Bat Trang ancient village

Bat Trang is an ancient and famous ceramic village of Viet Nam.  This village lies on the left bank of Red river, about 13 km from Ha Noi, belongs to Gia Lam district – a suburb of Ha Noi Capital. In the past, It was called Bach Tho Village and then it was changed into Ba Trang Village. To day, this village is one of interesting place to visit in Ha Noi.

One of the first interesting things vistor can feel when coming to Bat Trang is the way to this ancient village. Go over the Chuong Duong bridge, go through the long dike, there are some nice places you can stop to take some memorable photographs with your friends

You should start with a walking tour around the village. Go around the small alley running through the village and you can see many more private pottery kilns or the small ceramic drying rigs

Because Bat Trang village is situated on the left bank of the Red River, if you've come here, you can also walk along the river, watching the beautiful scenery and enjoy the river airy atmosphere. In particular, there are passenger vehicles with the help of the buffalo near the river, you can try to go and experience the feeling of discovering  Bat Trang on the steps slowly but surely  of buffaloes.

After walking around the village and taking pictures, you can try making sense of potters with very low fees, only 10,000 VND per person. The owners usually stand at the gate to welcome guests. You will be played with ceramic rotating table. Do not worry if you do not know how to use them, the workers here will instruct you, helped you shape, take samples for your attention. And you are free to create and try out clay.

However if you are not ingenious enough to do make nice products, you can ask the potter to help you. Then, you will paint it by yourself. To take home a piece of pottery like that, you have to pay more from 20000-25000 VND

One more place you should not miss when visiting Bat Trang is pottery market. This market is about 6,000 square meters, divided into small stalls which are sold all kinds of handicrafts items related to ceramics, from the luxury booth dishes, beautiful ornaments to the souvenirs, cups and popular dishes.

And Places where children like best is stalls showing clay tablets inscribed in many different colors, shapes. You will choose for themselves and arrange into  messages. Sellers will help you string into cute and beautiful bracelets or necklaces with the cheap cost.

When feeling tired, you can stop at the roadside stalls where buy rustic dishes made by people in Bat Trang. There are also plenty of dishes to choose from. While taking a rest, you can choose to sip a hot pair of rice cakes and a glass of sugarcane juice

Bat Trang is a really exciting discovery tourist destination where is very suitable for a day trip. Coming to Bat Trang ancient village and enjoy yourself in a day of hard work but exciting with potters and bring beautiful pottery products as a souvenir.

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) - The Pearl Of The Far East

Ho Chi Minh City
Ethnic groups: Viet(Kinh), Hoa, Cham, Khmer.
Highlights: Meseums, Ben Thanh Market, Thong Nhat Conference Hali, Theatre, Chinese Pagodas in Cholon, Cu Chi Tunnels, Suoi Tien Resort..

Ha Long Bay - UNESCO World Heritage Centre

Ha Long Bay (Where the dragon flies down), is a small gulf of the Northeast Gulf. It consists of islands of Ha Long city, Cam Pha town and a part of Van Don District. Ha Long Bay is about 1553 km, including 1969 small and big islands. Most of them are limestone islands. Ha Long Bay is described as a nature masterpiece after millions year of geological change. When traveling, you will relax with quite and fresh atmosphere.
Nowadays, Ha Long Bay, which is the attractive destination, is mentioned most not only in Vietnam but also over the world. Ha Long Bay is recognized to be the world nature heritage twice by UNESCO. Particularly, it is voted for the New Seven Wonder of Nature in 2011.
SEA AND ISLANDS
There are two kinds of island in Ha Long Bay: Limestone Island and Schist Island. Each island has private shape. For example, Hon Rong is similar to a flying dragon on water surface and Hon La Vong is like an old man fishing. Visitor cannot forget some other islands in Ha Long Bay.
Hon Trong Mai is one of the most famous islands in the West south of the Bay. It consists of two islands which shape like a couple of chickens. It is about 10 metres in height and a symbol on Ha Long’s logo.
Tuan Chau island is about 3km in width. Now, it becomes a tourist zone with not only nature landscape but also entertainment centre and resort.
Bai Chay Beach is an artificial beach of Ha Long Bay with more than 200 metres in length and 100 metres in width. Through the asphalt road, visitors can see sand green casuarinas. The pretty shops are hidden under the groves of casuarinas.
CAVES
Besides the beauty of island, visitors are attracted by many caves with beautiful stalactites. These make tourists feel like in heaven.
Thien Cung grotto is far from Ha Long city 8km, lies on Canh Doc Island. When coming in the cave, visitors will be surprised at the stalactites as a castle on high and vertical walls. There are many shapes such as flowers, grasses, birds, human’s activities. All of them are products of nature during millions of year. Besides, there are other attractive caves such as Trinh Nu cave, Dau Go cave, Tam Cung cave, Tien Ong cave
Sung Sot cave lies on Bo Hon Island. It is the largest and most beautiful cave with area 10km2 and at the height of 25m above sea level. This cave is divided into two parts. The first part is as beautiful as legend’s world with colorful stalactites. In other part, there are images in Thanh Giong story.
Ha Long Bay is a worth present which nature gives to Viet Nam. Many organizations and offices continue to keep and develop Ha Long Bay becoming a famous tourisms center of the world. Welcome to Ha Long Bay to enjoy, relax and experience new feeling.

Sinh Village Prints

Before the Lunar New Year, many families in Sinh Village are busy making traditional images that will be used to worship on the last night of the lunar year. Traditional prints have been produced in Sinh Village for more than 500 years. Sinh Village's drawings are used to worship in the middle of the lunar month, on the first day of the lunar month, and especially on the final day of the lunar year. People burn these drawings along with paper money and votive papers. These drawings are intended to bring good luck. Sinh Village supplies them to markets in Hue and to markets in Da Nang, Quang Tri, Quang Nam, etc.

Making there images, requires great skill. The drawings are printed on wood-blocks that are carved with sophisticated designs. There are many types and sizes of prints. In the past, the image were printed on do paper, a handmade paper made from the pulp of the Rhamnoneuron tree. Do paper typically measures 25x70 centimeters. It can be cut into smaller pieces. If the drawing is big, the craftsmen lay the wood-block on its back and use a spreading tool (a dried piece of coconut) to spread black color onto the wood-block. The paper is applied and rubbed with a sponge to transfer the color. For smaller images, the papers are placed under the wood-block. The black prints are left to dry before being colored. The wood-blocks are made from jackfruit wood. The process of coloring requires care, speed and skill.

Sinh drawings usually depict innocence, simplicity and optimism. There are about 50 drawing topics, most of which are related to old beliefs. Along with drawings of beautiful women there are tnany drawings depicting daily life. There are drawings of men and women and boys and girls; kitchen drawings; drawings of old men's and women's clothing; drawings of traditional Weaponry; and drawings of domestic animals. Some ''Cong anh" drawings may be called "Offering life for another" drawings, for they are offered and burned as substitutes for the living. A family will buy a "Cong anh" drawing for each member of the family to burn on the last night of the year. If they have livestock, they will burn the same number of related "Cong anh" drawings so as to help their animals to remain healthy.

The end of the lunar year is a busy time for everyone. If you visit Sinh Village at this time, you will see people of all ages working busily. Adults mix the colors, spread the drawings onto the wood-blocks and color in the prints. Children will take the drawings to dry in the sun, or sit near their elders and watch. It is very exciting and interesting.

Since this craft is time-consuming and hard to learn, today, it -is being practiced by fewer families in Sinh Village. Like everything else, the process has changed. In the past, colors were mixed from natural pigments. Dung leaves were mixed with hoe buds to create light yellow. Malaba spinach was used to make green. Hoe seeds created orange. Bang leaves were used to make red. And ash mixed with boiled well water was used to make black. Today, chemical pigments are used. Machine made paper has replaced handmade do paper, except for special orders.
Visitors to Sinh Village should seek out Mr.Ky Huu Phuoc. Now 64 years old, Mr. Phuoc has contributed to the regeneration of this traditional craft in Sinh Village. He is the ninth generation of his family to make these special worship prints.

Daklak - The roof of the western highlands

DAKLAK PROVINCE

Caption:         Buon Ma Thuot City

Ethnic group:            Viet (Kinh), Ede, Nung, M’Nong, Tay

Highlight:       BuonDon Vilage, Lak Lake, Yorkdon national Park

The legend of Vietnam's Tet cakes

Long ago, the sixteenth Hung king ruled the country. As the king was growing old he decided to choose an heir from amongst his 22 adult sons. The king decided to hold a contest. He ordered his sons to line up and said: "The time has come to pass my throne to one of you. Now go and seek a unique food to sacrifice to your ancestors. The one whose sacrifice pleases me the most will be my heir."

The princes traveled far and wide in search of rare delicacies. They crossed seas and climbed mountains. Prince Lieu was the eighteenth son. Since his mother had died when he was young, he had a lonely childhood. While the other princes scoured the land for rare foods, Prince Lieu lay at home. He knew nothing about fine food. Just three days before the contest's ending, Prince Lieu had nothing to off er. He lay awake thinking of the different feasts he had attended. Finally, he fell asleep and dreamt that he and his half-brothers were competing to make the finest cake. A goddess appeared in his dream and said: "Nothing can be as big as the heaven and the earth, or as precious as rice. More doesn't work, two is enough. Sort out the glutinous rice and find some green beans."

Prince Lieu saw the goddess take some broad green leaves. She wrapped them around her cake and explained: "This cake represents the earth. Because it has green fields, trees and mountains, the color should be green and the shape square. The cake is filled with beans and fatty pork as symbols of the plants and animals ... Cook the glutinous rice and pound it to make a cake that represents heaven: white and round like the firmament ..."

Upon waking, Prince Lieu set about making the two cakes he had seen in his dream. On the day of the contest huge crowds gathered. People were eager to watch the contest and see the coronation of a new king. As the sun rose, the old king was carried on a palanquin to his ancestral altar. Gongs and drums boomed.

The princes presented many strange delicacies, including pheasant rolls, phoenix terrines, bear arms and pangolin livers ... Beside these rarities Prince Lieu placed his rustic offering. Upon first seeing his cake, the onlookers scoff ed. But after tasting it, they were amazed.

"This is an extraordinary product made with insignificant materials" said the Chamberlain. The old king asked Prince Lieu for the recipe. The young prince described his method and reported his strange dream. At midday, the elderly Hung king declared the winner. Prince Lieu would ascend the throne. The king showed his subjects the prince's two cakes. "As well as tasting good, these cakes remind us that the love of a child for their parents is like the love of heaven and earth and our love for our country. They are easy to make using the gifts of the gods. Their inventor was a genius to create such a meaningful offering."

Until now, each Lunar New Year, Vietnamese people prepare chung (square) cakes and day (round) buns to sacrifice to their ancestors. After his coronation, Prince Lieu was honored with the title. Tiet Lieu Vuong, or the seventeenth Hung King.

Tourism programme highlights northern mountainous region

Tourism potential of six northern mountainous provinces in the Viet Bac region is in the spotlight of a programme which opened in Lang Son province on November 4.
The Viet Bac region, comprising Lang Son, Cao Bang, Bac Kan , Thai Nguyen, Ha Giang and Tuyen Quang, used to be the base of the revolutionary forces in the fight against French colonialists. Besides numerous revolutionary relics related to the national liberation war, the region is also home to magnificent natural scenery and various ethnic minority communities with unique cultures.

The annual Viet Bac tourism programme is hosted in turns by regional localities not only to promote tourism but also to establish economic linkages with other provinces and cities, contributing to boosting the region’s socio-economic development.

A wide range of activities, including folk art performances and traditional costume shows, food festival and folk games, are scheduled to take place during the three-day event, the fifth of its kind held in the region.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, which saw the presence of leaders of Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Steering Committee for the Northwest region as well as representatives from China ’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Vice Chairman of Lang Son provincial People’s Committee To Hung Khoa invited investors to the province.

He affirmed the province will create the best possible conditions for businesses who want to study and invest in the province, especially in the Dong Dang border gate economic zone and the Mau Son national tourism area.

On this occasion, eight communes in Lang Son’s Bac Son district were recognised as part of the Revolutionary Safe Zone relic site.

Source: VNA