VietNam Culture: Hanoi

Showing posts with label Hanoi. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Song Lam beat Hoa Phat to secure top position

Saigon Xuan Thanh, Binh Dinh top First Division after three games

Navibank Saigon’s Almeida (L) celebrates his goal against Thanh Hoa with teammate Endene during their V-League match at Thong Nhat Stadium on Saturday - Photo Ba Chau

HCMC – Song Lam Nghe An secured the top spot in the third round of the V-League – Eximbank 2011 after beating Hoa Phat Hanoi 2-1 at Vinh Stadium on Saturday, while Hanoi ACB were still at the bottom of the table as they suffered a third consecutive loss.

Song Lam started without Hoang Helio and captain Nguyen Huy Hoang in their line-up while Hoa Phat Hanoi, with their strongest players, dominated the game from the beginning and Timothy Anjembe opened for the visitors in the 12th minute.

The visiting side continuously attacked their opponents in the first half, however, Timothy, Thanh Trung and Kisekka missed all scoring chances, leaving the first half ended 1-0.

Song Lam Nghe An put pressure on Hoa Phat’s defending line in the second half and Fagan Andre Diego helped the home side to level in 52nd minute.

The game went to controversy in the 58th minute as Nguyen Ngoc Anh was sent off after receiving the second yellow card while Hoa Phat Hanoi had to play with 9 men when Nguyen Ngoc Tu and Timothy Anjembe were also sent off by the red cards in the chaotic case.

Kavin Eltroy Bryan scored the goal in the 85th minute, sealing a 2-1 victory for Song Lam Nghe An.

However, the clash between SHB Danang and defending champions Hanoi T&T and Becamex Binh Duong and Khatoco Khanh Hoa in the round attracted much attention from the public as the four teams are strong favorites to win the league title.

The four teams wanted a victory to consolidate their position in the ranking table. Moreover, Binh Duong, SHB Danang, Hanoi T&T and Dong Tam Tiles also stand neck-and-neck in the ranking table.

The national football league resumed play on Friday after a three-week Tet holiday with a match between defending champions Hanoi T&T and SHB Danang in the capital city.

The defending champions dominated the game and created several chances to score, however, their players missed all chances. Danang missed the real chance to open the score when Hernandez’s powerful strike was saved by goalie Duong Hong Son in the first half.

After the break, Hanoi T&T continued to control the ball, but they missed several chances to score. Danang surprisingly took the lead in the 65th minute when Phan Thanh Hung scored the opener.

Vietnamese top striker Le Cong Vinh who suffered an injury for 10 months came off the bench in the 80th minute and the match became more exciting. However, Gaston Merlo scored the second goal in injury time, giving a 2-0 victory for Danang.

Meanwhile, Becamex Binh Duong suffered a 1-3 loss to Khatoco Khanh Hoa in their home town to drop to ninth position with four points from one win, one draw and one loss. Khatoco Khanh Hoa climbed to third position with six points.

With the victory, Song Lam Nghe An snatched the top of the V-League from Hanoi T&T with seven points from two wins and one draw while Hoa Phat Hanoi dropped to 10th with three points from three games.

SHB Danang, Khatoco Khanh Hoa and Hanoi T&T now have six points each but SHB Danang moved to the second thanks to goal difference

Saturday’s other games, XM The Vissai Ninh Binh lost 1-2 to Dong Tam Long An Tiles in the northern province of Ninh Binh, Navibank Saigon defeated Thanh Hoa 3-1 at Thong Nhat Stadium, Vicem Haiphong tied 1-1 with Dong Thap at Lach Tray Stadium in Haiphong.

Hanoi ACB suffered the third loss in the season when the promoted team lost 1-3 to Hoang Anh Gia Lai in their home ground at Hang Day Stadium. The bottom-placed Hanoi ACB have no point after three games.

* SQC Binh Dinh and Saigon Xuan Thanh still remained in the top place of Vietnam’s First Division 2011 after beating their opponents in the third round over the weekend, while the bottom-placed Hanoi had only one point after three games.

Saigon Xuan Thanh beat An Giang 2-0 at Thong Nhat Stadium in the late game on Sunday. Nguyen Ngoc Thanh and Oloya Moses scored for their team in the 23rd and 76th minutes.

Meanwhile, Binh Dinh beat Hanoi 1-1 in the central coast city of Qui Nhon on Friday.

Saigon Xuan Thanh and Binh Dinh secured nine points from three wins each, but the HCMC-based team took the lead thanks the goal difference, leaving them two points clear of rival Kienlongbank KG, who beat Quang Nam 2-0 in the central city of Tam Ky.

In other games on Friday, Can Tho tied goalless with Nam Dinh in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho, Huda Hue crushed TDC Binh Duong 3-0 at Tu Do Stadium, Tay Ninh defeated Quang Ninh Coal 1-0 in the southern province of Tay Ninh and HCMC Club did the same with Dong Nai at Thong Nhat Stadium.

Round 3’s Results

V-League

Ninh Binh 1 Dong Tam Tiles 2

Navibank Saigon 3 Thanh Hoa 1

Binh Duong 1 Khanh Hoa 3

Hanoi ACB 1 Hoang Anh 3

Song Lam 2 Hoa Phat 1

Hanoi T&T 0 SHB Danang 2

The Cong 1 Nam Dinh 0

First Division

Saigon Xuan Thanh 2 An Giang 0

Can Tho 0 Nam Dinh 0

Huda Hue 3 TDC Binh Duong 0

Quang Nam 0 Kienlongbank KG 2

Binh Dinh 2 Hanoi 1

Tay Ninh 1 Quang Ninh 0

HCMC Club 1 Dong Nai 0

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Old fan-collecting hobby of Hanoi-lovers

A busy life in Hanoi cannot dilute the elegant hobbies of Hanoians,
and among these is the hobby of collecting old fans.

A 40-year-old collector, Do Ngoc Long, alias “old fan-lover” is
well-known in Hanoi ’s old fan-collecting circles. His small house in
the Hoang Hoa Tham Street is full of many models of fan.

He said he does not remember exactly how many fans he has altogether
after 20 years of collecting. At present, he has more than 800 fans.

Long likes to collect the Marelli fans – an Italian
model of the 19 th century. It is a very durable fan with a unique and
multiform design.

Not only does he own a huge number
of old fans, Long also has a wide knowledge of types of fan and is an
expert in repairing them. He is able to talk about six models of Marelli
fans with more than 130 different designs.

He said
his wife and children are also very interested in collecting and
admiring at fans like him and in the future, Long intends to open a
private museum to introduce Marelli fans to the public.

It is impossible to refer to old fan-collectors in Hanoi , without
talking about Tran Cong Phuc in the Ta Hien Street and Le Tan in the
Hang Bo Street .

Almost all old fans that they
own are the models of Marelli, Émi ( Holland ) and Éon, Calor
(French). These appeared in Hanoi from a very early time.

According to Phuc, the collector circles are being hunted for two
models of two-wing ceiling fan and ceiling fan with decanter-shaped
wings, which were only used by Hanoi Department of Electricity and the
State Bank of Vietnam .

In the recent years, Phuc
and Tan gathered and restored some of these rare models of ceiling fan
but most of them were bought by foreign visitors.

Phuc said that he desired to retain examples of all fans as evidence of life in Hanoi in the past./.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Hanoi through eyes of French photographer

If he had more time, Nicolas Cornet, a French photo-journalist would
have talked more about Hanoi both in French and Vietnamese. However,
he prefers to use his photos to tell his stories.

Cornet said he has closely followed the changes in people and Hanoi
through his own photo journalism. That is why when visiting an
exhibition showcasing Cornet’s photos of Hanoi at the French Culture
Centre L’Espace in late 2010, many people who were born and grew up in
the city suddenly recognised scenes they had taken for granted for a
long time.

Hanoi in his photos is not merely a
reminiscence, but is always moving. Viewers can see the city through
photos portraying people’s daily lives, high-rise buildings or ancient,
moss covered pagodas.

“His photos are unexpectedly
lively,” a common comment made by many visitors. For them, Cornet’s
photos are beautiful, not only in terms of lay-out and colour, but also
of containing the city’s flavours such as steamed glutinous rice and
green tea that are served on the city’s pavement kiosks.

After three years of collecting images and ideas, Cornet has published
a pictorial book about Hanoi to celebrate the city’s 1,000 th
anniversary.

Since 1987, Nicolas Cornet has spent a
couple of months each year returning to Vietnam and feels it is his
“home country”.

Besides working for many of Europe
’s well-known daily newspapers and magazines such as L’Espresso, Mare,
Le Republica, Figaro Magazine, Le Monde, Ulysse, Geo, Grands Reportages
and Nouvel Observateur, Cornet has given lectures on photography and
press photography. He has already hosted a series of personal
exhibitions in France , Germany , Switzerland and Vietnam. /.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Hanoi T&T win Super Cup 2011 in penalty shootout

HCMC – Hanoi T&T won the Super Cup for the first time after beating Song Lam Nghe An 4-2 in a penalty shootout at Hang Day Stadium in Hanoi yesterday, picking up VND150 million in cash.

They drew 2-2 in the official time, Edmun Owusu and Nguyen Trong Hoang scored for Song Lam Nghe An in the 53rd and 69th minutes but Cao Sy Cuong and Cristiano Roland leveled the score for the home side in the 81st minute and injury time.

Backed by thousands of spectators, the home team totally controlled the first half while Song Lam Nghe An played defensively and relied on rare counter attacks.

Both sides created scoring chances but the score was goalless upon the referee’s whistle at the end of the half.

In the second half, Song Lam placed more attacks on their opponent defenders in search for a goal and Edmun Owusu opened for the National Cup winners in the 53rd minute.

Hanoi T&T bounced back after the goal and their players dominated the ball possession but the home side forwards squandered chances.

Midfielder Nguyen Trong Hoang doubled for the visitors in the 69th minute. However, Cao Sy Cuong narrowed the score for Hanoi T&T in the 81st minute before Cristiano Roland leveled the score at 2-2 in the injury time.

In the shoot-out, Hanoi T&T goalkeeper Nguyen Duc Thang made a brilliant save from Nguyen Van Quyet’s kick to be the hero for his team while Tran Dinh Dong and Nguyen Trong Hoang failed to score in their penalty shootouts for Song Lam Nghe An.

The runners up received VND70 million in cash.

To mark the start of the football season, the Super Cup is held every year between the previous season’s National Football Championship winner and the winner of the National Cup.

Hanoi T&T won the premier league in June while Song Lam Nghe An defeated two-time V-League champions Hoang Anh Gia Lai 1-0 in the National Cup final in August.

Last year, National Cup winners Lam Son Thanh Hoa won the Super Cup after defeating V-League champions SHB Danang 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out at Ninh Binh Stadium in northern Ninh Binh Province. The Super Cup was organized for the first time in 1998.

It is the 12th year that the event has been organized by Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper and the Vietnam Football Federation. The 584 Group is the cup’s sponsors.

The National Cup 2011 began on Saturday. The tournament has attracted 27 teams from the premier V-League and the First Division, competing in knock-out format.

The Vietnam League will open on February 22 and the First Division Tournament will begin two days earlier. The two that are most important tournaments of Vietnamese football will close on August 21 and 20, respectively.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Top ten events in culture, sports and tourism in 2010

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and
Tourism officially announced ten outstanding cultural, sports and
tourism activities in 2010 in Hanoi on Dec. 30. They are:

1.
Cultural and fine arts activities mark major celebrations, including the
80th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the
national commemoration of the Hung Kings and the Hung King Temple
Festival, the 35th anniversary of the liberation of the south and
national reunification, President Ho Chi Minh’s 120th birthday, the 65th
anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day (Sept. 2) and the
80th anniversary of the Vietnam National United Front.

2.
Cultural, sports and tourism activities mark the grand celebration of
the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi, including the biggest-ever
parade held at Ba Dinh Square on October 10, the opening of the
Culture-Tourism Village of Vietnamese ethnic groups, an exhibition on
Vietnam’s socio-economic achievements and Thang Long-Hanoi, the “Thang
Long-Hanoi craft villages and streets” festival, the sport competitions
and the Vietnamese film days for 1,000 years of Thang Long-Hanoi.

3.
Vietnam’s heritages have been recognised by UNESCO, including the Thang
Long Imperial Citadel recognised as a world cultural heritage site, the
Saint Giong Festival in Phu Dong and Soc Temples as an Intangible
Cultural Heritage of Humanity and the 82 doctoral stone steles at the
Temple of Literature, Vietnam’s first university, recognised as a world
documentary heritage.

4. Cultural activities were held to
promote Vietnam’s land and people abroad, including the National Day at
the 2010 Shanghai EXPO and the Vietnam Culture Week in Cuba, Mexico,
Germany, Belgium, Cambodia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Russia, China
and India.

5. International cultural and sport events were held for
the first time in Vietnam, including the International Photo Exhibition,
International Film Festival, International Piano Contest, Miss Earth
and the Thang Long-Hanoi International Football Cup to celebrate the
capital city’s millennium birthday.

6. Director and People’s Artist
Dang Nhat Minh was honoured by the US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences for his contributions to the Vietnam’s cinematography.

7. Sports festivals at all levels and the seventh national sports festival were held.

8.
The Vietnamese sport delegation bagged 33 medals including those at
five Olympics sport events for the first time at the 16th Asian Games
(ASIAD 16); and the Vietnamese disabled athletes secured 17 medals,
placing 11th out of 42 delegations at the first Asian Para Games.

9. Vietnam’s tourism sector welcomed five millionth foreign visitor.

10.
Tourism promotion campaign in 2010 “Vietnam-Your destination”
contributed to attract foreign tourists to Vietnam and promoting
domestic tourism. The campaign helped Vietnam welcome over five million
foreign arrivals, 28 million local visitors and grossed an estimated
revenue of 100 trillion VND./.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Photo exhibition on Hanoi opens in France

Fifty-five photos on Hanoi taken by contemporary French photographers
and a documentary photo are on display at an exhibition which opened at
the Gustave Courbet Primary School in Romainville city, 15 km
east of Paris , on Nov. 29.

The showcased photos
depict the ancient Hanoi capital; Hanoi and the hallmarks of the
colonist period; the city in war; and Hanoi and its young
generations.

The exhibition uses the logo of Khue
Van Pavilion by Pham Ngoc Tuan, who took part in a contest to create
logos marking the 1,000 th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

Becta, a history teacher at the Gustave Courbet Primary School
and coordinator of the cooperation project between his school and the
Tran Phu School in Hai Phong city, said this was a good chance for
him to introduce the image of Hanoi-Vietnam to his colleagues and
students as well as those who want to visit Vietnam .

According to the Gustave Courbet school’s rector, Olivier Catayee, the
exhibition, is part of a partnership cooperation programme on education
between Vietnam and France with the first project linking the
Gustave Courbet Primary School and the Tran Phu School for
Gifted Students in April 2010.

It is also the focus
of a UNESCO master plan on culture between Vietnam and France ,
which aims to strengthen cultural exchanges and discover heritages of
the two countries.

Under the project, in April 2011,
24 students of the French school will come to Vietnam to exchange
with their peers at the Tran Phu School and two months later, 25
students of the Hai Phong-based school will leave for France to meet
Gustave Courbet friends./.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Old Quarter celebrates culture

Hanoi's Old Quarter is hosting a tea ceremony and an exhibition of
vintage timepieces until Nov. 27, as well as a discussion of traditional
culture in the capital city.

The tea ceremony will take place at
28 Hang Buom Street, while the collection of clocks will be displayed
at Dong Lac Temple, 38 Hang Dao Street.

The Vietnamese often
drink tea, chew betel or smoke a cigarette as a prelude to conversation,
reflecting the folk saying, "A quid of betel starts the ball rolling".

Tea
drinking is an integral part of many Vietnamese cultural rituals, from
holidays to wedding, and it brings friends and family together in
conversation and celebration.

"Brewing Vietnamese tea is a
sophisticated artform which takes a lot of time to master," said
researcher Hoang Anh Suong. "But it can also be enjoyed in a very simple
manner.

Simply boiled green tea leaves can bring people closer in an informal conversation."

At
the tea ceremony, Suong and other researchers will speak about the
history of tea culture, the manner of drinking, and the differences
among Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese tea drinking.

Meanwhile, at Dong Lac Temple, collector Nguyen Trung Dung will display over 50 historic clocks.

Clock-collecting
has been a popular pastime among intellectuals in the capital city
since the 19th century, Dung said, with collectors fascinated by the
different designs and decorations and the way in which the sound of the
ticking clocks reflects the passage of time and the value of every
moment of life.

Finally, the old house at 87 Ma May Street will
host a talk by researchers Giang Quan and Nguyen Vinh Phuc about Hanoi's
culture, helping visitors understand the way Hanoians live and receive
guests. The discussion, held to accord greater respect the value of
Hanoi's traditions, was organised as part of the celebrations of the
Vietnam Heritage Day on Nov. 23./.

Fest spotlights cultural heritage

The sixth Vietnam Heritage Day festival has begun at the Vietnam
Exhibition Centre for Culture and Arts on Hoa Lu Street in Hanoi.

"The festival is being held with the aim to celebrate the country's rich
past, respect the contribution of young people towards preserving
cultural traditions and raising their awareness and responsibility to
developing the national heritage," said Hanoi Association of Literature
and Arts president Do Thi Hao.

During the festival,
visitors are enjoying calligraphy demonstrations and folk games, music
and dances, plus an exhibition displaying 500 items dating from the Dong
Son Culture (700-100BC) to the Nguyen dynasty (19th-20th century), as
well as artefacts from the Thang Long Royal Citadel ruins and photos of
the 82 stone doctoral steles at the Temple of Literature).

The cuisine and craft villages of Hanoi are also being highlighted,
including such crafts as embroidery, wood carvings, copper statues and
rattan furniture. Artisans from the craft villages are performing
rituals to pay tribute to their ancestors who established their village
trades.

Researchers also participated in a workshop on
Nov. 23 to discuss the preservation of Hanoi's tangible and intangible
heritage, such as Duong Lam Village, Thang Long Royal Citadel, Thang
Long folk dances, and traditional beliefs and festivals.

"To preseve the vestiges of these cultures, we need to improve the
knowledge and techniques of the preservationists," said the director of
the Thang Long - Hanoi Citadel Preservation Centre, Nguyen Van Son.
"Those who join in preservation must have professional skills, technique
and responsibility for what they do."

The festival, which
ends on Nov. 25, was co-organised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports
and Tourism, the Hanoi People's Committee, the Ministry of Education and
Training, and the Vietnam Cultural Heritage Association./.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Int’l workshop on Hanoi takes place in France

A two-day workshop themed, “Thousand year history of Hanoi ” was held
in the French capital of Paris from November 8-9.

Attending the workshop were scholars, scientists and Vietnam ’s
history researchers from many universities in Asia, Europe and the
United States .

Through scientific reports, images
and historical documentary films on Hanoi, Vietnamese and foreign
scientists have highlighted Hanoi’s specific characteristics through
time as well as depicted Vietnam’s strength and efforts in fighting
foreign invaders.

Professor of Paris University 7
Emmanuel Poisson, an expert in researching Vietnam ’s history from the
15 th – 17 th centuries, said this event was a good opportunity for
scholars and scientists to acknowledge and precisely assess Hanoi ’s
importance in developing socio-economic, cooperation relations in many
areas of life.

In the framework of the workshop, a
round-table conference with the theme, “French insights into Hanoi ,
from war city to peace city”./.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Flag planted on Fansipan peak to mark Hanoi’s birthday

A flag commemorating symbolising the capital city of Hanoi ’s
millennium was planted by amateur climbers on the nation’s highest
mountain - Fansipan peak at 3,143 m above sea level - in the northern
province of Lao Cai on Nov. 2.

The flag planting
ceremony was the culmination of an international contest for tourists
hosted by the Lao Cai authorities and the Vietnam National
Administration of Tourism in celebration of Hanoi ’s 1,000-year
anniversary.

Nguyen Tien Vung, who won the
competition’s second stage at the 2,800m altitude, earned the honour to
plant the flag on the peak dubbed the ‘roof of Indochina ’.

In the evening of the same day, a closing ceremony of the international competition was held in Sa Pa town.

Besides an individual prize for Vung and an collective prize for the
team of businesses in eight northwestern provinces, the organisers also
presented four prizes for best collections of photos of Fansipan and the
competition.

The two-day and one-night tour to climb
up the Fansipan and plant the flag marking the Thang Long-Hanoi’s
birthday included three stages, with the first beginning at the Nui Xe
mountain to the 2,200m altitude, the second from the 2,200m to 2,800m
altitude and the last stage – from the 2,800m to the highest peak.

The tour aimed to promote the tourist potentials of Lao Cai province and the country as well./.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Young artist receives top award

The Young Talent Prize was awarded to artist Pham Tuan Tu on Nov. 1 in Hanoi.

Tu will receive a grant of 1,000 USD in cash and 2,700 USD for his solo exhibition where he will present his new pieces.

They include four paintings titled Bud, In Front of the Mirror, Gay and Uni-sex which are all acrylic on canvas.

He uses a reduced colour palette. With his greys, browns and
dim-yellows he creates an almost medieval ornamental background for his
highly emotional and intimate plots, according to Natasha Kraevskaia, a
member of the judging panel.

The sexually ambiguous
characters in Tu's painting are perplexing. Based on the titles of the
paintings, they are identified as gay or lesbian, but they are really
depicted as transgender characters in his paintings.

"The
viewer can see the same face, but we cannot say that it's a recurring
image. Each piece expresses different feelings: from relaxation and
dreams to fears and phobias," said Kraevskaia.

Born in
1981, Tu is a graduate from Hanoi College of Industrial Fine Arts. He is
a member of the Club for Young Artists of Vietnam Fine Arts Association
and has participated in a number of exhibitions in Hanoi over the
past two years.

He was chosen from eight artists based on aesthetics, relevance, context and originality.

The eight finalists have been exhibiting their paintings at the Fine
Arts College where their work has been on display to the public.

The competition website also functioned as a forum for comments and
discussions about the various works. Many remarks were submitted and
these discussions will help inspire up and coming artists.

The Danish Cultural Development and Exchange Fund will award a prize of
2 million VND for the best comment by the end of this week.

This year's competition drew the attention of artists from Hanoi ,
HCM City , Hue and various other localities across Vietnam .

More than 700 images were submitted by 165 applicants./.

Green documentary film award launched

Germany’s Geothe Institute in Hanoi launched a contest on green
documentary film, “Climate Change-Changing My Life” in Hanoi on Nov.
1.

The VietDocs 2011 aims to create a playground for young
film makers to produce short films on the environment in Vietnam .

According to the Head of Goethe Institute, Almuth Meyer
Zollitsch, contestants in the age group of between 18 and 30, have to
submit proposals on their film. A maximum of 20 interesting proposals
will be selected for the second round.

The selected
proposals will be developed into films with a duration of not more than
15 minutes, with focus on climate change and its impacts on Vietnam
’s environment.

The jury will pick up 10 best
films to be showed at the European documentary film festival to be held
in Hanoi next June.

The first prize winner
will receive an award of 1,000 USD and an amount of 3,500 USD for a
longer film on the same topic. The film will be sent to compete at a
festival on Southeast Asian scientific film, SeaDocs 2012./.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Cuban ballet dancers set to dazzle in Hanoi

The Cuban Ballet Rakatan dancers are set to enthrall audiences in
Hanoi on Oct. 21 night with their repertoire of Latin American dances.

The performance tour features 19 dancers who arrived in Hanoi on Oct. 18.

The dancers will perform nine dances including the bolero, son,
guaracha, cha cha cha, manteca , rumba, and salsa styles. A
mambo-jazz dance will open the show featuring music by composers Chano
Pozo and Dizzie Gillespie.

Founded in 2001 by dancer
and choreographer Nilda Guerra, Ballet Rakatan is regarded as one of
the most talented and versatile groups of dancers to emerge from Cuba
in many years.

They have performed throughout
Cuba in some of the countries most prestigious venues and events,
including the Playa Municipal Theatre, the Havana Street Festival, and
the National Theatre of Cuba as well as performing five televised summer
seasons in Havana in 2006.

Most of the dancers
are graduates of the renowned Escuela Nacional de Arte de la Habana,
combining contemporary dance training with every aspect of Cuban dance
and Latin styles; including classic, folklore, popular, salsa and
flamenco.

It was the first Cuban group to perform at the World Salsa Congress in Zurich , Switzerland .

Ballet Rakatan's 2006 performances at the Edinburgh Festival received
the Five Star Award, and were the most talked-about and press-covered
company at the festival.

During summer 2007 they performed a five-week run at London 's West End Peacock Theatre.

After their performance in the city's Opera House, the dancers will
perform in Hai Phong City and Thai Nguyen province on Oct. 22
and 23 at 8pm and 7.30pm, respectively./.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Katazome painting show marks Hanoi’s birthday

Katazome (stencil dyeing) paintings by Japanese painter Toba Mika are
being showcased at the Nara Yakushiji temple in Nara prefecture from
Oct. 16 to Nov. 10.

The exhibition, themed “Taking
Nara and Hanoi closer through Katazome arts”, aims to celebrate the
1,000 th founding anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi and 1,300 years of
the ancient capital of Nara .

Prompted by her
love for Vietnam , since the 1990s, Mika has created many paintings
depicting major changes in Vietnam during the process of national
industrialisation and modernisation.

Mika organised
exhibitions in Hanoi in 2003 and the former imperial city of Hue
two years later. She is planning to join hands with the Japan Culture
Centre in Vietnam to hold another show at the Temple of Literature
and Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum from Dec. 6-25, 2010.

On Oct. 16, a seminar highlighting Vietnamese and
Japanese cultures took place at the 1,300-year-old Yakushiji temple, a
UNESCO world heritage site.

While talking of
cultural and historical similarities between the two nations and between
Nara and Hanoi in particular, speakers emphasised the fact that a
Vietnamese Buddhist monk brought folk songs with him when he came to
manage the Todaiji temple in Nara prefecture in the 8th century.
That was vivid evidence of cultural exchanges between Vietnam and
Japan./.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Artists challenge values

A group exhibition named Tam Ta (Pouring), with works from five contemporary artists from Hanoi, has opened in HCM City.

The exhibition, with the assistance of pioneering artist and curator
Tran Luong, is hosted by San Art and supported by Bui Gallery in Hanoi.

In this exhibition, imagination is given space to
play with Nguyen Tran Nam's near life-size human figures resting on
balls, Vu Hong Ninh's over-sized baby, made from soap, and Nguyen Huy
An's shadows wreaking havoc with ink and charcoal.

Nguyen Van Phuc's star light stands propped up by a set of crutches,
while Nguyen Manh Hung's ghostly bodyless figures hang from the ceiling.

The curator says this is the mystery of Tam Ta, a kind of mental state that exudes the mood of an unceasing kind of rain.

He says that it does not represent a torrent of water, but a rain of
survival, of suspended psychological states or physical adventures, of a
constant questioning of reality.

These young artists challenge human values, recognising that knowledge is the key to the door of the world.

This is the first exhibition of art from Hanoi since 2006 to be seen
in HCM City by contemporary artists of the 1970s and 1980s generation.
The touring exhibition, which opened at Bui Gallery in Hanoi in July, is
an opportunity for local audiences to see the artistic ideas emerging
from the country's capital as it is also rare for artists in Vietnam to
have the chance to show their work across the country due to lack of
funding.

San Art is one of three venues for the
exhibition, which will be on view until November 13. Its next venue will
be New Space Arts in Hue.

The Tam Ta exhibition is on view at San Art, 3 Me Linh Street, Ward 19, Binh Thanh district, HCM City./.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Activities mark Hanoi’s 1,000th birthday

An imposing street festival took place in Hanoi on October 8,
representing the Vietnamese young generation’s sentiment, responsibility
and love to Hanoi on the occasion of its 1,000 th birthday.

The programme, entitled “Youths ascend with the country”, drew the
participation of 10,000 Youth Union members, teenagers and artists of
professional art troupes from three regions of the country as well as
many foreign young people and students.

The
festival opened with a special art performance by Vietnamese and foreign
youths and continued with a parade of young people from the capital.

A tour of several streets around Hoan Kiem Lake wrapped up the
festival, leaving deep impressions on visitors to the 1,000-year-old
capital city of Hanoi .

At the festival, the Ho
Chi Minh City Youth Union Central Committee called on young people
throughout the country to support flood victims in central provinces .
To date, youth nationwide raised nearly 2 billion for the victims.

On the same day, more than 3,000 young people in Ho Chi Minh City
took part in a programme entitled, “Towards the capital city- 1,000
years of culture” in Dam Sen Cultural Park.

The
Hanoi People’s Committee held a ceremony to name “The work celebrating
the 1,000 th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi” for complexes of works at
Hanoi Elite Athlete Training Centre in Tu Liem district’s My Dinh
commune.

The Hai Phong city Buddhist Association
and the People’s Committee of Do Son district jointly held a programme
to celebrate the millennium anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi and a
ceremony to inaugurate a bell of the Ly dynasty at the Tuong Long Tower
Pagoda.

On the day, the Mekong Delta province of
Vinh Long inaugurated the Binh Minh district General Hospital, which was
named, “The work celebrating the 1,000 th anniversary of Thang
Long-Hanoi”./.

Projects inaugurated to mark Hanoi’s millennium

Hoa Binh Park in Tu Liem district of Hanoi opened to visitors
on Oct. 8 as a project to mark the capital city’s millennium.

Vice State President Nguyen Thi Doan attended the opening ceremony.

The 20-ha park has a 20-tonne bronze peace statue, trees, a 5.4 ha lake, a games house and entertainment facilities.

The same day, the expanded section of Le Van Luong road opened to traffic to mark the 1,000 th anniversary of Hanoi .

The six-lane road with a length of 2.67 km was built at a cost of nearly 700 billion VND (36.8 million USD).

The
road’s operation will contribute to an easing of traffic jams on
Nguyen Trai Road , the national highway No. 6, and facilitate
socio-economic development in the capital city’s western region.

Also
on Oct. 8, young people held a giant programme, including art
performances, exhibitions and street festivals across the country, to
celebrate the millennium anniversary.

The
programme started in Hanoi with an incense offering ceremony at King
Ly Thai To statue in Hanoi and an art performance of 3,500 children
and young people of Hanoi and 65 young foreigners around Hoan Kiem
Lake .

The programme continued with a
performance of dragon and unicorn dances as well as singing and
dancing simultaneously in Hanoi , the central city of Da Nang and
Ho Chi Minh City .

Also in the morning of the
day, 1,000 children drew a large painting on the theme, “I love Hanoi ”
at Hoan Kiem Lake , while performances of songs and dances took
place at universities, colleges and senior high schools nationwide.

As part of the programme, an exhibition of photos and objects was
held around Thien Quang lake in Hanoi . Over 600 photos, documents
and objects were displayed under the theme, “Vietnamese Youth – proud of
1,000 years of Thang Long-Hanoi and National Construction”.

A three-day festival of young people of ASEAN+3 (ASEAN countries and
China , Japan and the Republic of Korea ) was
held from Oct. 6. Festival participants took the occasion to boost
exchanges and establish cooperation in many fields.

Young people from the northern province of Bac Ninh brought a
collage painting, the largest of its kind in Vietnam , to the
festival.

In the evening, a street festival is expected to be held with singing, dancing and a parade around the centre of Hanoi./.

Hanoi comes alive in autumn

Hanoi will celebrate its 1,000th anniversary and 56th Liberation Day on
October 10, making it an ideal time for tourists to explore the city.

Sai Gon Tourist Company is offering typical tours to favourite
destinations in the north including the Hanoi-Autumn season, Ancient
citadels of Vietnam, Sa Pa and Ha Long in Autumn.

Annually, the HCM City-based travel agency organises seasonal tours –
Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter – to tourism sites throughout the
northern provinces.

But this year, the Hanoi-Autumn season
is seen as the most attractive programme as it coincides with the
city's millennium celebrations.

"We hope tourists will
have more chances to witness numerous cultural festivities in Hanoi
during autumn. It's a special time," said a marketing staff of the
company, Hoang Thuy Linh.

"The Hanoi-Autumn programme has
hosted around 12,000 tourists since early this year and hundreds of
foreigners have flocked to the city this season," Linh added.

She also said the capital had lured tourists with the season of fruits, com (young sticky rice) flake and cool weather.

The travel agency began preparing the tour last year to meet the increasing demand to visit Hanoi.

The four day and three night tour will depart from HCM City and wind
through the Trang An tourism site in Ninh Binh Province, Hanoi and Ha
Long Bay.

It costs 4.2 million VND (215 USD) per person.

After arriving in the capital, tourists will visit the four historic
temples of Bach Ma (White Horse); Linh Lang, or Voi Phuc (Crouching
Elephant); Tran Vu and Kim Lien – the homes of the four gods of the
former royal capital – before touring part of the Royal Thang Long
Citadel and the Temple of Literature.

A pedestrian route from the Quan Chuong Gate and exploring the city's Old Quarter will close the first tour day.

"Tourists will go shopping at the biggest whole sale market of Dong
Xuan in the middle of the Old Quarter, which is a symbol of the ancient
capital," said head of the agency's Hanoi office Nguyet Nga.

The centre of Hanoi will be the main visit for the tour second day with
a visit to sites around Hoan Kiem (Returned Sword) Lake such as Ngoc
Son Temple and turtle tower.

"The lake is also the heart
of Hanoi and visitors can experience a quiet moment as they walk around
the lake and see the trees in the autumn.

The most visited
places during the day are buildings dating back to the French colonial
times including 1902-built Long Bien Bridge; the Opera House built in
1911 and 1931-constructed Museum of Vietnamese history.

The existence of buildings provides real samples of the capital's varied history.

Travellers can ask tour guides to take them to the night market, which
opens at 7pm and closes at midnight in Hang Ngang and Hang Dao streets,
which were the former silk trading centre of ancient town.

The third day will start with a two-hour visit to the Ho Chi Minh
Mausoleum and One Pillar Pagoda before going to Ha Long Bay – the World
Natural Heritage Site.

The seasonal programme also includes the vestiges of ancient imperial cities in a trip to the ancient capitals.

According Sai Gon Tourist's marketing section, Doan Thi Thanh Tra, the
tour offers visits to the former capitals of Hue, Hoa Lu in Ninh Binh,
Co Loa and the UNESCO recognised Thang Long Royal citadel in Hanoi.

"We have intentionally arranged destinations in a combined tour, to
help tourists gain a deeper understanding of Vietnamese history," Tra
explained.

"The destinations are quite well-known to
Vietnamese people, but we link a string of citadels that were built from
the country's foundation to the current capital."

Arriving in Hanoi on the morning flight, tourists will take a visit to
Co Loa spiral Citadel, which was built in the third century BC.

From Thang Long Royal Citadel in Hanoi, visitors will return to
country's former capital of Hoa Lu in Ninh Binh Province – 100km south
of Hanoi – in 968-1010.

"Hoa Lu was a capital nearly half
century before it was moved to Hanoi by King Ly Thai To. The route will
provide a real historical story of the former capital at Hoa Lu and
Hanoi today," Tra explained.

The former imperial capital of Hue will be the last place visited on the fourth day.

A night cruise on the Huong River with folk music will help people
relax prior to their departure for peaceful mind for HCM City.

Visit www.saigontourist.net for more information./.

Finnish quartert, Russian chorus to perform

Audiences in Hanoi this week will be treated to classical music from a
Finnish quartet and performances by a Russian folk troupe as part of a
diverse entertainment programme being held to mark the capital city's
1,000th anniversary.

The quartet from Finland's Seinajoki City Orchestra will perform with
Vietnamese artists tonight at Hanoi Opera House. The set list includes
Finnish and Vietnamese pieces such as Tugging Waltz and Vietnamese song
Ve Que (Back to the Home Village).

The highlight of the
concert will be a joint performance by the quartet and Vietnamese
monochord artist Hoang Anh Tu playing Avec Maria by Schubert and
Vietnamese folk song Beo Dat May Troi.

The Seinajoki
Quartet was formed in 1977 by the principal string players of the
Seinajoki City Orchestra. The quartet's repertoire includes classics by
composers such as Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven as well as contemporary
Finnish and international music.

Performing at the
Cultural and Friendship Palace in Hanoi at 8 pm on Oct. 9, the
Pyatnitsky Russian Folk Chorus promises some lively song and dance to
mark "Moscow Days", a programme aimed at showcasing Russian culture in
Hanoi from Friday through Sunday.

The 62-member troupe was
established by Mitrofan Pyatnitsky in 1910, when the group was
comprised of 18 peasants. Today, the chorus has more than 100 members
and has won numerous awards in Russia.

The performance
will officially launch the Walking around Moscow photo exhibition, which
showcases images by photographers who work for Russia's Itar-Tass news
service.

Other foreign arts troupes taking part in Hanoi's
millennial celebrations include groups from Germany, Britain, France,
India, and Malaysia./.

Canadian scrawls essay on conical hats

Canadian Steven Tait created quite a stir when he was the only foreigner
to enter a writing contest on the history and culture of Hanoi, and to
top it off his entry was written in his own hand on five conical hats.

"My country is 857 years younger than Hanoi," said Tait, a Canadian,
working and volunteering in the field of information technology. "I
admire the capital and I feel very lucky to have lived and worked here.

"Because the city has existed for 1,000 years, I thought it’s a good reason to participate in the contest."

The contest was a joint effort by the Hanoi People's Committee and the Hanoi Moi (New Hanoi) newspaper.

In order to answer 12 questions asked of contestants, Steve tapped all
available sources, including the internet. He even called on his friends
and colleagues, since some questions were rather difficult.

The more he studied about Vietnam, the more interested he became, he said.

"I thought I would have to do something extraordinary with my entry, so it would express my admiration for the capital."

After many nights of pondering, Tait said it came in an epiphany how
his work should be presented: on the non la (palm-leave conical hat)
which is probably as old as Vietnam itself.

"Conical hats
and long traditional dresses are the specific characteristics we
attribute to Vietnamese people. I feel inspired whenever I see a young
Vietnamese lady wearing them."

Tait spent five hours a day writing his entry, a struggle because his knowledge of the Vietnamese language is minimal.

"I found it difficult to write on the hats because they are round and it required care and patience."

He also enclosed several images of Hanoi to illustrate the text and make it more attractive.

One of Tait's colleagues, Nguyen Thi Phuong, said she was impressed with his work and the conical hat idea.

"Steve Tait is a foreigner, but he is very hard-working and always
wants to learn more about Vietnamese people and culture. He always asks
for help whenever there is something he doesn't know," Phuong said.

It is reported that this year's contest attracted over three million
entries, aged between seven and, believe it or not, 100 years old.

Tait said he joined just for fun, so he was surprised when he heard his contribution had been singled out for special praise.

He said he also wanted to join the Vietnam Idol singing contest.

"Let me check my schedule," he joked./.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Round 3’s Results

V-League

Ninh Binh 1 Dong Tam Tiles 2

Navibank Saigon 3 Thanh Hoa 1

Binh Duong 1 Khanh Hoa 3

Hanoi ACB 1 Hoang Anh 3

Song Lam 2 Hoa Phat 1

Hanoi T&T 0 SHB Danang 2

The Cong 1 Nam Dinh 0

First Division

Saigon Xuan Thanh 2 An Giang 0

Can Tho 0 Nam Dinh 0

Huda Hue 3 TDC Binh Duong 0

Quang Nam 0 Kienlongbank KG 2

Binh Dinh 2 Hanoi 1

Tay Ninh 1 Quang Ninh 0

HCMC Club 1 Dong Nai 0

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