Hoi An wins 2013 Asian townscape awards

Hoi An ancient town in the central province of Quang Nam has won the 2013 Asian Townscape Awards given by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme.

The award ceremony is scheduled for November 20 in Japan to highlight and honour significant efforts made by Asian cities for the improvement, revitalisation and creation of a beautiful and harmonious townscape that is safe, sustainable and with respect to history and local culture.

Earlier this month, the world’s premier travel magazine Conde Nast Traveller named Hoi An as the second best city for tourists in Asia after Kyoto, Japan.

This year, the US online news site Huffington Post listed Hoi An as one of seven must-visit places in Vietnam, calling it as a hidden gem.

Hoi An was recognised as a world cultural heritage site by UNESCO in 1999. The ancient town is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a Southeast Asian trading port dating from the 15th-19th century.

Most of the buildings in the town are aligned along narrow lanes. They include many pagodas, temples and meeting houses related to the development of a port community.

Source: VNA

Bai Dinh Pagoda, between worship and gigantism

Located behind a range of limestone mountains in Gia Sinh Commune, Gia Vien District, northern Ninh Binh Province, Bai Dinh is only 6km away from Hoa Lu ancient capital to the northwest. Let's discovering one of the most important attractions of Trang An ecotourist complex with Ninh Binh online newspaper.
Bai Dinh Pagoda is a cluster of Buddhist architectural structures, consisting of new, giant and imposing temples of the newly-built Bai Dinh Pagoda area which play off ancient and respected shrines of the old Bai Dinh Pagoda area.
Bai Dinh Pagoda Mountain is 200m high. It lies between a half – mountain half – plain with an area of nearly 150,000 square metres. A new Bai Dinh Pagoda was built next to the old one facing southeast. This pagoda covers an area of 700ha, located on Ba Rau hills, near Hoang Long river. This is a large complex which includes many items built in several different stages. Big, bold and solemn structures, deeply imbued with Vietnamese architecture, Bai Dinh Pagoda complex was arranged in five layers upward, including a temple’s inner Three Entrance Gate, a bell tower, a temple dedicated to Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, Phap Chu Temple devoted to the Shakyamuni Buddha, and Tam The Temple dedicated to Buddha.

Three Entrance Gate, which features a three-layer curved roof, covered with glazed dark brown tiles produced in Bat Trang pottery village. Inside, the Three Entrance Gate houses two statues of Lokapalas (Ho Phap), which is 5m high and weights 12 tonnes each, and it is supported by four wooden pillars, which is 13.85m high and 0.85m in diameter each.

Five hundred Arhat statues, made of greenstone, are placed along the two sides of corridors leading up to other structures of the pagoda complex. Each statue, from 2 to 2.5m in height, 2 to 2.5 tonnes in weight, renders unique facial expression and posture that is not expressed by the other.

The Three Entrance Gate is followed by the bell tower, built in the octagonal shape with three-layer curved roof. It houses a bronze bell weighing 36 tonnes.

The temple dedicated to Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara is a seven-compartment single-roofed building where the 90-tonne bronze statue of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara with many eyes and hands is placed.

The Phap Chu temple devoted to the Shakyamuni Buddha has two-layer curved roof. It is 30m high, 47.6m long, and 43.3m wide. Inside the temple sits the 100-tonne statue of Shakyamuni Buddha. A bronze bell weight 27 tonnes is placed in the temple courtyard.

At the highest location of the new pagoda complex, which is 76m above sea level, Tam The Temple lies. This grave structure is 34m high, 59m long and 40m wide, and has a three-layer curved roof. Inside, the hall is home to three bronze statues of Buddha in the three ages – the past, the presence and the future. Each statue, weighted around 50 tonnes, is 7.2m high.

The ancient Bai Dinh Pagoda (Bai Dinh Co Tu) is located on Bai Dinh mountain and at nearly 200m above sea level. Bai Dinh Co Tu lies about 800m from the Tam The Temple of the new Bai Dinh Pagoda area. The ancient pagoda area is composed of Tien duong (the front hall), the cave where Buddha is worshipped, the temple worshipped the Mountain God, the temple dedicated to Consecrated Nguyen, and the cave where the Mother Goddess of the Forest is worshipped.

According to the Vietnamese concept, the ancient Bai Dinh Pagoda is located on an area regarded as a sacred land given it is the birth place of the eminent figures of the nation, including kings, saints and divinities. The pagoda was recognized by the Ministry of Culture and Information (the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism now) as a national historic-cultural relic site in 1997.

Ngoc Well lies nearby the foot of Bai Dinh mountain. As the legend has it, the famous senior Buddhist monk-cum-physician under the Ly Dynasty, Nguyen Minh Khong, used to take water from the well to prepare herbal medicines for the local people and Crown Prince Duong Hoan. The well was built in the moon-shape with a diameter of 30m. The water of the well, which has not run dry once since it was built, is 6m deep.

Apart from the aforementioned structures, others include a place of worship of the Mother Goddess, a place of worship of Ancestors, a tomb stupa, the Vietnam Buddhism Academy, Dam Thi Lake, green park, reception area, parking area, etc.

Bai Dinh Pagoda is famous for holding several records. So far, it has had eight records recognized as follows: Biggest gilt Buddha Shakyamuni statue in Asia : the 100-ton statue of Shakyamuni Buddha in Phap Chu Temple; Biggest bronze statue of Buddha in Southeast Asia: the 100-ton statue of Maitreya Bodhisattva; Biggest bronze bell in Vietnam: the 36-ton bronze bell in the bell tower; Largest pagoda area in Vietnam: 539ha; Longest corridor with 500 Arhat statues: two wooden corridors with total length of 3,400 m; Largest number of Arhat statues in Vietnam: 500 greenstone Arhat statues; Largest Ngoc (pearl) Well in Vietnam: 30m in diameter, 6m in depth; Largest number of Bodhi trees in Vietnam: 100 Bodhi trees.

Source: VNA

Six Senses Resort Ninh Van Bay (Khanh Hoa)

Six Senses Ninh Van Bay sits on a dramatic bay that gives the feeling of an island, with impressive rock formations overlooking the East Vietnam Sea.
White sand beach and towering mountains add to the sense of being intimately at one with nature.
The resort boasts beachfront and over water villas, as well as villas nestled into the island’s rock formations, a stunning feature for this multi-award-winning resort. Choose to join an excursion or make use of the resort's facilities and wide variety of sporting equipment; we’ll make your experiences truly unique and unforgettable.
The resort presents the reality of the destination, with an architectural style incorporating traditions of Vietnam.

Ninh Van Bay,
Ninh Hoa, Khanh Hoa, Vietnam
T: +84 58 3524 268
E-mail: reservations-ninhvan@sixsenses.com

Hanoi’s food to get Asian Record’s certificates

The Asian Record’s Organisation is about to grant certificates recognising Hanoi’s three unique dishes for their meeting Asian culinary values.
The certificates will be awarded at a festival featuring tourism products of traditional craft villages in Hanoi and the Red River Delta scheduled for October 8-12, said Mai Tien Dung, deputy head of the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism on October 3.

The three specialty include Pho (noodle soup served with beef and chicken); Bun cha (rice noodle served with grilled pork); and Bun thang (rice noodle soup served with chicken, fried egg strands, lean meat pie strands and mushroom).

Another six dishes will be also awarded certificates by the Vietnam Record’s Organization, including Cha ca (fried fish served with noodles and scallions) La Vong; Banhcuon (steamed rolled rice pancake) Thanh Tri; Mo (apricot) Huong Son; Canh orange; Banh com (green rice flake cake) Hang Than; and O mai (salted dry fruits) Hang Duong.

Food has been embedded as Hanoi’s typical cultural characteristic and unique tourism product.
In the coming time, the city tourism industry will continue its efforts to promote Vietnamese dishes to the world by introducing them into multilingual leaflets and booklets at tourism fairs.

Source: VOV.VN

Tam Coc Bich Dong: a priceless gift from nature

There are a few places in S-shape strip of Viet Nam which are favored with many beautiful natural attractions like the charming picture as Ninh Binh province and it is only 120km from Ha Noi with convenient traffic, Tam Coc- Bich Dong is one of the masterpieces of the nature like that.

Tam Coc- Bich Dong also called with other name “Ha Long Bay on Land” is one of tourist destination which travelers cannot miss when coming to Ninh Binh. Belonging to the system of limestone caves and historical sites related to the Tran dynasty, Tam Coc - Bich Dong has an area of ​​approximately 350.3 hectares in 4 communes: Ninh Hai C, Ninh Xuan, Yen Son and Son Ha line with many sightseeing tours by rowing boat, riding bike or walking through nearly 20 connected destinations. However, boat tour is the type of tourist which visitors like most with the journey from Van Lam- Ngo Dong River

There are two famous attractions: Tam Coc cave and Bich Dong Pagoda. Tam Coc means "three caves" including Ca cave, Hai cave and Ba cave which are formed by Dong Ngo River piercing the majestic limestone mountain. Ca Cave has the length of 127 m long, penetrating a large mountain, cave entrance has 20 meters width with many diversified stalactites drooping. It is nearly 1km from Hai Cave to Ca Cave with the length of 60m. And Ba Cave is near Hai cave with the length of 50m. If you look up on the top of BA Cave, it is like a stone arch. There are not only the spectacular caves but also temples with ancient architecture. Boats from landing central wharf go along Ngo Dong River, through thousands of limestone islands, go over water caves and the rice fields.

Sitting on the small boat, gliding on Ngo Dong River in quiet space of Tam Coc - Bich Dong, visitors will feel a fresh atmosphere here. It's quiet unlike the noise the cities with the sound of sirens, blasting machine. Coming here, visitors will only hear the sound of paddles, the wave lapping gentle and the wind, English transitions birds and the sound of falling water droplets separated when little boat penetrate the cave. Especially, Tam Coc creates a deep impression on tourists in season of ripen rice, extending from the mountain edge to the middle of the river. All created amazing symphony of nature that make the human soul becomes relaxed, more comfortable, ignoring how chaos of life.

Visiting Ninh Binh or Tam Coc Bich Dong, beside the rustic food, tourist shouldn’t forget a famous specialty “Mountain goat meat”. These dishes are prepared from goats which are fed on the mountain, so it is evaluated as very tasty with characteristic flavor

Recently, a famous tourist site of the world showed Tam Coc Bich Dong (Ninh Binh, Viet Nam) for international friends. Take a visit to the Tam Coc Bich Dong, to see firsthand the grandeur of mountains, graceful beauty of its landscape.

Horses in Vietnamese Culture

Horses are not native to Vietnam, which lacks large t grasslands. Crisscrossed by waterways, Vietnam is ideal for wet rice cultivation. Long ago, lowland people traveled mainly by boat. They seldom rode horses or used horse carts.

Through exchange with China and India, where horses were common, Vietnam came to' value these animals and incorporate them into legends and art. In the beginning of the 3rd century BC, when establishing an autonomous nation, the Vietnamese King followed the Golden Turtle God's footprints to build Co Loa Citadel - the first citadel of Viet Nam. In the 10th century, after a thousand years under foreign domination, Vietnamese people regained their independence. The first Hung King decided to move the capital to Ha Noi. This time, when building Thang Long Citadel, he had to follow the footprints of a white horse that appeared in a dream. According to Indian mythology, a white horse is a symbol of the Sun. Through Buddhism, the Vietnamese inherited this symbol.

However, this was not the first horse in Vietnamese legends. Before that white horse, Thanh Giong a national hero who fought the An invaders - rode a horse. This legendary fight took place in the era of the Hung Kings, somewhere between the first and second millenniums BC. The, legend was written later, so the. story about Thanh Giong was changed by Confucian writers influenced by Chinese culture. During the first to third centuries AD, Vietnamese heroines fighting against Chinese colonialism, like Ba Trung and Ba Trieu, used war elephants instead of horses. Many Chinese tribes fought on horseback, especially during the Tang dynasty (7th to 8th centuries AD).

However, Vietnamese could not do the same, as our country is crisscrossed by lakes and rivers that are hard to cross on horseback. For this reason, in the 13th century, the mounted Mongol armies failed three times in their bid to invade the Red River Delta. Many of Vietnam's key fights to retain our independence and def eat invaders have been waged on the water, such as Ngo Quyen's victory on the Bach Dang River in 928, Tran Hung Dao's victory in 1288; and the victory of King Quang Trung on the Rach Garn- Xoai Mut River (in the Me Kong River basin) in 1785. Therefore, verses about soldiers sacrificing their lives on the battlefield next to a horse are adopted from Chinese literature. In the ancient Vietnamese army, there were war elephants, not war horses.

Nonetheless, the horse still appears in Vietnamese art, although less commonly than in Chinese paintings and statues. The Vietnamese horse is a gentle animal th,at carries the newly graduated Doctor of Philosophy back to his .hometown to receive a warm welcome. The feudal lord rode his horse to show off, not to fight in battle. Therefore, most of the stone horses carved onto royal mausoleums and palaces are standing along the aisles. In temples atid shrines, white-painted, wooden horses are set on a stand with wheels. These horses are used for processions during local festivals. These horses walk slowly behind the palanquin during the god's procession. Vietnamese gods are borne on palanquins, not on horses.

Coming to Central Vietnam, Vietnamese people became acquainted with Cham people and learned to ride horses. In the past, Cham people did not raise horses. However, somewhere between the eight and the tenth centuries, the Cham imported horses from China by sea. They played a type of polo on horseback, driving a ball into the opposing team's net. The Da Nang Museum of Cham. Sculpture still exhibits a small stone-relief sculpture of two horse riders playing polo. This statue was found in Thach Han, Quang Tri province. Polo was very popular among Chinese aristocrats in the Tang dynasty (seventh to eighth centuries AD). Cham aristocrats must have learned this game from the Chinese. A horse statue was found in Khuong My, Quang Nam province and a relief-sculpture of a war-horse dating from the 12th or 13th century was found in Binh Dinh province. However, horse sculptures were not as popular or as vividly carved as those depicting the holy bull Nandin, the elephant-headed god Ganesh, the lion, or the monkey. Cultural interaction between . Vietnalllese and Cham people led to the raising of horses in some central coastal provinces, such as Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh. During festivals and the Tet holidays, the locals in these areas still organize horse-races that are not organized elsewhere.

Vietnamese and Cham people led to the raising of horses in some central coastal provinces, such as Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh. During festivals and the Tet holidays, the locals in these areas still organize horse-races that are not organized elsewhere.

The horse is a beautiful animal that inspires many artists. Vietnamese people love to see gentle horses portrayed in traditional paintings such as "Stone Horse" by the artist Buu Chi, and "The Year of the Horse" by artist Nguyen Tu Nghiem.

Dao Hung

International grapes and wine festival 2014 in Ninh Thuan

TITC)- Aiming to promote economic potential of grapes as well as to attract tourists to Ninh Thuan, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will coordinate with the Ninh Thuan’s People’s Committee to hold the International grapes and wine festival 2014 in Phan Rang City, Ninh Thuan Province.
The festival will include more than 100 booths to introduce domestic and int’l (France, Chile, Argentina, Australia, Hungary, Rumania and Germany) products made from grapes.

In the framework of the festival, there will be many activities taking place such as: opening ceremony (including cars parade, boat racing, street music, exhibition and photography award…); exhibition on grapes and wine products; cuisine and kite-flying contests; seminar on “Ninh Thuan grapes- Jade in stone” to guide farmers to earn highest benefits from grapes and to help them to plant grapes with the best methods; performance the local processes of planting, harvesting and producing wine and grape products; art performance and fireworks in opening and closing ceremonies…

Ninh Thuan has the largest grapeyard in the country with 2,500ha mainly distributed in Ninh Phuoc, Ninh Hai Districts and Phan Rang-Thap Cham City. Ninh Thuan grapes are processed for many kinds of products such as dried grapes, jelly, wine and honey to meet customers demands.

The International grapes and wine festival 2014 will be a chance for domestic and int’l investors to meet, exchange and look for business and investment opportunities.

As scheduled,  the International grapes and wine festival 2014 will take place for 3 days in April 2014 at 16/4 Square, Phan Rang-Thap Cham City and Ninh Hai District, Ninh Thuan Province.

Pham Thanh