble for seven, eight generations. Today, most of these businesses are located on Nguyen Duy Trinh and Princess Huyen Tran roads in the Ngu Hanh Son District. Visitors can’t help admiring the artisans’ skillful hands under which exotic beautiful souvenirs take shape. Better yet, the businesses here accept orders for sculptures of any size and weight, even large and heavy ones. A great many traders or tourists from Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, France, Canada, The Netherlands and US have come here to sign contracts ordering for products made at Non Nuoc marble village, many of which are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. n DECEMBER 2017-JANUARY 2018
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Cool in the shade BY HO DANG THANH NGOC
Dry bamboo pipes are strung together with a zinc thread. Photo: Ngoc Hai
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Painting on screen. Photo: Ngo Quang Duy An
orn and raised in Hue, I always felt I was living in a world of bamboo shades. Perhaps because the notion of feng-shui played a very important role in the lives of the people in Hue. Bamboo shades are hung in all old houses here. The shades shield from winds and blazing sun rays, and also have decorative value. These shades are made of whittled cylindrical lồ ô bamboo splints, the size of ordinary chopsticks, tied together with flax cords and coated with golden hairy leafed apitong oil to avoid getting mouldy. I remember in the 1970’s, people of the suburbs around Hue spent all their spare time weaving bamboo shades to protect their houses. The shades in the countryside are made of ordinary bamboo, with shorter sections, but more durable. They used cheap asphalt, or if they could afford it, translucent apitong oil to coat the shades. But these modest shades were no less effective in shielding from the cold drizzling winter weather. Nowadays the shades are used not only to shade but also to decorate. In a modern house, the coarseness of the bamboo suddenly creates the feeling of nature and intimacy. The faded color of the shade may be perfect behind a dark shining sofa. A half-sized screen in the middle of a room with high ceilings makes it feel so much cozier.
CRAFTS
Decorating with patterns on the screens. Photo: Vo Quoc Thanh
Coming later to the North, I discovered that the shade shop street of Hue, which is a section of Hang Be Street, is nothing compared to the Shade Shop Street of the old Thang Long. Among the 36 shop streets of Hanoi, one specialized in bamboo shades. The shades come from a place with a mythical name of Rung Manh (Shade Forest), which is actually a folkloric name of the village Gioi Te inside the country of folk songs in Bac Ninh Province. By hearsay, this place used to be a bamboo forest. As people came to settle here, it became known as the ‘fish bowl’ of the low lands. Every 7th lunar month when water overflows boundaries, and the whole region becomes a white sea of flood water, people weave bamboo baskets and creels and flock out to the fields to catch fish and prawns. Later they learned to make thicker screens to fence off the flies and mosquitoes. That’s how the shades came to being. Today, the At a workshop making bamboo shade in Tan Thong Hoi Commnue, Cu Chi Dist., HCMC. Photo: Ngoc Hai
Shade Forest has many lines of products which are sold everywhere. In the South, there are also many fabulous bamboo shade trade villages. Tan Thong Hoi Commune, Cu Chi District, Ho Chi Minh City, is known as the country’s leading producer of bamboo shades. Recently the name became known internationally when Tan Thong Hoi bamboo shades gloriously went abroad, joining big markets in Japan, France, Denmark and America. Here, the material comes mostly from Tay Ninh Province. Equal-sized golden bamboo twigs, the skin scraped off, are cut into 6cm long chunks, and soaked in soapberry water to become termite and wood-borer proof, and then sundried for a few days. The decorative elements are painted, not with a brush, but a piece of sponge. n Painting on screen with a sponge. Photo: Ngoc Hai
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Green flakes of sticky fairy rice AGRICULTURE
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BY KHANH LE
he hilly territory of Tu Le Commune, Van Chan District, Yen Bai Province, is surrounded by three famous mountaintops including KhauPha, Khau Tan and Khau Song.Tu Le lies at the foot of Khau Pha Pass which often covered in fog and clouds. Thai people call the mountain KhauPha, which means ‘Heavenly Horn’. Tu Le is known for its impressive cascading paddies that cover hill slopes alongside National Highway 32.The terrace fields of Tu Le, La Pan Tan and De Su Phinh communes, Mu Cang Chai District, Yen Bai Province, attract waves of tourists. The scenery of Tu Le terrace fields changes with the seasons. The fields become brightest and most alluring when rice grains grow full of milk and gradually turn yellow, usually by late September and early October. When the milk in rice grains grows thick, Thai women of Tu Le bring out baskets to collect the thickest ears, full of plump and sappy grains from the fields. They pluck out the grains and fry them in cast iron pans to condense the insides. As a batch cools down, they bray the rice to husk it, and then they winnow it, and bray it again until all the grains are husked, green and soft. Like rice flakes from elsewhere, Tu Le rice flakes are taken with spotted bananas, persimmon and cooked with duck meat, or sweetened porridge. But the aroma and sweetness of Tu Le rice flakes are unmistakably distinct. Local legends have it, that a long, long time ago, God gave the Thai people’s ancestors a precious variety of rice seeds and told them to find a suitable place to plant, and it would yield exquisite sticky rice. Thai people planted it all over the northeast but never got the desirable result that was promised. When they came to the foot of Khau Pha Mountain and
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Making rice flakes, Tu Le Commune, Yen Bai Province, 2016. Photos: Nguyen Huu Thanh
stopped by Muong Lung Creek to hydrate, they found the water cool and sweet, and the whole valley lush and green. The elders of the tribe decided to break the ground there to plant rice. As expected, the rice grew extremely verdant, soon blossoming with heavenly aromatic heavy ears. The ripe rice grains were thick, white and more tasty than one could imagine. The rice turns Thai boys into sturdy young men, never tired of work, who can blow pan-pipes to take away girls’ hearts. It makes Thai girls’ skin silky white, their hair shining black, their smile glowing, and their hands able to perform magic over looms,
ARGICULTURE
colored threads and needles, producing intricate brocades that melt men’s hearts. Thai people of Tu Le enjoy their green rice flakes as much as their heart desires until the valley and hill slopes around turn gold under ripened rice. Gigantic golden stairs, with a few simple wooden huts of ethnic Thais here and there, and colorful silhouettes of Thai young girls harvesting the rice, that’s a beautiful vision of a happy peaceful life. n
Hanoi
Yen Bai
HCM City
From Hanoi, follow National Highway 32 for about 300 km to reach the perilous Khau Pha Pass. Bikers should have spare parts, gas and tools because the highway is quite difficult and very deserted. One can also get a ticket for VND250,000VND300,000 from My Dinh bus terminal to Mu Cang Chai, and get off at Tu Le Commune. There are many reasonably priced guest houses and motorbike rent services at the place.
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ARCHITECTURE
STONE HOUSE VILLAGE A stone well
A stone road
BY FAMOUS ROCK FORMATIONS
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TEXT BY KIM ANH; PHOTOS BY DUONG THANH XUAN
een from afar, the 200m long, 50m wide Plate Piles Cascades in An Ninh Dong Commune, Tuy An District, Phu Yen Province looks like a gigantic bee hive. This rock formation, a national natural treasure, is unlike any other on Vietnam’s shore, and may be very rare in the world. According to scientists, about 200 million years ago, lava from volcanic activities oozed right into the sea water. Too-quick hardening and cracking due to the sudden change in temperature created this otherworldly effect. Around the Plate Piles Cascades, Phu Luong, Phu Hoi, and Phu Son villages have groups of very exotic stone houses. In his book Cultural Heritage of Phu Yen, Mr. Nguyen Hoai Son, Chairman of the Phu Yen Coalition of Associations of Science and Technology wrote, ‘Walking into one of those villages, I felt as if I had strayed into a world of rocks. Houses, wells and roads, even graves are built with stones. It seems that people here are born from rocks, grow up among rocks and come back to the rocks when they die. Everything here is built from countless natural, uncut stones without any bonding material.’ To have a 60-70m2 house or stable, it takes builder Tran Van Tinh two years to select
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A stone house
A stone cage
and transport the stones back to the place. Then he and three others have to spend 45 more days to pile the walls and make a roof of tiles, thatch or corrugated iron sheets. As I pushed a wall to test its strength, Mr Tinh assured me, ‘It’s half a meter thick, and unmovable. Just stones, without any metal reinforcement, or concrete or lime for bonding, but none of the houses here suffered any damage through so many devastating storms.’ It is baking - 38oC outside - and so cool and so comfortable inside. Mrs Nguyen Thi Luong, who is over 70, shows us a 6 meter deep village well with a beautifully built round wall of rocks. She told us, ‘This well is nearly a century old. As a child, I used to wash myself here. Grown up, I always came here to take water home for family use.’ I took a bucket of water from the well and rinsed my face. The crystal clear water was so cool and refreshing in the midsummer heat. We followed Mrs Luong, crossing a golden sea of ripened rice to come to a plate - like grave which stood amidst rectangular and opal ones. Mrs Luong shared her thoughts, ‘Some of these graves are centuries old. My grandparents and my parents say they have seen these since their childhood. They expressly wished to be buried in ones like those when they died. I, too, want to have one for myself when the time comes.’n *The article in Vietnamese version was printed on www.tienphong.vn, 8 June, 2017
A stone grinder Hanoi
Phu Yen HCM City
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HISTORY
BLOOD & SOIL TEXT BY DUONG THU PHOTOS BY LE DUC THANH
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inh Moc tunnels in Vinh Moc Village, Vinh Thach Commune, Vinh Linh District of Quang Tri Province have long been unforgettable names on the country’s map of historical places. This ‘fiery land’ used to be called the ‘dead coordinate’, being the target of enemy annihilation. But multimillions of tons of bombs and shells raining from the sky and the fleets in the sea have failed to destroy Vinh Moc’s historical, military, cultural and architectural values; a symbol of bravery, resilience and the invincible vitality of the people of Quang Tri. I chose to ride a bike for nearly 600km from Hanoi to Vinh Moc on a summer’s day in late July. History came back in cool breezes blowing from the sea, in the bricks of the vestige, rusted by time, and on the red earthen path covered with moss that led to the tunnel entrance. Making slow, careful steps in the red light of the torch, I followed the clear, soft voice of the young guide girl in the 1.1km long maze of the tunnels. One of the peculiarities of these tunnels is the very gummy red basalt soil. It made it easier for digging and kept the tunnel walls and ceiling strong despite the close proximity of the sea. It also made it possible to dig big lines, much bigger than the other tunnels elsewhere, so that people could move easier. The entrances were about 2-3m away from the main line, so bombs that hit them could not destroy the whole structure or kill the people inside.
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From 1965 to 1967, the people of Vinh Linh dug 114 big and small tunnels, totaling 142km in length. Most of the tunnels have a ventilation hole every 50m, so each one has a few dozens of them. But Vinh Moc has only 2 ventilation holes in all, and both serve only the 1st floor. The 2nd and 3rd floors below have no such hole. Nevertheless, in all 3 floors it feels cool and airy, and not stuffy anywhere. Some people explain that because Vinh Moc tunnel has 13 entrances, 6 of which open to the hills and 7 to the sea, in the right direction to be able to suck in the air, so it feels dry and fresh even at the depth of 15-23m under the ground. I went through all 3 levels at different depth with different functions. Level 1, 12m under the ground, served as offices for the party committee, the people’s committee and the armed forces. There is a cafeteria in the main axis. Level 2, 15m from the ground, is the dwelling space. Every 1-2m on either side of the main axis, there is a deep hole which serves as a family apartment. The guide girl told us there were 94 such apartments in the tunnel. Each apartment is only 2-3m2 in area, but could house 3-4 people at the same time. On the same level 2 we were stunned to find a
delivery room which witnessed the birth of 17 of the total of 64 kids born in the tunnel systems of Vinh Linh. Level 3, the deepest, 23m beneath the ground, is the bomb-proof hiding place. As deep as it is, it’s still above sea level, and people lived there relatively comfortably even in rainy season. Today, Vinh Moc has become a famous tourist attraction. Every day the site receives hundreds of visitors.n *The article in Vietnamese version was printed on www.nguoiduatin.vn, 2 January, 2017.
Quang Tri
According to the documents of the Department of Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Vinh Moc tunnels together with the whole tunnel system of Vinh Linh, Quang Tri was named a National Special Heritage in 2014.
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The big catch
FISHING
Quang Nam
BY NGOC HUONG
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FISHING Along the river Thu Bon which flows through Hoi An toward Cua Dai estuary, also called Egret Neck River, there are many framed small mesh fish nets fixed permanently in the same places. Called sitting nets, they are the main fishing tool, typical of river bank areas of Quang Nam Province in general and around Hoi An in particular, reflecting the diversity of trade and culture of Hoi An residents. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an ancient practice in Hoi An, as ancient as the folklore itself. Like any fishing technique used anywhere in the lakes, rivers and seas, fishing with sitting nets has its own peculiarities and requires knowledge and skills. The
nets are usually set during the dry season from the first to the seventh lunar month. During the rainy part of the year they are of no use. As it is fixed to one place for a long time, the choice of the location to put it is very important. The water there must be deep. Four strong bamboo poles, long but not too big, are planted to the riverbed so that their other end is about 4m above the water. The bamboo tops are tied together with ropes and a pulley is fixed there. A bamboo pole, fixed in the middle and having one end hung on the pulley serves as a crane, with a framed net fixed to its other end. A strong bamboo tiled square platform is built next to it, above the water, with a roof of palm or water coconut leafs or water proof canvas on top of it and a crankshaft to control the net. That is the fisherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s place. Fishers work mostly from dusk to dawn in the dark of night but some work in day time too. They lower the net, let it sink to the bottom of the river and wait for about one and a half hours. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the easy part. Then they lift it up to get what is caught inside. This may require strength and some effort. Fishers use methane fueled or 200 watt electric lamps hung above the center of the net to lure the fish. Framed sitting nets catch river and brackish fish, shrimps and crabs etc. Most of the fish are small. Big ones are rare. As the net is lifted, a person on a little boat gets beneath it and uses a small stick to push the fish toward a small hole at the center of the net. It is easier to do this in the wind direction, so the fish collector has to control the boat so that the wind blows on his back. There are normally 2 persons operating a net together. One controls the net and the other collects the fish. They also take turn looking after the net and sleeping. When the catch is taken out cleanly, the net is lowered again for the next catch. n * The Vietnamese article was printed on www.hoianheritage.net, 27 June, 2017
Photo: Nguyen Tan Qua
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CANON MARKETING 15-6 VIETNAM HERITAGE PHOTO AWARDS
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he title may look like a Rugby score but actually it refers the sixth edition of this magazineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Photo Awards Ceremony held at the Windsor Plaza Hotel Ho Chi Minh City on November 21 while its main sponsor Canon Marketing Vietnam is now celebrating its fifteenth year of operation in this country. While maintaining extremely high standards, this year's competition attracted 3,479 entries comprising both individual and sets of photographs, reflecting diverse aspects of the country's nature and cultural life. The one hundred judged best photos will be sold at auction to provide funds for the construction of flood-resistant housing and support to farmers raising livestock in flood affected areas. One exciting announcement made on this day was that next year there are plans to exhibit the cream of the crop regionally and hopefully on a global scale in the notso-distant future. What an excellent way to promote to the world the beauty and unique customs and festivals with which this land is endowed! Canon Marketing Vietnam has worked hand in glove with us on these awards right from the very start. The Canon name was prominent on the mounted framed prints making up the exhibition in front of the events hall as a reminder that Canon is
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Mr Hiroshi Yokota - President of Canon Marketing Vietnam at the Vietnam Heritage Photo Awards 2017
more than just cameras-it is a complete photo imaging company. Also at hand to deliver a speech in a which he lauded the natural symbiotic relationship between his company and the Photo Awards was Mr. Hiroshi Yokota, President of Canon Marketing Vietnam. He proceeded to present prize winners with valuable Canon equipment awards. Canon as a company in general takes its corporate social responsibility seriously and has won a Vietnamese award for this. It adopts the Japanese philosophy of 'Kyosei' which basically means living and working together for the common good. 'Kyosei' also means as would befit a totally global company like Canon, 'all people regardless of race, religion or culture harmoniously living and working together into the future' Among the many community activities it carries out Canon holds an annual Photo Marathon which takes place in October simultaneously in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Teams are given a topic and sent out at staggered times during the day for three hours to take appropriate pictures anywhere they like. At seven o'clock in the evening the results and the winners are announced. The money collected from entrance fees is given to charity. With over eight thousand participants the funds raised can be quite considerable; enough one year to build a school in a remote mountain village. The
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'Canon Image Bridge' is another initiative which teaches disadvantaged children photographic skills. One other key core value that Canon and our magazine have in common is respect for the environment without which the natural beauty of Vietnam around which its peoples' customs and traditions are interwoven would find itself in jeopardy. Canon recovers and recycles chemicals during the production process and also power consumption is reduced in printers and copiers in stand by mode. Furthermore, air cushioning is used in product packaging. The company is also a pioneer in the extensive recycling of cartridges. You can drop off your used cartridges at designated points or if you have them in quantity arrange for pick up. Another successful for the awards then it has been thanks in large part to the cooperation of sponsors. The exhibition can be seen in coming days hits the road around Vietnam and preparations are already underway for 2018. Hopefully this article may have inspired some of you to take part. Good luck and whether or not you do participate and even you are a simple point and shoot family photos person like me happy snapping away! You are invited to enjoy 100 best photos from the contest at www.vietnamheritage.com.vn
www.vietnamheritage.com.vn
First line, from left: Mr Ngo Minh Phuong-First Prize winner for “Elepant Racing” with Mr Jay L Lingeswara, Commercial Deputy Director of Vietjet; Mr Nguyen Van Que, Vice Director, Association of Cultural Heritage of HCMC and Mr Hiroshi Yokota, President of Canon Marketing Vietnam. / Mr Ha Van Dong – First Prize winner for “ Đam Chuon Fishing Village” with Mrs Le Thanh Hai, Editor –in-Chief of Vietnam Heritage Magazine and Mr Hiroshi Yokota, President of Canon Marketing Vietnam. Second line from left: Mr Tran Bao Hoa – Third Prize winner for “Squiz Steaming” with Mrs Bui Thi Hang, Director of Public Relations of Vietnam Heritagg/ Mr Nguyen Minh Tan, author of “ Fishing Nets in Cua Dai” and Mrs Nguyen Hong Nga of “Conical Hat Market”, both are Runners- up and Mrs Le Thanh Hai/ Second Prize winners Mr Nguyen Van Man – author of “At the Back of the Stage” and Mr Le Tan Thanh- author of “Bao Vinh Ferry Port” with Mrs Le Hang, Senior Manager of Communications of Canon Marketing Vietnam.
Clockwise from top left: Exhibitions at Ao Dai Museum, HCMC / Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture / Ho Guom Information and Culture Center – Hanoi / Vietnam Exhibition Centre for Culture and Arts / Mr Do Van Tru, Vice Director of Association of Cultural Heritage of Vietnam and Mr Ho Huu Thoi, Chief Administrator of the Association with photographers Nguyen Anh Tuan and Tran Anh Tuan who have works at exhibition / Music performance opening the Vietnam Heritage
Above from left: Mr Dinh Cong Tam – First prize winner for “The Story of Ngo Traditional Boat” with Mrs Le Thanh Hai, Editor –in- Chief of Vietnam Heritage and Mr Hiroshi Yokota,President of Canon Marketing Vietnam / Mrs Le Tu Cam, Chairwoman of the HCMC Cultural Heritage Association thanking judges Mrs Doan Thi Tho and Mr Hoang Trung Thuy,Chairman of the Board of Judges / Runner-up Mr Pham Tri Nhan, author of “ Building a New Brick Kiln” Left: Mr Nguyen Thien Hung – Second Prize winner for “ Procession of the Red Dao, Taking the Bride to the Groom’s House” / Runners –up Mr Do Huu Tuan, author of “ Whale Funeral” and Mr Tran Van Tuy, author of Selling Pigs at the Lung Phin Market”.
Photo Awards 2017 at the Windsor Plaza and the exhibition area at the hotel / Mrs Le Thanh Hai, Editor-in-Chief of Vietnam Heritage handing 100 photo works to Mr Tuan Nguyen, representative of Nha Chong Lu for its auction to raise funds for social development programs / Marshal art performance at University of Culture HCMC on the National Day Celebration opening activities including the photo exhibition / Photo exhibition at the entrance of Canon Expo at Hoa Lu Stadium, HCMC
WHAT THE PAPER SAY cent of exported rice and 60 per cent of exported fish. The resolution also provides numerous comprehensive solutions, such as establishing ecological sub-regions for agriculture as economic development and infrastructure construction, and setting up a master plan for sustainable development in the Delta while adapting to climate change.
Gender inequality in ethnic minority groups Viet Nam News, 21 November HCMC faces bus terminal shortage Viet Nam News, 14November
Shortage of space has been identified as the main hurdle to the development of HCM City’s bus services and lack of adequate bus stations. As a result of the shortage, half of the city’s 83 bus stations are on roads and pavements. The rest are in universities, airport and tourist parks. This causes costs to increase while causing disorder and lack of safety. Local residents also complain that the buses, lined up on one side of the road, block access to their houses and shops.
City to build water pipe Viet Nam News, 17 November
The Saigon Water Supply Corporation began construction Wednesday of an underground water pipe to improve the city centre’s water supply. This will be the city’s largest water pipe, with a diametre of 2.4 metres and length of 10 kilometres. The pipe will start at Thu Duc District and head toward municipal District 1. It will help deliver water from the Thu Duc water plant toward the city centre and nearby districts. Construction will take around three and a half years.
Resolution aims for sustainable Mekong Delta development Viet Nam News, 20 November
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has signed a resolution to develop the Mekong Delta as part of an effort to cope with climate change. The resolution points out that the Mekong Delta accounts for 12 per cent of the national area and 19 per cent of population, contributes 50 per cent of the rice crop, 65 per cent of aquaculture, 70 per cent of fruit, 95 per
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Gender inequality in ethnic minorities is seen in different fields, including economy, labour, education, training and health care. This was the result of the survey on the socioeconomic situation of 53 ethnic minority groups in Viet Nam in 2015 from the gender perspective. Under the survey, 86.3 per cent of male ethnic minorities are literate. The rate of early marriage in ethnic minority girls is higher than boys. In the under-16 age group, the number of girls getting married is three or four times higher than boys. Nearly 40 per cent of ethnic minority women bear their children at home; thus the number of fatalities in ethnic minority newborns is four times higher than Kinh group newborns.
Vietnam’s defense ministry requests tighter management of drones Tuoi Tre News, 11 October
Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defense has suggested tightening management over the use of camera drones throughout the country. Colonel General Phan Van Giang, deputy minister of national defense, has released a document on the enhanced supervision of unmanned aerial devices and specifically, camera drones. The use of drones has become quite complicated recently, Mr Giang said, adding that several users of such devices had failed to seek permission and flown over prohibited areas.
Vietnam to draft law protecting transgender rights Tuoi Tre News, 17 October
Vietnam is looking to draft a law to provide official legal status to transgender people, including those who have undergone sex
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reassignment surgery and those who have not. The country is home to an estimated transgender population of 270,000-300,000, thousands of whom have undergone sex changes in foreign countries, according to Ministry of Health statistics. These people have since faced legal and administrative challenges due to a lack of recognition for their gender identity. Vietnam has made major breakthroughs in improving transgender rights in recent years, including a landmark vote in late 2015 to recognize transgender people for the first time.
Mass tourism changes Sapa Tuoi Tre News, 24 October
The popular tourist town of Sapa, in the mountainous Lao Cai Province of northern Vietnam, has become a giant ‘construction site’ as countless tourism projects are currently underway. Covering an area of over 24 square kilometers, Sapa is famous for its rustic beauty and romantic scenery. Located at an altitude of 1,500 to 1,650 meters on the side of Lo Suay Tong Mountain, the tourist destination is also favored for its year-round cool climate. It can experience brisk winters and is one of the few locations in Vietnam where snow occasionally falls.
3 moon bears freed after nearly 20 years behind bars in Vietnam English VNExpress November 7
Three moon bears were handed over by families in the northern province of Ninh Binh to activists on Monday, promising the animals a new life after nearly two decades in captivity. The animals, two of them female, have been kept in small cages since they were cubs weighing just five kilograms each. Now they are around 100 kilograms but in poor health, local media reported. Initial examinations found they had received multiple injections to extract bear bile, causing their livers and gallbladders to become infected. Members of the animal welfare organization Four Paws International have transported the animals to Ninh Binh Bear Sanctuary, 130 kilometers south of Hanoi. The bears will receive treatment for around three weeks before being released into a semi-wild environment.
The drink of kings
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FOOD
BY HOA HA
hose who are fond of the drinks and food once served to kings have some good news, as some of the recipes are now enjoying a revival and renewal in Hue. Herbal physician Phan Tan To, a resident of the former imperial capital city of Hue, said he had succeeded in reviving tea recipes prepared for kings under the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945). The recipes were created by the dynasty’s Thuong Tra Vien, which was the monarchic agency specialising in teas. “I have worked with the Hue Monuments Conservation Centre in years to revive the recipes. Of course, those need to be updated, as some of the ingredients can’t be found anymore,” To said. Hue Monuments Conservation Centre is a local government body authorised to manage all heritage monuments built by the dynasty in the city. According to physician To, teas served to kings was a daily treat. They included not just tea, but with various herbal components added. Thuong vien ngu tra, for instance, had tea as its main ingredient as well as dry senna seed, goji berry, jasmine flower, pagoda tree leaves, dry tangerine peel, daisy flower, lotus plumule, longan, licorice root. Physician To said :“licorice root was added for boosting the immune system, and goji berry and jujube were for alleviating stress and pain. The adding of jasmine and lotus plumule were to lower body temperature” The thuong vien ngu tra tea recipe was used to treat ulcers and cool the body’s internal heat, among other things. Those included curing stomach ache, insomnia and lowering cholesterol levels thanks to longan and pagoda tree leaves. The leaves were said to be unable to counter bacteria.
held Meanwhile, the tea tangerine peels Photo by Hue Phong through its are also beneficial aromatizing for lowering cholesterol as process and this helped the well as fighting cancer. The added ingredients were all used as medicine by tea absorb the fragrance of lotus flowers. The girls then sailed again later in the the herbal physicians, who were the country’s leading physicians brought morning to pick those tea-embedded lotus together as a medical team in the royal flowers. The tea taken from those flowers palace to form the medical agency Thai Y was dried in a mixture of lotus stamens to Vien. Physician To praised the expertise of make the royal lotus tea. The tea that was those royal physicians for creating the tea steeped in natural fragrance of lotus flowers recipes, saying the mixture of those herbs and lotus stamens then brought and served do not counter each others’ effects but to kings. The royal lotus tea was not served creates a harmonious whole as well as an as a herbal remedy for kings, but it gave a morning refreshment as well as good night awesome taste. The conservation centre’s director Phan sleeps than to the effect of lotus stamens. “The quality of those tea recipes were Thanh Hai said the royal tea has been the top choice for a typical gift of Hue for those control by the royal medical agency Thai Y Vien and the physicians in the royal palace’s special guests to Hue and his centre. Tinh Tam lien hoa ngu tra is another medical team would have careful checks of royal tea recipe and it has own story telling the benefits and side effects of every about the dedication that today can’t be substances in the mixed tea," physician To found in industrial lifestyle: “The tea took a said. Physician To added that the recipes week to prepare, with the help of royal were later documented, signed and sealed maids. Dry tea leaves were first placed in the by at least two royal herbal physicians for the middle of each lotus flower in the early use in the royal tea agency. According to physician To, those morning. The maids sailed a boat around Tinh Tam pond inside the citadel’s territory components for today’s revived teas are to find those flowers which are ready to available but they are not as pure as those in bloom when the sun rises. The lotus that the past due to the environmental grew in the pond was considered to have the differences. But the same benefits as kings’ nicest fragrance of all lotus species that the teas can still be found in the revival version.n kings ordered from other regions of the country. The maids had to open the petals The teas served in hot bottles and sold of a pre-blooming lotus flower to lay the tea in packages at Luc Bo Cultural Centre at leaves in. Of course, those maids were 79 Nguyen Chi Dieu, Hue City. You can find selected for their youth and beauty for the Luc Bo at the area on the right side of the quintessence of the king’s service. The petals Imperial Palace in Hue. DECEMBER 2017-JANUARY 2018
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EVENTS HANOI
EXHIBITIONS A house on the river 14 December, 2017 to 12 January, 2018
The exhibition ‘Vestige of a land’, by artists Le Giang and Nguyen Dinh Hung, will be on from 14 December, 2017 to 12 January, 2018 at the Goethe Institut Hanoi, 56-58 Nguyen Thai Hoc St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi. Their exhibition deals with the influence of communal houses on the life of the inhabitants in the Northern Delta. The man with the ‘Bag’ Till 14 January, 2018 An installation exhibition, ‘Portrait of Life, Episode VI – The Bag’, of artist Tran Duc Quy is on at L’Espace till 14 January. As a kid, the artist was languagedelayed, often wandered and played on his own, with various objects, trees, colored chalks and modeling clay. Those maybe the signs of what they call nowadays ‘autism’. The grown-ups in his hometown, who live simply, don’t understand kids like that, and they often told him: Maybe we have to crack open your skull and tilt it upside down to see what’s in his head? In this exhibition, he finds the answer with his own sculpture language. L’Espace, 24 Trang Tien St, Hanoi. Open: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. An ideal world Till 27 February, 2018 More than 300 artworks in various media including lacquer, oil, dó paper and mixed media, by artists Ngo Xuan Binh and Le Van Thin, are on display at Hanoi Museum till 27 February. The exhibition focuses on the mental concept of tradition and modernity with an aim to realize that
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the world has always been miraculous, loving and brand-new. Hanoi Museum, Pham Hung St,, Nam Tu Liem Dist., Hanoi.
MUSIC Native night 12 December The concert ‘Night of Indigenous Unconscious’ of Seaphony, the 1st Ethnic Orchestra in Vietnam, will be on at 8 p.m. 12 December at Hanoi Opera House, Trang Tien St, Hanoi. The show has performances of more than 50 composers, musicians and ethnic artisans across Vietnam. Tickets range from VND500,000. Contact at 091 105 3030 for tickets. Music of the night 15 December
A night concert, with conductor Nathalie Marin and artists from Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra, will be on at 8 p.m. at Hanoi Opera House.The program includes Poetry Symphony ‘Living germ’ by Vu Duy Cuong, Violin Concerto in D minor, op.47, by J. Sibelius and L’ Ariensienne Suite No.1 & No.2 by G. Bizet. Tickets range from VND200,000. Tickets are available at Hanoi Opera House, 1 Trang Tien St, Hanoi. ‘Fröhliche Weihnachten’ 14 to 16 December German Christmas Market will be held from 14 to 16 December at the Cua Bac Church, Hanoi. The event includes Christmas Market treats and beverages, hand-made items and a Christmas concert with classical and international Christmas songs.
DECEMBER 2017 - JANUARY 2018
Brahms review 16 December
A night concert of pianist Luu Duc Anh with the works of Johannes Brahms to commemorate the 120th death anniversary of the talented German composer, will be on at 8 p.m. at the Vietnam National Academy of Music, 77 Hao Nam St, Hanoi. Tickets range from VND100,000. Tickets are available at 3rd floor, 112A Hai Ba Trung St, Hoan Kiem Dist, Hanoi or buy online tickets at ticketgo.vn Christmas music 21 December The Goethe Institut Hanoi will hold a special Christmas concert at 8 p.m. 21 December at Cua Bac Church, 56 Phan Dinh Phung St, Hanoi. Free entry. The show is performed by artists from The Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra, the Hanoi Catholic Youth Choir and the Opera Choir. HO CHI MINH CITY
EXHIBITIONS Dark ‘Forest’ Till 7 February, 2018 A solo exhibition, titled ‘Empty Forest’, by Tuan Andrew Nguyen, is on The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre till 7 February, 2018. The exhibition includes film, sculpture, photography and performance showing a forest with a supernatural landscape of inanimate objects, perhaps likened as monuments to the undead, where these creatures are transmogrified into totems for the (soon to be) dismembered. The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre, 15 Nguyen U Di St, Thao Dien Ward, District 2, Ho Chi Minh City. Open: 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. (closed on Monday). Ticket: VND35,000.
EVENTS What remains after Till 11 February, 2018 The exhibition ‘Remnant’ by artist Le The Lam is on at The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre till 11 February, 2018. The exhibition includes paintings and sculptures bringing viewers into his world, where lies the sorrow and anxiety of living in postwar Vietnam. The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre, 15 Nguyen U Di St, Thao Dien Ward, District 2, Ho Chi Minh City. Open: 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. (closed on Monday). Ticket: VND35,000. VALUE FOR MONEY
Ana Mandara Villas Dalat Resort & Spa Le Lai Street, Dalat, Lam Dong Province Tel: (063) 3555-888 Ana Mandara Villas Dalat is running a promotion ‘Festive Break Package’ at VND5,920,000 per room for two nights for two with breakfast, lunch, one-way airport transfer and a 60-minute foot massage. The package is valid till 28 February, 2018.
Sofitel Saigon Plaza 17 Le Duan St, Dist.1, HCMC Tel: (028) 3824-1555 Festive season is approaching, Sofitel Saigon Plaza has many promotions for diners to enjoy a warmly Christmas with friends and family. 24 and 25 December, Christmas Dinner at L’Olivier Restauran at VND1,850,000++ for a 6-course menu. 24 December, Christmas Eve Buffet Dinner at Mezz Restaurant at VND2,180,000++ with a selection of lobster dishes, seafood, foie gras, French oysters, and a carving station. Boudoir Lounge offers a great venue for a countdown party on 31 December, 9.30 p.m. till midnight with live music and entertainment. Free entry. Also, a variety of festive treats is available at Gourmand Shop till 1 January.
WELCOME
Eastin Grand Hotel Saigon 253 Nguyen Van Troi St, Phu Nhuan Dist., HCMC Tel: (028) 3844-9222
Eastin Grand Hotel Saigon prepares many buffets to welcome the festive season. On 24 December, Christmas Eve Buffet Dinner at VND1,299,000++. On 25 December, Christmas Day Lunch Buffet at VND799,000++. On 31 December, New Year’s Eve Gala Dinner at VND1,499,000++ including a variety of dishes prepared by Culinary Director Maurizio Susan. Also, there is a countdown party from 10 p.m. Those who book before 15 December will get a 10 per cent off and those who book before 20 December will get 5 per cent off.
In November, Olivier Revy was appointed as the new General Manager of Sofitel Saigon Plaza. Mr Revy has over 20 years in the hospitality industry. He held senior management positions within leading hospitality groups such as Starwood, Pan Pacific, Meritus and AccorHotels. He started his hospitality career from 1994 as Chef De Cuisine at French Embassy in Singapore and Bangkok. Six years later, he was the Culinary Director at Pan Pacific Bangkok. Being held positions as Food & Beverage Director at White Sand Resort & Spa Maldives and Sofitel Suzhou for 2 years, he also worked at Four Points by Sheraton Hangzhou in 2007 overseeing the Food and Beverage department before his promotion to the Executive Assistant Manager position.
On Oct 21, Ana Marina Yacht Club (AMYC), a part of the International Nha Trang Marina Park Project officially opened. This is a playground for sailboat and yacht lovers, one which will widely promote the image of Nha Trang – Vietnam as a fabulous tourist destination to the world. According to Mr. Dang Bao Hieu, General Director of Ana Marina Nha Trang Co Ltd., Ana Marina Yacht Club plans to take part in the Hong Kong Vietnam Yacht Race 2019 on a yacht named after the AMYC club. Ana Marina Yacht Port came to being with the purpose of making money with new forms of cultural exchange and related tourist events as part of the Worldwide Yachting Association, and attracting investment to a wide range of industries, including high-end tourism. Ana Marina Nha Trang, Vietnam’s first world standard yacht port, is scheduled to enter its first phase of operation in Apr 2018, introducing guests to completely new offers within the tourist attractions of Khanh Hoa Province, with distinct experiences of familiar services such as entertainment, food drink, and international water sports. Ana Marina Nha Trang will also host tourist events related to the Worldwide Yachting Association that will attract investment to Khanh Hoa Province, especially in the development of high-end tourism. The opening of Ana Marina Yacht Port has not only created jobs for local people and brought socio-economic benefits for Khanh Hoa Province, it has also put Vietnam on the map of world yachting tourism promoting the image of tourism industry of Vietnam, and that of Nha Trang in particular.
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DIRECTIONS
HALONG
(TELEPHONE CODE: 033)
Chi Minh declared Vietnam’s independence in September 1945, is a complex of historic sites.
Syrena Cruises
Hung Thang new urban area, Bai Chay, Halong. Tel: (033) 3847-043 Hanoi Sales Office: Syrena Tower, 3th Floor, 51 Xuan Dieu St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3719-7214 Email: se@syrenacruises.com www.syrenacruises.com
Lapaz Hotel & Resort
Tuan Chau Island, Halong Tel: (033) 3842-999 www.holidayvillahalongbay.com
Vinpearl Halong
Cot Co Tower
28 Dien Bien Phu St, Ba Dinh Dist, Hanoi Cot Co Tower, the so-called Flag Tower, is now part of the Vietnam Military History Museum complex. The Tower was built in 1950, under the Nguyen Dynasty, with the help of French engineers. The tower has 36 flower-shaped windows. At the top of the tower flies the flag of Vietnam.
66 Nguyen Thai Hoc St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (024) 3733-2131 www.vnfineartsmuseum.org.vn Open 8.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Entry fee VND20,000 ($0.95)
Hanoi Opera House
Vietnam Military History
1 Trang Tien St, Hoan Kiem Dist, Hanoi Designed by a French architect along the lines of the Paris Opera House, it is embellished with wonderful Gothic statuary. For many decades, Hanoi Opera House has been a centre for theatre, traditional music and dance, symphonies, traditional and classical music. This, the largest theatre in Vietnam, was completed in 1911.
Hoa Lo Prison
‘La Maison Centrale’, the prison on Hoa Lo Street in Hanoi, was built by the French in 1896 and became the place where generations of Vietnamese freedom fighters were held.
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St Joseph’s Cathedral
Reu Island, Bai Chay, Ha Long, Viet Nam. Tel: (033) 3556-868 www.vinpearl.com
HAI PHONG CITY Avani Hai Phong Harbour View 12 Tran Phu St, Ngo Quyen Dist., Hai Phong. Tel: (031) 3827-827 www.avanihotels.com
Hanoi Museum
2 Pham Hung (next to Vietnam National Convention Centre), Me Tri Commune, Tu Liem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (024) 6287-06 04 Opening hour: 8 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. and 1.30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Free entrance
TRAVEL
Emeraude Classic Cruises
46 Le Thai To St, Hanoi Tel: (024) 3935-1888 www.emeraude-cruises.com
19 Ngoc Ha St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (024) 3846-3752 www.baotanghochiminh.vn Open: 8 a.m. to noon (Monday and Friday), 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (other days) Entry fee: VND25,000
3rd Floor, 66A Tran Hung Dao St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (024) 3828-2150 www.exotissimo.com
Imperial Citadel of Thang Long
Topas Travel
12 Nguyen Tri Phuong St/ 9 Hoang Dieu St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (024) 37345427 www.hoangthanhthanhlong.vn Open: 8.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. (Closed on Mondays) Entry fee: VND30,000
52 To Ngoc Van St, Hanoi Tel: (024) 3715-1005 www.topastravel.vn SIGHTSEEINGS
Ba Dinh Square
36A Dien Bien Phu St, Ba Dinh Dist, Hanoi. Ba Dinh Square, where President Ho HERITAGE
Vietnam Fine Arts Museum
Museum 28A Dien Bien Phu St, Hanoi www.btlsqsvn.org.vn Open 8 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. Closed on Mondays Entry fee VND30,000 ($1.43)
Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
Nguyen Van Huyen St, Cau Giay Dist., Hanoi Tel: (024) 3756-2193, www.vme.org.vn Open 8.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed on Mondays Entry fee VND40,000 ($2)
Women’s Museum
36 Ly Thuong Kiet, Hanoi Tel: (024) 3825-9936 www.womenmuseum.org.vn Open 8 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. Closed on Mondays Entry fee VND30,000 ($1.43) TRAVEL
Vietnam National Museum
of History 1 Trang Tien St, Hanoi. 25 Tong Dan St, Hanoi.
I DECEMBER 2017-JANUARY 2018
Hue Riverside Boutique
Resort & Spa 588 Bui Thi Xuan St, Thuy Bieu Dist., Hue. Tel: (0234) 3978-484 www.hueriversideresort.com
Imperial Hotel
8 Hung Vuong St, Hue Tel: (0234) 3882-222 www.imperial-hotel.com.vn
Indochine Palace Hotel
105A Hung Vuong St, Hue Tel: (0234) 3936-666 www.indochinepalace.com The hotel is surrounded by lush green gardens that make it an outstanding landmark in Hue and give the city the feel of a resort. This luxurious, international standard hotel is created to appeal to Vietnamese and international visitors to Hue.
La Residence Hotel & Spa
5 Le Loi St, Hue Tel: (0234) 3837-475 Email: resa@la-residence-hue.com www.la-residence-hue.com Step back in time to Art Deco's golden age with a stay at La Residence Hue Hotel & Spa, MGallery by Sofitel. Nestled along the fabled Perfume River overlooking the former Imperial Citadel, La Residence is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece with luxurious cultural and culinary experiences. This former governor's residence with 122 guestrooms and suites offers visitors a warm hospitality and a chance to relive the pleasures of a bygone era.
Lang Co Beach Resort
Oxalis Adventure Tours
Phong Nha Commune, Son Trach Village, Bo Trach Dist., Quang Binh Province. Tel: (0232)3677-678 www.oxalis.com.vn
HUE
(TELEPHONE CODE: 0234) HOTELS, RESORTS
Century Riverside Hotel Hue
Ho Chi Minh Museum
Exotissmo
48 • V I E T N A M
40 Nha Chung St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Fresh missionaries built this cathedral in the late 19th century. The small but beautiful panes of stained glass were created in Paris in 1906. Also of note is the ornate altar, with its high gilded sidewalls. MUSEUMS
HANOI
Tel: (024) 3824-1384 www.baotanglichsu.vn Open 8 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. Closed every first Monday of months. Entry fee VND40,000 ($1.82) for adults and VND10,000 ($0.48) for children
463 Lac Long Quan St., Lang Co Town, Phu Loc Dist, Thua Thien Hue Province Tel: (0234) 3873-555 www.langcobeachresort.com.vn
Hotel Saigon Morin
30 Le Loi St, Hue Tel: (0234)3823-526 www.morinhotel.com.vn
DANANG
(TELEPHONE CODE: 0236) 49 Le Loi St, Hue Tel: (0234) 3823-390 Email: res@centuryriversidehue.com www.centuryriversidehue.com Century Riverside Hotel Hue, with its 135 rooms, is located in a vast area of 20,000 square meters. It is surrounded by a garden full of fruit trees, various kinds of flowers and a green pasture. Hue Century Riverside Hotel lies by the side of Truong Tien Bridge and the bank of the romantic Huong River.
Vinpearl Luxury Danang Truong Sa St, Hoa Hai Ward, Ngu Hanh Son Dist., Danang. Tel: (0236) 3968-888 www.vinpearl.com
Danang Museum of Cham
Sculpture 2, 2 Thang 9 St, Danang Tel: (0236) 3572-935 www.chammuseum.danang.vn Open 7.15 a.m. to 5 p.m. Entry fee VND30,000 ($1.43)
HOI AN
(TELEPHONE CODE: 0235) HOTELS, RESORTS
Anantara Hoi An Resort
1 Pham Hong Thai St, Hoi An, Quang Nam Province. Tel: (0235) 3914-555 www.hoi-an.anantara.com
Aurora Riverside Hotel & Villas
NHA TRANG
(TELEPHONE CODE: 0258) HOTELS, RESORTS
Champa Island Nha Trang
Resort & Spa 304, 2/4 St, Vinh Phuoc, Nha Trang Tel: (0258) 3568-888 Email: sales@champaislandresort.vn www.champaisandresort.vn With architecture reflecting nearby Po Nagar temple, Champa Island Nha Trang offers exquisite cuisine and many entertainment services that promise a memorable stay in Nha Trang
Cam Ranh Riviera Beach Resort & Spa 242 Cua Dai St, Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province. Tel: (0235) 3924-111 www.aurorahoian.com
Hotel Royal Hoi An, Mgallery Collection 39 Dao Duy Tu St, Hoi An, Quang Nam Province. Tel: (0235) 3950-777 www.mgallery.com Palm Garden Beach Resort and Spa
Hoi An Centre for Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation 10B Tran Hung Dao St, Hoi An Tel: (0235) 3862-367 www.hoianheritage.net Open daily 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
QUY NHON
(TELEPHONE CODE: 0256) AVANI Quy Nhon Resort & Spa Ghenh Rang, Bai Dai Beach, Quy Nhon, Binh Dinh Province Tel: (0256) 3840-132 www.avanihotels.com/quynhon MUSEUM
Quang Trung Museum
Block 1, Phu Phong town, Tay Son Dist., Binh Dinh Province. Tel: (056) 3580-320 Open 7 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. and 1.30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Entry fee VND10,500 ($0.50). Free for children under six
Bamboo Village Beach Resort & Spa
Seahorse Resort & Spa
Km 11 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province. Tel: (0252) 3847-507 reservation@seahorseresortvn.com www.seahorseresortvn.com
Sea Links City Resort & Golf
38 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province. Tel: (0252) 3847-007 www.bamboovillageresortvn.com
Km 9, Nguyen Thong St, Phu Hai Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (0252) 2220-088 www.sealinksbeachhotel.com MUSEUM
Cham Culture Exhibition Centre
Song Mao intersection, Phan Hiep Commune, Bac Binh Dist., Binh Thuan Province; Tel: (0252) 3641-456. Open: 7.30 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. Free entrance
Northern Peninsula Cam Ranh, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (0258) 3989-898 Email: info@rivieraresortspa.com www.rivieraresortspa.com 32-34 Tran Phu St, Nha Trang Tel: (0258) 3887-777 www.intercontinental.com
MUSEUM
Quater 5, Phu Hai Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (0252) 3828-288 www.aromabeachresort.com With 52 authentic Vietnamese rooms and bungalows, the hotel offers a breathtaking panoramic view of the blue sea
Blue Bay Muine Resort & Spa
InterContinental Nha Trang Hotel
Lac Long Quan St, Cua Dai Beach, Hoi An, Quang Nam Province Tel: (0235) 3927-927 Email: info@pgr.com.vn www.palmgardenresort.com.vn
DIRECTIONS
Mường Thanh Grand Nha Trang Hotel
6 Duong Hien Quyen St, Vinh Hoa Ward, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (0258) 3552-468 www.nhatrang.muongthanh.vn
DALAT
Suoi Nuoc, Muine, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (0252) 3836-888 Email: info@bluebaymuineresort.com www.bluebaymuineresort.com
Hoang Ngoc (Oriental Pearl) Beach Resort & Spa
(TELEPHONE CODE: 0263) HOTELS
Ana Mandara Villas Dalat Resort & Spa
Vinpearl Resort Nha Trang
Hon Tre Island, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (0258) 3598-188 Email: info@vinpearlresort-nhatrang.com www.vinpearl.com MUSEUM
Alexandre Yersin Museum
Pasteur Institute, 10 Tran Phu St, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (0258) 3822-406
PHAN THIET
(TELEPHONE CODE: 0252) HOTELS, RESORTS
Aroma Beach Resort & Spa
152 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province. Tel: (0252) 3847-858 Email: info@hoangngoc-resort.com www.hoangngoc-resort.com
Muine Mud Bath & Spa
133A Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province. Tel: (0252) 3743-481 Email: sales1@bunkhoangmuine.com www.bunkhoangmuine.com
Le Lai St, Dalat, Lam Dong Province Tel: (0263) 3555-888 reservation-dalat@anamandara-resort.com www.anamandara-resort.com From VND3,150,000 ($150)
Monet Garden Villa
Caty Resort
6 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (0252) 2481-888 www.catymuineresort.com info@catymuineresort.com
Muine Bay Resort
Quarter 14, Mui Ne Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (0252) 2220-222 Email: info@muinebayresort.com www.muinebayresort.com
3 Nguyen Du St., Dalat City, Lam Dong Province Tel: (0263) 3810-826 www.monetgarden.com.vn
DECEMBER 2017-JANUARY 2018
I
VIETNAM HERITAGE
• 49
A 1. B aD inh S quare Ba Dinh Square
D1
rison 2. H oa L oP Hoa Lo Prison
E3
Stt Joseph Joseph’s Cathedral 3. S ’s C athedral
E2
ouse Opera House 4. Hanoi O pera H
F3
Cot Co Tower 5. C ot C oT ower
D2
Women’s 6. W omen’s Museum
E3
7. H oC hi M inh Museum Ho Chi Minh
D2
8. IImperial mperial C itadel of T Citadel Thang Long hang L ong
D1
CENTRE OF
B
C
1
9. V ietnam National National Museum of History Vietnam History F3 10. V ietnam M ilitary H istory Museum D2 Vietnam Military History illar 11. O ne P One Pillar
C2
ausoleum 12. H oC hi M inh M Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
D1
13. Ngo on T emple Ngocc S Son Temple
E2
14. Dong Da H ill Hill
C4
15. Dong X uan M arket Xuan Market
E1
2
3
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14 1 4
4
Ms. Thuy Phuong Mobile: 0969 47 3579
STREET GUIDE
Ba Trieu...................E3, E4 Bac Son.........................D1 Bach Dang.....................F2 Bach Mai........................E4 Bat Dan..........................E2 Bich Cau........................C2 Buoi................................A1 Cat Linh..........................C2 Cha Ca....................E1, E2 Cua Bac.........................D1 Cua Dong.......................D2
Da Tuong.......................E3 Dang Tat.........................D1 Dao Duy Anh.................D4 Dao Duy Tu.............E1, E2 Dien Bien Phu................D2 Doc Ngu.........................A1 Doi Can.............A1, B2, C2 Duong Thanh.................E2 Gam Cau........................E1 Giai Phong.....................D4 Giang Vo.....A3 ,B3 ,B2,C2
Hai Ba Trung.....E2, E3, F3 Ham Long......................E3 Han Thuyen....................F3 Hang Bac.......................E2 Hang Bo.........................E2 Hang Bong.....................E2 Hang Buom....................E2 Hang Can.......................E2 Hang Chuoi....................F3 Hang Cot........................E1 Hang Da.........................E2 Hang Dao.......................E2
Hang Dau.......................E1 Hang Ga.........................E2 Hang Gai........................E2 Hang Khay.....................E2 Hang Khoai....................E1 Hang Ma.........................E1 Hang Quat......................E2 Hang Trong....................E2 Hang Chieu....................E1 Hang Luoc......................E1 Hao Nam........................C2 Hoa Ma...........................F3
Hoang Dieu.............D1, D2 Hoang Hoa Tham............... ....................A1, B1, C1, D1 Hoang Van Thu..............D1 Hoe Nhai........................E1 Hung Vuong............D1, D2 Huynh Thuc Khang........A3 Kham Thien.............C3, D3 Kim Ma..............A2, B2, C2 La Thanh.................B3, C3 Lang Ha..........................B3 Nguyen Chi Thanh.........A3
Le Dai Hanh...................E4 Le Duan............D2, D3, D4 Le Hong Phong.............D2 Le Lai..............................F2 Le Thai To.......................E2 Le Thanh Tong...............F3 Le Van Huu....................E3 Lieu Giai........................A2 Lo Duc......................F3, F4 Lo Su..............................F2 Luong Ngoc Quyen.......E2 Luong Van Can..............E2
L L L L M N N N N N N N
OF HA NOI
4 4 2 2 2 3 3 2 4 2 2 2
D
E
F
12 1 11
15 8
7 5 10 13 3
2
Ly Nam De..............E1, E2 Ly Quoc Su....................E2 Ly Thai To.......................F2 Ly Thuong Kiet........E3, F3 Mai Hac De..............E3, E4 Ngo Quyen.....................F3 Ngo Si Lien....................D2 Ngo Thi Nham................E3 Ngoc Ha.........................C1 Ngoc Khanh...................B2 Nguyen Canh Chan......D1 Nguyen Cong Hoa.........B2
Nguyen Dinh Chieu............ .................................E3, E4 Nguyen Du..............D3, E3 Nguyen Huu Huan........ F2 Nguyen Khuyen.............D2 Nguyen Luong Bang.....C3 Nguyen Thai Hoc....C2, D2 Nguyen Thuong Hien......... ........................................D3 Nguyen Van To..............E2 Nha Chung.....................E2 Nha Tho.........................E2
Nui Truc..........................B2 Pham Dinh Ho................F3 Pham Ngu Lao...............F3 Phan Boi Chau.......D2, D3 Phan Chu Trinh..............F3 Phan Dinh Phung..........D1 Phan Huy Chu................F3 Pho Duc Chinh...............F3 Pho Hue...................E3, E4 Phu Doan.......................E2 Phung Hung............E1, E2 Quan Su..................E2, E3
6
Quan Thanh...................D1 Quang Trung...........E2, E3 Quoc Tu Giam...............D2 Son Tay..........................C2 Thai Phien......................E4 Thanh Cong...................B3 Thanh Nien....................D1 Tho Nhuom.............E2, E3 Thuy Khue.......................... ....................A1, B1, C1, D1 To Hien Thanh...............E4 Tong Dan........................F2
4
Ton Duc Thang..............C3 Tran Hung Dao................... ...........................D3, E3, F3 Tran Huy Lieu................B2 Tran Khanh Du...............F3 Tran Khat Chan..............F4 Tran Nguyen Han..........F2 Tran Nhan Tong......D3, E3 Tran Nhat Duat..............E1 Tran Phu........................D2 Tran Quang Khai............F2 Tran Qui Cap.................D2
9
Tran Quoc Toan......D3, E3 Tran Thanh Tong............F3 Tran Xuan Soan................. .................................E3, E4 Trang Thi........................E2 Trang Tien................E2, F3 Trieu Viet Vuong......E3, E4 Trinh Hoai Duc...............C2 Tue Tinh.........................E3 Yen Phu..........................E1 Yersin..............................F4 Yet Kieu..........................D3
CENTRE OF HO C
Palace 1. IIndependence ndependence P alace
D3
Notre Cathedral 2. N otre Dame C athedral
E2
Vietnam History 3. V ietnam H istory Museum
F2
Fine Arts Museum 4. F ine A rts M useum of of Ho Ho Chi Chi Minh Minh City City E4 E4 Ho Chi Minh City 5. H oC hi M inh C ity Museum
E3
6. Southern Southern Women Women Museum
C1
7. War War Remnants Remnants Museum
D2
8. Ben Ben Thanh Thanh Market Market
E3
9. T Tao Park ao Dan P ark
D3
Post Office 10. P ost O ffice
E2
Zoo oo 11. Z
F2
12. Nha Nha Rong Wharf Wharf
F4
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A
B
C
1
6
2
3
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Ms. Thuy Phuong
4
Mobile: 0969 47 3579
STREET GUIDE
3 Thang 2..........A2, A3, B2 Alexandre De Rhodes........ ........................................E2 An Duong Vuong....A4, B4 Ba Le Chan....................D1 Ba Huyen Thanh Quan...... ........................................C2 Ban Co...........................B3 Ben Chuong Duong........... .................................D4, E4 Ben Van Don...........D4, E4
Bui Thi Xuan..................C3 Bui Vien...................C4, D4 Cach Mang Thang Tam..... ......A1, B1, B2, C2, C3, D3 Calmette.........................E4 Cao Thang.....................B3 Chu Manh Trinh.............F2 Co Bac.....................C4, D4 Co Giang............. ...C4, D4 Cong Quynh............C3, C4 De Tham........................D4
Dien Bien Phu..................... A3, B2, C2, D1, D2, E1, F1 Dinh Tien Hoang............E1 Do Quang Dau...............C4 Do Thanh.......................B3 Doan Cong Buu.............C1 Doan Nhu Hai..........E4, F4 Dong Du.........................F3 Dong Khoi................E3, F3 Hai Ba Trung....................... ...........................D1, E2, F3 Hai Trieu.........................F4
Ham Nghi.................E4, F4 Han Thuyen....................E2 Ho Hao Hon...................C4 Ho Tung Mau...........E3, E4 Ho Xuan Huong.............C2 Hoa Hung.......................A2 Hung Vuong...................A4 Huyen Tran Cong Chua..... ........................................D3 Huynh Thuc Khang........E3 Huynh Tinh Cua.............D1 Ky Con.....................D4, E4
Ky Dong...................B2, C1 Le Duan...................E2, F2 Le Hong Phong.................. ...........................A2, A3, A4 Le Lai.......................C3, D3 Le Loi..............................E3 Le Quy Don....................D2 Le Thanh Ton...................... ...........................D3, E3, F2 Le Thi Hong Gam............... .................................D4, E4 Le Thi Rieng............C3, D3
Le Van Sy.......................B1 Luong Huu Khanh.........C3 Ly Chinh Thang.......C1, C2 Ly Thai To......................A3 Ly Tu Trong......................... ...........................D3, E3, F2 Ly Van Phuc...................E1 Mac Dinh Chi...........E1, E2 Mac Thi Buoi..................F3 Mai Thi Luu..............E1, F1 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia............ ...................C1, D1, D2, D3
N N N N .. N N .. N .. N N
1 3 2 3 .. 2 1 2 3 1 .. 3
CHI MINH CITY D
E
F
6 4 11 11
7 2
10 10
1
5
4
9 8
4
1 2 12
Ngo Duc Ke....................F3 Ngo Thoi Nhiem ....C2, D2 Ngo Van Nam.................F2 Nguyen Binh Khiem.............. .....................................F1, F2 Nguyen Cau...................D1 Nguyen Cong Tru............... .................................D4, E4 Nguyen Dinh Chieu............ ......B3, C2, C3, D2, E1, F1 Nguyen Du..............D3, E3 Nguyen Hue.............E3, F3
Nguyen Khac Nhu.............. .................................C4, D4 Nam Quoc Cang.....C3, C4 Nguyen Phi Khanh.........E1 Nguyen Sieu...................F3 Nguyen Son Tra................. .................................B3, C3 Nguyen Tat Thanh..........F4 Nguyen Thai Binh............... .................................D4, E4 Nguyen Thai Hoc....D3, D4 Nguyen Thanh Y............E1
Nguyen Thi Dieu............C2 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai........ .................................B3, C3 Nguyen Thien Thuat........... .................................A3, B3 Nguyen Thong........B2, C2 Nguyen Thuong Hien........ .................................B2, C3 Nguyen Trai.............B4, C4 Nguyen Trung Ngan......F2 Nguyen Trung Truc........E3 Nguyen Truong To.........E4
Nguyen Van Cu..............B4 Nguyen Van Thu......E1, F1 Pasteur................................ ...............D1, D2, E2, E3,E4 Pham Ngoc Thach.........D1 Pham Ngu Lao........C4, D4 Pham Viet Chanh...........B3 Phan Ke Binh..........E1, E2 Pho Duc Chinh...............E4 Phung Khac Khoan.......E2 Suong Nguyet Anh........C3 Thach Thi Thanh.....D1, E1
Thai Van Lung................F3 Thi Sach.........................F3 Thu Khoa Huan.......D3, E3 To Hien Thanh................A1 Ton That Dam..........E3, E4 Ton Duc Thang..............C3 Tran Binh Trong......A3, A4 Tran Cao Van.................E2 Tran Dinh Xu...........B4, C4 Tran Hung Dao.......C4, D4 Tran Minh Quyen...........A3 Tran Nhan Tong.......A3, A4
Tran Phu.........................A4 Tran Quang Dieu...........B1 Tran Quang Khai.....D1, E1 Tran Quoc Thao......C1, D2 Tran Quoc Toan......C1, D1 Truong Dinh............C1, C2 Tu Xuong.......................C2 Vinh Vien........................A3 Vo Thi Sau........C2, D1, E1 Vo Van Tan..............C3, B3 Vuon Chuoi..............B2, B3 Yersin..............................D4
DIRECTIONS
HO CHI MINH CITY (TELEPHONE CODE: 028) TRAVEL
Windsor Plaza Hotel
18 An Duong Vuong, Dist.5, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (028) 3833-6688 www.windsorplazahotel.com GALLERIES
Asiana Travel Mate
113C Bui Vien St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (028) 3838-6678 www.atravelmate.com
Buffalo Tours
81 Mac Thi Buoi, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (028) 3827-9168 Email: travelagency@buffalotours.com www.buffalotours.com.vn
Exotissimo
261/26 Phan Xich Long St, Phu Nhuan Dist., Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 3995-9898 www.exotravel.com
Apricot Gallery
50 Mac Thi Buoi St, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 3822-7962
Craig Thomas Gallery
27i Tran Nhat Duat St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City. Mobile: 0903 888 431 Email: cthomasgallery@gmail.com www.cthomasgallery.com Open: 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Closed Mondays and Sundays
Galerie Quynh
Saigon Tourist
45 Le Thanh Ton St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (028) 3827-9279 www.saigon-tourist.net
Level 2, 151/3 Dong Khoi St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (028) 3824-8284 www.galeriequynh.com Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Sàn Art
Trails of Indochina
10/8 Phan Dinh Giot St, Tan Binh Dist., Ho Chi Minh City; Tel: (028) 3844-1005 Email: dosm@trailsofindochina.com www.trailsofindochina.com HOTELS
48/7 Me Linh St, Ward 19, Binh Thanh Dist., Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 6294-7059 www.san-art.org SIGHTSEEINGS
Notre Dame Cathedral
Eastin Grand Hotel Saigon
Cong Xa Paris Square, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Built in 1877, and the Cathedral opened to the public in 1880. The bricks used to build this marvellous structure were shipped from Marseilles.
Ben Thanh Market
253 Nguyen Van Troi St, Phu Nhuan Dist., Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 3844-9222 Email: Info@eastingrandSaigon.com www.eastingrandsaigon.com
Park Hyatt Saigon
2 Lam Son Square, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 3824-1234 www.saigon.park.hyatt.com
Rex Hotel
141 Nguyen Hue St, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 3829-2185 www.rexhotelvietnm.com
Sofitel Saigon Plaza
Le Lai St, Ben Thanh Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Ben Thanh market is a trade centre and a favourite tourist destination, offering a wide range of Vietnamese handicraft, fresh fruits and local specialities.
Chinatown – Cho Lon
It was set up at the end of the 18th century when the Minh Dynasty in China was overthrown. Chinatown has many shops and private workshops. The most interesting places are Binh Tay market, Soai Kinh Lam fabric whole-sales market, the street of herbal medicine located on Hai Thuong Lan Ong and Thien Hau Temple on Nguyen Trai Street.
Ticket: VND50,000 The first museum of traditional Vietnamese medicine
The Coast Hotel
Ho Chi Minh City Museum
65 Ly Tu Trong St, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 3829-9741 www.hcmc-museum.edu.vn Open daily 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Independence Palace
135 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia St, Ben Thanh Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 3822-3652 www.dinhdoclap.gov.vn Open daily, 7.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m., 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Southern Women Museum
202 Vo Thi Sau St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (028) 3932-7130
The History Museum
2 Nguyen Binh Khiem St, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist 1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 3829-8146 www.baotanglichsuvn.com 8 a.m. - 11.30 p.m. and 1.30 p.m. - 5 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday. Closed on Monday
War Remnants Museum
28 Vo Van Tan St, Ward 6, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (028) 3930-5587 Email: warrmhcm@gmail.com Open daily 7.30 a.m. to midday and 1.30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
VUNG TAU
(TELEPHONE CODE: 0254) HOTELS, RESORTS
Palace Hotel
1 Nguyen Trai St, Ward 1, Vung Tau Tel: (0254) 3856-411 www.palacehotel.com.vn
Petrosetco Hotel
12 Truong Cong Dinh St, Ward 2, Vung Tau. Tel: (0254) 3624-748 www.petrosetcohotel.vn
Petro House Hotel 63 Tran Hung Dao St, Ward 1, Vung Tau Tel : (0254) 3852-014 Hotline: 0961.085.869 Email: info@petrohousehotel.vn www.petrohousehotel.vn
300A Phan Chu Trinh St, Ward 2, Vung Tau City Tel: (0254) 3627-777 Email: info@thecoasthotelvungtau.com www.thecoasthotelvungtau.com MUSEUM
White Palace
6 Tran Phu St, Ward.1, Vung Tau City Tel: (0254) 3852-605 Open daily 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
CAN THO
(TELEPHONE CODE: 0710)
Can Tho Museum
1 Hoa Binh St, Tan An Ward, Can Tho Tel: (0710) 3820-955 Open: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.); Saturday and Sunday (8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 6.30 p.m. to 9 p.m.). Closed on Friday. Free admission
PHU QUOC
(TELEPHONE CODE: 077) Eden Resort Phu Quoc Cua Lap Hamlet, Duong To Ward, Phu Quoc District, Kien Giang Province Tel: (077) 3985-598 www.edenresort.com.vn MUSEUMS Coi Nguon Museum 149 Tran Hung Dao St, Duong dong Town, Phu Quoc, Kien Giang Province Tel: (077) 3980-206 www.coinguonphuquoc.com
MUSEUMS
Fine Arts Museum of
Ho Chi Minh City 97A Pho Duc Chinh St, Nguyen Thai Binh Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 3829-4441 www.baotangmythuattphcm.com Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Mondays
Fito Museum
17 Le Duan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 3824-1555 Email: h2077@sofitel.com www.sofitel.com
54 • V I E T N A M
HERITAGE
41 Hoang Du Khuong S, Ward 12, Dist. 10, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 3864-2430 www.fitomuseum.com.vn Open daily from 8.30 a.m. till 5.30 p.m.
I DECEMBER 2017-JANUARY 2018
For Subscription
please call Phuong: 0969473579 or email: subs.vietnamheritage@gmail.com www.vietnamheritage.com.vn Six issues Vietnam: VND294,000. Asia & Europe: $42. America & Africa: $48 .
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