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”./.

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Saint Giong statue recognised during millennium

A 14.2m statue of the mythical saviour of the nation, Saint Giong, was
inaugurated on Oct. 5 on top of Da Chong Mountain in Soc Son suburban
district of Hanoi.

The 85-tonne copper statue
of the saint holding a grove of bamboo in his hand while flying off into
the sky on his horse is a cultural project commissioned to celebrate
the 1,000 th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

At the inauguration ceremony, State President Nguyen Minh Triet
confirmed the great contributions of Saint Giong to the history of the
national defence and laid stress on the cultural significance of the
project to the 1,000 th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

The construction of the statue was intended to express great
gratitude to the ancestor, he said, adding that the statue would be an
image to encourage people in study and work to contribute to national
construction and defence.

Legend has it that Giong was born after his mother stepped into the footprints of a giant.

At the age of three, when invaders attacked the country, Giong
suddenly grew into a giant himself. Giong wielded an enormous iron rod
and an entire grove of bamboo to chase the invaders out of the country
on the back of an iron horse presented to him by the king.

Following the enemy’s flight, Giong and his horse took off into the sky
from Soc Mountain , never to be seen again.

He was worshipped as one of the nation’s four immortal saints./.

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Activities celebrate Hanoi’s millennium anniversary

A wide range of activities were held in Hanoi on October 2 to mark the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

A ten-day exhibition showcasing vestiges on the Thang Long Imperial
Citadel unearthed at 18 Hoang Dieu Street opened in the presence of
General Director of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation (UNESCO) Irina Bokova.

This is the first time relics from the archaeological site have been displayed to domestic and foreign visitors.

The Thang Long Royal Citadel was recognised by UNESCO as a World
Cultural Heritage on August 1, 2010 for its long-lasting cultural
history, the continuity of the citadel as a power centre and the variety
of relics it contains.

The Vietnam Stamp
Exhibition 2010 (Vietstampex 2010) jointly held by the Ministry of
Information and Communication, the Ministry of Culture and the Hanoi
People’s Committee also kicked off on the day.

On
display at the largest-ever exhibition are 500 stamps under the themes
of praising the Party, President Ho Chi Minh, the land and people of
Vietnam and the 1,000 th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

Vietstamex will run until October 5.

An international seminar on Hanoi’s architecture also took place in
the capital city, drawing famous architects from Vietnam and foreign
countries, including France , Japan , Italy , Germany and
Australia .

As part of the chain of activities
celebrating the capital city’s 1,000 th birthday, the Hanoi Publishing
House and the National Library of Vietnam launched a book series
entitled “Thang Long – 1,000-year civilisation”.

The book series was built in order to systemise and summarise the value
of Thang Long-Hanoi civilisation over its 1,000-year history in all
fields, covering geography, economics, history, literature and art, and
socio-culture. It will help readers understand more about the capital
not only systematically and completely, but also generally and deeply.

A photo exhibition entitled “1,000 views of Hanoi ”
also opened at the Hanoi Library, showcasing 150 big-sized photos on
Hanoi and the largest photo on Ho Guom ( Sword Lake ) made of 1,000
small photos.

At the Ly Thai To Flower Garden,
the Hanoi Calligraphy Club, the Vietnam Craft Villages’ Association and
the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) presented the
largest gilded and wood-framed calligraphic work of “Chieu doi do” (the
Royal Edict on the Transfer of the Capital) to Hanoi city.

The 458cm x 385cm, 5-tonne work, was made from seven tonnes of block
wood. It was taken from the ancient capital of Hoa Lu in the northern
province of Ninh Binh to Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam (the Temple of
Literature) in Hanoi to be displayed at a calligraphic exhibition
from October 4-10.

The Dong Xuan Joint Stock
Company launched five tours discovering Hanoi's Old Quarter by
electric cars in order to diversify its tourism products and meet the
demand of domestic and foreign tourists during the grand celebrations.

Also the same day, the Hanoi People’s Committee
organised ceremonies to inaugurate and name works celebrating the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi for the Workers’ Theatre and the An
Khanh Eco-tourism Area in Hoai Duc district./.

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Gala night in Paris celebrates Hanoi’s anniversary

A gala night to celebrate the millennial anniversary of Thang
Long-Hanoi opened at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris on September
24.

The gala, organised by the national flag carrier, Vietnam
Airlines, in collaboration with the Vietnamese Embassy in France,
the Vietnam Permanent Delegation to UNESCO and the Hanoi Municipal
People’s Committee, was part of oversea activities to celebrate the
1,000 th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi next month.

It was also
held at a time when the Thang Long Royal Citadel has been recognised
by UNESCO as a cultural heritage site of the world.

Addressing
the function, Vietnamese Ambassador to France Le Kinh Tai spoke highly
of the initiative to organise the event and stressed traditional
cooperation in many areas, particularly in culture and arts, between
Vietnam and France .

The selection of the UNESCO headquarters
in Paris as a venue for the gala shows Vietnam’s gratitude to
French leaders and UNESCO for practical assistance to Hanoi ’s
millennium celebrations, he said.

The gala night featured performances by Vietnamese singers and an art troupe from the Thang Long Song and Dance Theatre./.

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Ao dai to be honoured at Hanoi’s grand anniversary

A magnificent ao dai (Vietnamese traditional long dress) exhibition will
take place in Hanoi on the evening of Oct. 1, kicking off the
festival of the grand millennial anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

Collections of ao dai from northern, central and southern regions of
Vietnam will be performed by both professional and amateur models.

The 45-minute performance, which will be
broadcast live on television, will be followed by a 15-minute light and
fireworks displays.

As part of activities to mark the
1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi, the People’s Committee of
the northern province of Bac Ninh and the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha
will inaugurate the great Buddha statute on the Phat Tich mountain peak
on Sept. 25.

The statue, which 27m in height and weighs 3,000 tonnes, is one of the biggest stone statues in Southeast Asia.

The provincial library of Thanh Hoa province on Sept. 23 announced a
collection of Sino-Vietnamese written documents introducing people who
have a close connection to the history of Thang Long-Hanoi.

The library inaugurated a reading room that offers 500 books on Thang Long-Hanoi./.

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