Concert, photo exhibition celebrate Hanoi millennium

A concert entitled “International integration – toward future” took
place on the opening night of Hanoi millennium celebrations on
October 1 at the Hanoi Opera House.

The classical concert was held under the baton of Spanish conductor Carlos Cuesta.

Vietnamese
pianist Dang Thai Son and an orchestra accompaniment from the Vietnam
National Academy of Music played Concerto No 2, written for the piano by
S Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) and Symphony No 9 by Beethoven's (1770 –
1827).

Son was awarded first prize and the gold
medal at the 10th International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw
in 1980, marking the first time that an esteemed international
competition was won by an Asian pianist.

Earlier the same day, an
exhibition of 1,000 photos opened, introducing local and foreign
visitors with remarkable moments and impressions on the land and people
of Hanoi , the city of peace.

Entitled “ Hanoi – the city of
one thousand years”, the exhibition takes place at the Exhibition House,
No. 45, Trang Tien street , with 200 photos and at the Temple of
Literature with 800 others.

The selection of photos for the exhibition was launched by the Hanoi Photographers’ Association in 2006.

A
series of cultural and art programmes, including a lighting festival
and an ao dai (traditional dress) show was also held around the Hoan
Kiem Lake on the opening night./.

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Jubilant, solemn programmes to celebrate Hanoi birthday

A jubilant and solemn programme was held in the northern province
of Ninh Binh on Oct. 1 in re-enactment of the announcement of the Royal
Proclamation on the relocation of the capital and the relocation
journey.

The programme started with a ritual at the temple of
King Dinh Tien Hoang and King Le Dai Hanh at the former royal capital of
Hoa Lu in Ninh Binh.

Then drum performance and unicorn and
dragon dances warmed up the atmosphere before King Ly Thai To’s
proclamation to move the capital city was read out.

King Ly Thai
To, who was the first king of the Ly Dynasty, made the strategic
decision to move the country’s capital city from Hoa Lu to Dai La (now
Hanoi ).

Artists from Hanoi and Ninh Binh dressed up as the
King, the Queen and members of the royal court got on a dragon boat to
leave for Hanoi, following the journey of the King in 1010.

The
same day, an exhibition of photos and documents entitled “Ho Chi Minh
City: renewal, development and integration” opened at Lam Son park in Ho
Chi Minh City as an activity to mark the 1,000 th anniversary of Hanoi
and the 9th municipal Party Congress to open on Oct. 5.

The 10-day exhibition is among many other activities being held in the city coinciding with the 10 festive days in Hanoi.

On
this occasion, the city is decorated with flags, colour lights, banners
and slogans to mark Hanoi's birthday and the municipal Party
Congress.

In the central province of Thua Thien-Hue, from late
September, many activities have been organised to celebrate the capital
city’s birthday.

An exhibition of nearly 300 photos of Hanoi
and Thua Thien Hue opened at the provincial Ho Chi Minh Museum and will
run until Oct. 15.

On this occasion, Pham Chi Luong, a craft man
of Truong Son drum establishment of Hue city made a pair of drums
with a height of 2.8m and a diametre of 2.2m for the celebration.

Another
craft man also from Phuong Duc ward of Hue, Nguyen Van Thuy, made a
giant bronze gong for performance at celebrations in Hanoi./.

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French historian falls in love with Hanoi

Philippe Chaplain, chairman of France’s National Heritage League, has a
deep fondness of Hanoi and has spent many years researching the thousand
year old capital city.

Chaplain first set foot in Hanoi in 2002 and was attracted by the city’s
peaceful settings and landscapes, its Old Quarter and historical and
cultural sites, especially the Thang Long Royal Citadel, which inspired
him to collect information on the city such as books, photos and CDs.

Since 2006, Chaplain has taken part in contests on Thang Long-Hanoi and has won prizes four times.

After seven years, he had amassed over 1,000 photos of Hanoi and
subsequently has put on two photo exhibitions about the Vietnamese
capital to mark the 1,000 th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

According to Vietnamese historian Duong Trung Quoc, this is a precious
photo collection and will help young Vietnamese people to understand
more about the capital’s past.

In 2007, Chaplain
launched a website in French, Vietnamese and English at:
http://www.hanoilavie.com , which is the first website on Hanoi run by a
foreigner. He said he hoped that the site would act as a bridge of
friendship and a meeting place for fans of Hanoi.

At present, he is in Hanoi to enjoy the atmosphere of the grand
millennium. He says that Hanoi is always in his heart and he wants to
protect and preserve it along with Hanoi’s citizens./.

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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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Vietnam tie with Singapore at Eximbank Cup, Iran go top

Vietnam’s Hoang Danh Ngoc (R) challenges for the ball with Qaasimy of Singapore during their Eximbank Cup match in Thong Nhat Stadium on Thursday - Photo: Ba Chau

HCMC – Vietnam’s U-23 football team tied goalless with the U23 Singapore squad in their second game the international football tournament Eximbank Cup 2010 at Thong Nhat Stadium in HCMC on Thursday, while Iran U21 beat Malaysia U23 2-0 in the earlier game, securing the top spot in the four-team tournament.

The Vietnamese side began the game with an unchanged lineup after a 2-1 win over Malaysia in their opener on Tuesday while the Singaporean side had no change compared to their line-up in the opening game when they tied 1-1 with Iran.

Though the game was only a friendly, the competition between hosts Vietnam and archrivals Singapore is always fiercely competitive, with local fans always refusing to accept second best or anything other than victory under any circumstances.

Vietnam placed their rivals under a lot of pressure, while the Singaporean squad, with height advantage, looked composed and confident throughout and caused the home team problems with their cunning counter attacks.

Both sides created some scoring chances but their defenses were up to the task and kept clean sheets to half time.

The game went to highlights in the 31st minute when Singaporean coach Avramovic was sent off after reacting to the Thai referee over a decision.

Although the Vietnamese players had the most possession over the second half and managed to create dozens of chances, the Singaporean side defense resiliently held out to keep a clean sheet.

Fairud nearly scored for the Singaporean side with a header in the 73rd minute, but it was saved by Vietnamese defender Minh Duc from close range.

Vietnam faced some disadvantage in the 80th minutes when Van Hieu was sent off after receiving the red card. Despite playing with ten men, Vietnam had good ball possession in the last minutes. However, their forwards missed all scoring chances.

In the earlier game on Thursday, Iran U21 secured a 2-0 victory over Malaysia U23. Striker Moosavi scored the first goal for Iran in the 42nd minute before Afshin finalized the game at 2-0 in the 76th minute.

Both Iran and Vietnam have four points each from one win and one draw but Iran secured the top spot due to the goal difference. The Singaporean team, who currently rank third in the competition, have two points from two draws while the bottom-placed Malaysia have no point from two losses.

The champions will be decided on Saturday when hosts Vietnam play Iran U21 at 6:00 p.m. in the final game while Singapore take on their Malaysian counterparts at 4:00 p.m.

Singapore U23, Iran U21 and Malaysia U21 together with the Vietnamese Olympic squad are competing at the international football tournament – Eximbank Cup 2010 under a round-robin format. The team that gets the most points will be declared the champions. The tournament is taking place from Tuesday to Saturday at Thong Nhat Stadium in HCMC.

The champions will receive US$20,000, the runners-up will get US$10,000, and the third-placed team, US$5,000.

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Major works celebrating Hanoi’s birthday inaugurated

The inaugural ceremony for the upgraded Tung Van Pagoda in Vinh Phuc
province’s Vinh Tuong district and its two gemstone Buddha statues was
held on October 1 as one of the cultural events celebrating the 1,000 th
anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

The statues of
the Buddha Shakyamuni and the Buddhist Bodhisattva were made from a
20-tonne blue stone block found in Van Chan district of the northern
mountainous Yen Bai province.

To celebrate the
event, many significant programmes have been implemented at the pagoda,
including exhibitions of Buddhist cultural calligraphy, village
paintings, a talk on the art of drinking tea and practices of Buddhist
rituals.

On the October 1 night, 5,000 candles
will be lighted up in the surrounding of the pagoda to worship for peace
world and happy people.

The Tung Van Pagoda is
the largest ancient pagoda in Vinh Tuong district which was built 327
years ago under the reign of Kinh Le Huy Tong. The pagoda was recognised
as a national cultural heritage in 1964.

Earlier
on September 30, the People’s Committees of Hanoi and Ninh Binh province
jointly held an art programme entitled “Hoa Lu-Thang Long-Hanoi” to
celebrate the capital city’s millennium anniversary./.

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Feng shui fish help celebrate Hanoi’s birthday

About 20 beautiful and expensive arowana fish will go on display as part of Hanoi 's millennial anniversary next week.

The species, which the World Conservation Union says are at high risk
of extinction, have become popular as pets in Vietnam during the past
five years with thousands now in private aquariums, especially in Hanoi
and HCM City .

Most are raised in Vietnam and originate in Singapore , Malaysia , Indonesia and China .

Some cost up to 15,000 USD.

The average price for an 18cm-long fish was about 1,000 USD, said a Hanoi Bonsai and Pets Association member, Manh Hoang.

"The fish is expensive because it is valuable in terms of feng-shui,"
he said. "Asians consider it a symbol of power and wealth. The fish can
bring good luck to the owner."

Another member of the
association explained that the fish needed five to six years to mature
and can reach a length of 60-70cm.

It lives for up to 50 years.

"The longer the fish live the more beautiful its colour and the more expensive it becomes," he said.

There are four common type of Asian arowana in Vietnam : The
red-tail golden; the cross-back golden; the red, and the green.

The fish will be on display at the Hanoi Museum in Pham Hung Street from October 5-10./.

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