Thai striker joins Vietnamese volleyball club

Wanchai Tabwises, the captain of Thailand’s national volleyball team, has become a member of the Vietnamese club Duc Long-Fifth Military Zone.

Thailand’s number one striker, Wanchai, who stands 1.85 meters tall and weighs 85kg, landed in Hanoi on Sunday October 3 just in time for the second leg of Vietnam’s National Volleyball Championship  which will end on October 19.

The 24-year-old Wanchai made his debut with the Vietnamese club in the opener of the contest, which is being held in the northern provinces of Hai Duong and Ninh Binh.

Wanchai signed a five-year contract in December 2009 to play with Duc Long-Fifth Military Zone from January 2010 till December 2014.

However, he abstained from playing with the Central Highlands club because he was under contract with a club in Bahrain.

Duc Long-Fifth Military Zone is not a strong club and the club managers want to improve its position by signing excellent players like Wanchai.

Wanchai will earn US$7,000 per month –the highest grossing salary in the league.  Most foreign players’ average around US$2,000-2,500 per month.

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Foreigners suggest measures to preserve Hanoi

Foreign contestants in the 2009-2010 international contest to discover
Thang Long-Hanoi, themed “ Hanoi -Your Destination,” have recommended
solutions for preserving the 1,000 year old city’s cultural relics.

Palestinian Ambassador Saadi Salama, who won the exceptional prize at
the 2009-2010 contest, said, “1,000 years is not only a number of time
but also a thickness of historical value of Thang Long-Hanoi.”

As
a result, he said, it’s necessary for the city to promote its relics
and famous landscapes in different languages to help foreigners
understand more about the city’s history.

Meanwhile, Lasmisha
Rai from India , who bagged this year’s first prize, suggested that
the city organise more regular international seminars, conferences and
workshops to discuss how to preserve and restore the city’s relics,
especially the Royal Citadel.

He also stressed the importance
of involving the community, saying, “international students and friends
who are deeply interested in Hanoi ’s history and culture heritage
could become volunteers or cultural ambassadors to work with future
celebrations.”

Sharing the same view, Yu Chang Lin
from China said the city needs to encourage businesses to invest in
preserving Hanoi ’s historical relics.

Philippe
Chaplain, President of France’s National Heritage Federation, who won
two consecutive first prizes in the contest in 2007 and 2008, said even
though the city has had a tough time, it is still capable of retaining a
lot of its heritage for tourists to discover.

“ Hanoi is not only an ancient, traditional city but also a treasure of every civilian and the youth,” he said.

Chaplain, who won second prize in this-year contest, also said that he
has launched a website on life in Hanoi , available at hanoilavie.com,
in Vietnamese, French and English to introduce Hanoi ’s ancient
streets to people around the world./.

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Women’s football coach selects young team for Asiad

Photo: Reuters

Chinese coach Chow Yun Fat of Vietnam announced Wednesday his national women’s football team for the 2010 Asian Games in November in China, mainly selecting young players to keep with his long-term plans.

Among the 24 players named, only six of them are veterans who crowned the championship title at the 2009 Southeast Asian Games in Laos. All others are under 20 years old.

“We are willing to suffer a loss at the Asiad next month to learn and train for later tournaments as SEA Games 2011”, said the vice chief of the Vietnam Football Federation’s national teams department Nguyen Trong Giap.

“We look forward to achievements in coming years with this young team,” he added.

“Our veterans (as Kim Chi, Dao Thi Mien, Ngoc Cham and Mai Lan) have made great contributions and need time to take care of their own families”.

The players will start their training camp on Friday in Hanoi and depart for another training session in China early next month till the start of the games on November 12-27 in Guangzhou Province.

The team

Goalkeepers: Kieu Trinh, Thu Trang, Duong Thi Danh

Defenders: Ngoc Anh, Thuy An, Nguyen Thi Nga, Duong Thi Binh, Thuy Linh, Nguyen Thi Mai, Hai Hoa, Bui Thi Nhu

Midfielders: Le Thi Thuong, Nguyen Thi Hanh, Kim Tien, Mai Ngoc, Nguyen Thi Muon, Huyen Linh, Kim Hong

Strikers: Minh Nguyet, Nguyen Thi Thanh, Nguyen Thi Hoa, Bui Thi Phuong, Hoang Thi Luyen, Thanh Huong

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Fairs spotlight higher education in US

A US Higher Education Fair will take place this Autumn in Ho Chi Minh
City on October 11 and Hanoi two days later, reports the Institute
of International Education (IIE).

This will be the
second US higher education exhibition the IIE has organised in
Vietnam since the beginning of this year.

The HCM
City fair will see 89 prestigious US colleges and universities
taking part, while 43 schools will be present at the Hanoi event,
which covers a wide range of fields such as business administration,
finance, science and technology.

The fairs will
provide domestic students with a great chance to learn about the
opportunities for higher education in the US from official, reliable
and legitimate sources.

They will also enable
students to meet official representatives to inquire into application
procedures, entrance exams and scholarships.

Vietnam is one of the 10 nations to have the largest number of
students studying in the US , with 12,823 currently enrolled./.

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Hanoi hosts traditional Japanese entertainment

Utazo Katsura, a master of the traditional Japanese entertainment
Rakugo, will perform in Hanoi at the Dance and Light Music Theatre and
the Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities on October 19 and
20.

The events, held by the Japan-Vietnam Culture
Exchange Centre, will offer Vietnamese audiences the opportunity to
explore Japanese traditions as well as watch a Rakugo performance.

Rakugo stories such as “Time Noodle” (Toki-sob), “Gonsuke’s Fish”
(Gonsuke-zakana) and “The Tree-Head Man” (Atama-yama) will be told with
rock music playing and a combination of traditional and modern features.

Rakugo consists of a solitary storyteller, sitting on stage,
equipped with only a paper fan sensu and a small cloth tenugui as props,
as they recount stories while sitting down.

Utazo Katsura,
who has practiced the art since 1991, is one of the two leading artists
of this kind in Japan. He also tells funny stories in English or in
Japanese with English sub-titles, helping foreigners to fully enjoy
Rakugo performances./.

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Rehearsal for Thang Long-Hanoi art and cultural festival

Tens of thousands of capital citizens gathered at the My Dinh National
Stadium in the evening of October 6 to see the final general rehearsal
for an art and cultural festival celebrating the Thang Long-Hanoi
millennium anniversary.

Attending the rehearsal were Deputy
Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung, Head of the National Steering
Committee on the 1,000 th Anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi, Secretary of
the Hanoi Party Committee Pham Quang Nghi and other senior officials.

The festival, entitled “Thang Long-Hanoi: City of
Soaring Dragon ”, scheduled for October 10’s night, will be an
important event that concludes ten days of celebrations for the
Millennium of Thang Long-Hanoi.

The festival will
review major milestones in the history of the Vietnamese nation in
general and Hanoi in particular, including King Ly Cong Uan’s capital
transfer in 1010, the Tran dynasty’s three victories over Chinese Mongol
invaders, King Le Loi’s sword return, President Ho Chi Minh with the
Independence Declaration, and Hanoi, the city for peace

It is expected to draw the participation of nearly 7,000 artists, athletes and students of art and sports schools.

Notably, a set of 100 bronze drums casted by artisans from the central
province of Thanh Hoa will be used during the festival./.

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Hanoi food fest tempts taste buds

Vietnamese food-lovers will be able to tuck into quintessential Hanoian
fare during a six-day festival that started on Oct. 6 at Ho Tay Park on
Lac Long Quan Street to mark the capital's millennium.

About 500 dishes – three-fifths of which will be Hanoian, will be available at 130 stalls.

Pho (rice noodle soup), banh cuon (rice pancakes wrapped with meat),
bun thang (rice vermicelli served with shredded chicken, pork pies and
fried egg) and bun cha (rice vermicelli served with grilled pork) will
be among Hanoi 's signature dishes available at the festival.

Replica of gates at Hanoi 's Dong Xuan Market, Hue 's Dong Ba Market
and HCM City 's Ben Thanh Market have been erected to represent
the three regions of the country.

Hanoi Food
festival will also have a cultural space featuring re-created scenes of
Confucian calligraphers, a traditional Hanoian wedding, an exhibition of
Dong Ho folk paintings and a photo exhibition on Hanoi .

There will also be folk games such as swing and walking cau khi (trunk bridge) and cock fighting.

Entrance to the festival is free. Guides will also be on hand.

Hanoi 's cuisine has been influenced by successive dynasties,
which give visitors a perfect insight into the local culture, organisers
said.

"It's a chance for Hanoi to advertise its
cultural values and delicacies to international visitors," said Truong
Minh Tien, deputy director of the city's Department of Culture, Sport
and Tourism, which organised the event./.

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