Largest collector of gongs in Central Highlands

Y Thim Byă has become the largest collector of gongs and jars and the
first person to open a private cultural museum in the Central Highlands
province of Dak Lak.

After 20 years of
collecting, Y Thim Byă now owns 30 Tuk and Tang jars, 18 sets of ancient
gongs with over 300 gongs from the ethnic minority groups of Gia Rai, E
De and M’Nong, dozens of Kpan chairs (chair of master of the house) and
hundreds of artifacts such as bowls, cups and bracelets.

“The number of his ancient gongs is more than that of the people in Ea
Bong village”, said Y Than Nie K’, the village’s patriarch.

Inspired by a set of ancient gongs thrown away by a local, Y Thim Byă
felt sad and decided to buy them back. Since then, he has travelled many
places to buy back Kpan and Jhong chairs, gongs, jars and other old
musical instruments.

At present, his house in Ea
Bong village, Buon Ma Thuot city has become a popular destination for
tourists who want to explore the Central Highlands region’s culture.

Y Thim Byă added that he is continuing to build
another house, with a total investment of 300 million VND to finish off
his cultural museum.

He has also set up a gongs team
to perform at traditional festivals and community cultural activities
such as buffalo sacrificing festival and new rice festivals.

Apart from collecting ancient objects, Y Thim Byă has also made many
kinds of traditional musical instruments such as Kram gongs, T’rung,
Pah, Buot, Tak Tar, horn. He has also taught young people how to use
these instruments, thereby helping to maintain and develop the special
cultural values unique to the Central Highlands people./.

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Doves released as Hanoi celebrates birthday

A thousand doves, the symbol of peace, were released at the opening
ceremony of the Thang Long-Hanoi millennium anniversary celebrations on
October 1.

The owner of the doves is Pham Tai Thu, who was born in the central
province of Quang Nam. Thu started a business in the Central
Highlands city of Da Lat growing orchids and later became famous for
his flowers, which have been presented to several central provinces
and Ho Chi Minh City .

He first started to raise birds in 1998, breeding from Vietnamese, French, Thai and Japanese varieties.

He
has so far set up bird sanctuaries in Da Lat, Dam Sen park in Ho Chi
Minh City, and Pham Van Dong park on Son Tra island and at a steel
plant in the central city of Da Nang, raising a total of 3,800
doves.

His desire to release 1,000 doves at the opening
ceremony of the Thang Long-Hanoi millennium celebrations as a gift to
the capital received the support of the city’s fathers.

Hanoi has chosen its Botanical Gardens as the doves’ new home./.

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Central region targeted for global tourism

A plan to develop the tourist and aviation infrastructures in the
central region was discussed at a conference on developing the central
region’s tourist industry, in Da Nang on September 16.

The plan is one of several efforts to develop the central region into a popular tourist destination.

The
conference, jointly held by the national flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines
and the People’s Committees of Da Nang, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai and Thua
Thien-Hue, attracted representatives from leading travel agencies around
the country and Vietnam’s key markets, including Japan, the Republic of
Korea, Germany, France, Russia, Australia, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The
Vietnam Airlines representative pledged to play a major role in the
plan by developing charter services directly to Da Nang in the near
future.

In the past, Vietnam Airlines has liaised with foreign
travel agencies to operate flights to the central region. In 2009, the
airline ran 15 flights from Japan , the Republic of Korea , Hong
Kong and Cambodia to Da Nang , which were praised by passengers.

As the demands for this service are increasing, Vietnam Airlines plans to operate between 20-25 flights to the region.

In
the domestic market, the airline operates 50 flights a day on 24 routes
between Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City and the central region and the
Central Highlands .

Vietnam Airlines also has 25 flights a
week on routes from Da Nang to the Central Highlands provinces of Gia
Lai, Dac Lac and Lam Dong and to the central province of Khanh Hoa ,
to link up with large economic centres in the central region./.

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