VietNam Culture

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Photos capture bridge's essence

Long Bien Bridge , famous for its unique architecture and long
history, has been an inspiration for many artists zoith , One of the
latest American photographer Douglas Jardine.

He
displays his black-and-white photos of the bridge until on Nov. 12 at an
exhibition titled Long Bien Bridge – The Connection at Maison
des Arts, Van Mieu Street , Hanoi .

Hanoi 's
Long Bien Bridge was built in 1903 by French architect Gustave
Eiffel, the man who, 14 years, earlier, designed the Eiffel tower.

In fact the iron latticework used on the bridge reflects the style of the Eiffel tower.

When built, the bridge was called the Doumer Bridge , after Paul
Doumer – the Governor General of French Indochina and later the French
president. At the time, it was one of the longest bridges in Asia with
a length of 1,682m.

During the American War, the
bridge was the highest-priority target in northern Vietnam for US
bombers. This was because all supplies moving by rail from China and
Hai Phong crossed into the city over the bridge.

The
first bombing raids in August, 1967 dropped three of the bridge's 19
spans into the river. From that date until January, 1973, the bridge was
repeatedly bombed and repaired.

But despite putting
the bridge out of commission for long periods of time, the US never
succeeded in fully halting the flow of supplies into the city, which
continued to move over an improvised network of pontoons, bamboo rafts,
and other makeshift devices.

Nguyen Nga, owner of
Maison des Arts, said she hoped the bridge will remain a place of
cultural and artistic importance, linking Vietnam to countries
across the world.

"The bridge spans the banks of the
Hong (Red) River, it also spans the banks of memory and history," says
Jardine. "When we stand on the bridge, we are connected to the past and
we gaze at the future."

Jardine, 34, who is married to
a Hanoian woman, now works as director of Academic Affairs at the
Faculty of International Studies at Hanoi University .

Jardine visits Long Bien Bridge four or five times a week to
enjoy the view and take photos of the bridge and the life around it.
With his black-and-white photography, he likes to capture people close
up.

Sometimes, they don't want to be photographed, so he spends time talking to them to capture their stories./.

Athletes capture twin golds at Malaysia Open

Vietnamese track and field athletes returned home from the Malaysia Open on the weekend with two gold and one silver medals.

Regional sprint queen Vu Thi Huong, who won the first semi-final, went
on to take the title of the women's 100m event in a time of 11.55sec.
Her teammate Le Ngoc Phuong, who won the second semi-final, pocketed the
silver in 11.79 sec.

They both later participated in the women's 4x100m relay, which Vietnam easily won in a time of 45.06sec.

Coach Nguyen Dinh Minh said he was pleased with the team's
achievements, even though they had performed better at other
tournaments.

"They performed well and achieved some
good results at the [ Malaysia ] Open. What I regretted most however
is that the competition attracted only Southeast Asian athletes, so we
were not able to test ourselves against the best in the region," Minh
said.

He added that he was not disappointed that Huong
did not get closer to her best time of 11.34, which she achieved when
winning the SEA Games title. He said there were still three weeks to go
to the 16th Asian Games (ASIAD), when he said he believed Huong would be
at her peak.

At the biggest sports event in the
region, Vietnamese athletes will compete in the women's 200m, 800m,
1,500m, 400m hurdle and 4x400m relay; while the men will take part in
the 800m, 1,500m, long jump, triple jump and decathlon.

The track and field events start on November 21, with the finals
taking place six days later at the Aoti Stadium in Guangzhou ./.

Athletes capture twin golds at Malaysia Open

Home in a flash: Vu Thi Huong wins a gold medal in the women's 100m sprint at the Malaysia Open. She then added another gold in the team 4x100m relay. Huong is one of favourites among Vietnamese in the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, on November 12-27. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoang Hung

HA NOI — Vietnamese track and field athletes returned home from the Malaysia Open on the weekend with two gold and one silver medals.

Regional sprint queen Vu Thi Huong, who won the first semi-final, went on to take the title of the women's 100m event in a time of 11.55sec. Her teammate Le Ngoc Phuong, who won the second semi-final, pocketed the silver in 11.79 sec.

They both later participated in the women's 4x100m relay, which Viet Nam easily won in a time of 45.06sec.

Coach Nguyen Dinh Minh said he was pleased with the team's achievements, even though they had performed better at other tournaments.

"They performed well and achieved some good results at the [Malaysia] Open. What I regretted most however is that the competition attracted only Southeast Asian athletes, so we were not able to test ourselves against the best in the region," Minh said.

He added that he was not disappointed that Huong did not get closer to her best time of 11.34, which she achieved when winning the SEA Games title. He said there were still three weeks to go to the 16th Asian Games (ASIAD), when he said he believed Huong would be at her peak.

At the biggest sports event in the region, Vietnamese athletes will compete in the women's 200m, 800m, 1,500m, 400m hurdle and 4x400m relay; while the men will take part in the 800m, 1,500m, long jump, triple jump and decathlon.

The track and field events start on November 21, with the finals taking place six days later at the Aoti Stadium in Guangzhou. — VNS

Vietnam’s U19s clash with Thai U21s at Thanh Nien competition

Vietnam’s U19s clash with Thai U21s at Thanh Nien competition Vietnam’s Under-19 team will clash with the Thai U21s in the final match of the 2010 International U21 Football Tournament at Ho Chi Minh City’s Thong Nhat Stadium on Sunday.

The Vietnamese U19s upset “older brothers” Vietnamese U21s 3-1 while the Thai U21 squad defeated the Malaysian counterparts on the same margin in the semifinals on Friday.

The Thai U21s proved stronger than the Malaysian rivals and deserved to book a berth in the final match of the fourth annual youth football competition sponsored by Thanh Nien newspaper.

In other action, the Vietnamese U19s were considered the underdogs against the Vietnamese U21s in the semis, but the young bucks bested their elders in the end.

The match between the “brothers” was a real fight from beginning to end, making it very exciting.

The U19s took the lead after seven minutes when Quoc Phuong scored the opener from a free kick on the edge of the penalty area.

After the break, midfield Huu Phat of the U21 team scored an equalizer off of a penalty kick after referee Vo Minh Tri ruled that Duc Tai was tackled in the U19 team’s penalty box.

The U21s, who beat Thailand 3-1 and Myanmar 5-1 in the group stage, were expected to play better after the equalizer.

However, it was the U19s who kept their spirits high and managed to score two more goals for a decisive victory.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010