French documentary on Vietnam’s history on screen

A documentary on Vietnam’s history is being screened at 55 cinemas in France, according to the French newspaper - Le Monde.

The film, L’Empire du Milieu du Sud (The Empire of Mid-South), is made
at a cost of 3 million EUR by well-known French directors Jacques Perrin
and Eric Deroo. It outlines the situation of a France-dominated
Indochina and Vietnam’s resistance wars for independence.

Le
Monde said the film makers spent more than ten years to research and
collect documents and films not only of France but also of Japan, China,
Australia, the US, Cuba, Russia and Poland for making this film.

Director
Jacques Perrin is known for his recent documentary – Ocean – that was
screened at the first Vietnam International Film Festival last October.

Earlier,
he made a success in co-directing a documentary titled Le Peuple
Migrateur (2001) on bird’s migration that was shot in many countries,
including Vietnam.

The co-author of “L’Empire du Milieu du Sud”,
Eric Deroo is a historical researcher and director who authored numerous
research works on Vietnam and Indochina./.

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Old Quarter celebrates culture

Hanoi's Old Quarter is hosting a tea ceremony and an exhibition of
vintage timepieces until Nov. 27, as well as a discussion of traditional
culture in the capital city.

The tea ceremony will take place at
28 Hang Buom Street, while the collection of clocks will be displayed
at Dong Lac Temple, 38 Hang Dao Street.

The Vietnamese often
drink tea, chew betel or smoke a cigarette as a prelude to conversation,
reflecting the folk saying, "A quid of betel starts the ball rolling".

Tea
drinking is an integral part of many Vietnamese cultural rituals, from
holidays to wedding, and it brings friends and family together in
conversation and celebration.

"Brewing Vietnamese tea is a
sophisticated artform which takes a lot of time to master," said
researcher Hoang Anh Suong. "But it can also be enjoyed in a very simple
manner.

Simply boiled green tea leaves can bring people closer in an informal conversation."

At
the tea ceremony, Suong and other researchers will speak about the
history of tea culture, the manner of drinking, and the differences
among Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese tea drinking.

Meanwhile, at Dong Lac Temple, collector Nguyen Trung Dung will display over 50 historic clocks.

Clock-collecting
has been a popular pastime among intellectuals in the capital city
since the 19th century, Dung said, with collectors fascinated by the
different designs and decorations and the way in which the sound of the
ticking clocks reflects the passage of time and the value of every
moment of life.

Finally, the old house at 87 Ma May Street will
host a talk by researchers Giang Quan and Nguyen Vinh Phuc about Hanoi's
culture, helping visitors understand the way Hanoians live and receive
guests. The discussion, held to accord greater respect the value of
Hanoi's traditions, was organised as part of the celebrations of the
Vietnam Heritage Day on Nov. 23./.

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Nation claims more silvers at Asian Games

Vietnam earned two more silver medals at the Asian Games on the 12th
day of the competition in Guangzhou, China on Nov. 24.

Defending champion Vu Thi Nguyet Anh failed to keep her karate title in
the women's under-50kg class after losing 0-2 to host rival Li Hong in
the final clash.

Anh met no difficulty on her way to the
final as she dominated three rivals from Iran , Chinese Taipei and the
Republic of Korea . However Anh, who recently recovered from an
injury, was unable to surpass Li.

Valentina Velena of India and Yasina Torrattanawathana of Thailand each walked away with bronze.

Another Vietnamese defending champion lost their crown on Nov. 24 in
the sepak takraw regu final after a 15-21, 21-14, 11-15 defeat to
Thailand , which is known to have the world's strongest competitors.

Sepak takraw was one of Vietnam 's highest hopes for Asian Games
gold, but as with several other sports, they failed to reach their
target.

Before leaving for Guangzhou , the Vietnam
sport delegation set a target of winning four to six titles to put them
within the world's top 20 strongest countries. But now that the Games
are only three days away from over and most of Vietnam 's strongest
athletes have already finished with their competitions, the target seems
far out of reach.

Track and field athletes are currently the country's best hope for top honours.

Southeast Asia's fastest woman, Vu Thi Huong, won a berth in the 200m final with a time of 24.05sec in Nov. 24's semis.

Huong's teammate Truong Thanh Hang will kick off her second final
competition later on the afternoon of Nov. 25 in the women's 800m event.

Hang, who won silver on Nov. 23 in the 1,500m, is
expected to reach even higher in the 800m as she has practised a lot for
this event.

She will face Magarita Matsko of Kazakhstan , Tintu Lukka from India and Bahrain 's Isa Jamal Maryam Yusuf.

On the men's side, iron man Vu Van Huyen on Nov. 24 took part in five
events of the men's decathlon. He earned 4,002 points to rank fourth,
some 243 points less than the leading athlete.

Women's
chess masters are another final hope for Vietnam , as they entered
the semi-final round with eight points after seven matches.

Karate artists will also share the heavy task of seeking gold in the final competition of the Games.

Six fighters are set to compete in the last three days of the event,
including two-time SEA Games champions Bui Thi Trieu in the women's
under-61kg category, Nguyen Ngoc Thanh in the men's 67kg pool and Le
Bich Phuong who won a gold in the women's 55kg class at the Indonesia
Open.

The delegation has won 14 silver, 12 bronze medals and is ranked 26th./.

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Nation claims more silvers

Karate kid: Vu Thi Nguyet Anh grabbed a silver medal in the women's U-50kg division at the Asian Games yesterday. — VNA/VNS Photo Ngoc Truong

HA NOI — Viet Nam earned two more silver medals at the Asian Games on the 12th day of the competition in Guangzhou, China yesterday.

Defending champion Vu Thi Nguyet Anh failed to keep her karate title in the women's under-50kg class after losing 0-2 to host rival Li Hong in the final clash.

Anh met no difficulty on her way to the final as she dominated three rivals from Iran, Chinese Taipei and South Korea. However Anh, who recently recovered from an injury, was unable to surpass Li.

Valentina Velena of India and Yasina Torrattanawathana of Thailand each walked away with bronze.

Another Vietnamese defending champion lost their crown yesterday in the sepak takraw regu final after a 15-21, 21-14, 11-15 defeat to Thailand, which is known to have the world's strongest competitors.

Sepak takraw was one of Viet Nam's highest hopes for Asian Games gold, but as with several other sports, they failed to reach their target.

Before leaving for Guangzhou, the Viet Nam sport delegation set a target of winning four to six titles to put them within the world's top 20 strongest countries. But now that the Games are only three days away from over and most of Viet Nam's strongest athletes have already finished with their competitions, the target seems far out of reach.

Track and field athletes are currently the country's best hope for top honours.

Southeast Asia's fastest woman, Vu Thi Huong, won a berth in the 200m final with a time of 24.05sec in yesterday's semis.

Huong's teammate Truong Thanh Hang will kick off her second final competition later this afternoon in the women's 800m event.

Hang, who won silver on Tuesday in the 1,500m, is expected to reach even higher in the 800m as she has practised a lot for this event.

She will face Magarita Matsko of Kazakhstan, Tintu Lukka from India and Bahrain's Isa Jamal Maryam Yusuf.

On the men's side, iron man Vu Van Huyen yesterday took part in five events of the men's decathlon. He earned 4,002 points to rank fourth, some 243 points less than the leading athlete.

Women's chess masters are another final hope for Viet Nam, as they entered the semi-final round with eight points after seven matches.

Karate artists will also share the heavy task of seeking gold in the final competition of the Games.

Six fighters are set to compete in the last three days of the event, including two-time SEA Games champions Bui Thi Trieu in the women's under-61kg category, Nguyen Ngoc Thanh in the men's 67kg pool and Le Bich Phuong who won a gold in the women's 55kg class at the Indonesia Open.

The delegation has won 14 silver, 12 bronze medals and is ranked 26th. — VNS

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Truong Thanh Hang nabs silver in women’s 1500m

Vietnam's Truong Thanh Hang celebrates her second place after the women's 1500m final at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, Guangdong province on Tuesday - Photo: Reuters

HCMC – Vietnam’s track and field team continuously showed their remarkable performance at the 16th Asian Games (ASIAD) in Guangzhou, China as Truong Thanh Hang won a silver medal in the women’s 1500 meters category to give Vietnam its first silver medal in the event since Vietnam began participating in Asia’s biggest sporting event in Seoul, South Korea in 1986.

It was also Vietnam’s second medal of the track and field competition of the Asian Games. Earlier, Vu Thi Huong also brought home the bronze medal in the women’s 100m category on Monday.

Hang timed 4:09:58 minutes, 1.28 seconds behind of Jamah Maryam Yusuf Isa from Bahrain, who claimed the gold medal. Gebregeiorges Mimi Belete also from Bahrain won bronze in 4:10.42 minutes.

The Vietnamese team comprising Le Thi Mong Tuyen, Le Ngoc Phuong, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tham and Vu Thi Huong reached finals as they finished second in group 1 of the women’s 4x100m relay with 45.12 seconds. Thai team came first with 44.42 seconds while Indian team were third with 45.44 seconds.  

In sepaktakraw, Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy, Nguyen Hai Thao and Luu Thi Thanh of Vietnam secured their second victory in the women’s regu event after beating China 22-20, 21-12 on Tuesday. The Vietnamese players had an 21-19, 23-21 victory over Myanmar on Monday.

Vietnam will face archrivals Thailand, who had two victories over China and Myanmar with the same score of 2-0, for the gold medal today. Vietnam will defend their champions for their win over Thailand at the 2006 Games in Doha, Qatar.

Nguyen van Long secured the final’s ticket in the men’s canoe single 200m category as he finished first in the semifinal round with 43.075 seconds while Nguyen Van Chi and Nguyen Thanh Quang exited from the men’s kayak double 1000m competition after finishing last in the semifinal round.     

Nguyen Thi Huong beat Tinbua Narisara from Thailand 4-2 in the women’s individual of archery event before losing 0-6 to Ki Bobae from Japan on Tuesday while her compatriot Nguyen Tra My was 1-5 defeated by Le Chien Ying from Chinese Taipei in the same event.

In cycling, rider Pham Thi Thuy Lien failed to clinch a medal when she completed the 100-kilometer stage in the women’s individual road race in two hours, 47 minutes and 47.99 seconds, ranking eighth while her compatriot Phan Thi Thuy Trang just came tenth with 2:47:48.36.

Hsiao Mei Yu from Chinese Taipei brought home the gold with 2:47:46.12, Tri Kusuma Santia from Indonesia gained the silver with 2:47:46.52 and Chinese rider Zhao Na clinched the bronze with 2:47:46.63.

Vietnam’s men volleyball players showed their poor performance at ASIAD as they were 1-3 beaten by Turkmenistan in the final game. The Vietnamese players ended their ASIAD campaign at bottom place with all seven losses.

In fencing, Vietnam team failed to reach semifinals of the women’s team epee event when they were 25-45 defeated by hosts China. Earlier, Vietnam earned a 45-38 victory over India in the last 16 round.   

Though Vietnam took one more silver medal in the eleventh competition day but it was not enough to satisfy Vietnam’s desire for their first gold medal at the Games. The Vietnamese sporting delegation aims to win between four and six gold medals and to finish in the top 20 out of the 45 participating countries and territories.

Vietnam dropped to 26th in the ranking table with 12 silvers and 12 bronzes. China still leads with 165 golds, 85 silvers and 79 bronzes, followed by South Korea with 64 golds, 55 silvers and 74 bronzes and Japan with 34 golds, 64 silvers and 68 bronzes.

Medals Standings (at 10:00 p.m. Vietnamese time)

Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	165	85	79	329
2 South Korea	64	55	74	193
3 Japan	34	64	68	166
4 Chinese Taipei	12	11	29	52
5 Iran	12	9	15	36
6 Hong Kong	8	14	14	36
7 Kazakhstan	7	14	26	47
8 India	7	12	20	39
9 Thailand	7	7	26	40
10 Malaysia	6	13	8	27
26 Vietnam	0	12	12	24

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Fest spotlights cultural heritage

The sixth Vietnam Heritage Day festival has begun at the Vietnam
Exhibition Centre for Culture and Arts on Hoa Lu Street in Hanoi.

"The festival is being held with the aim to celebrate the country's rich
past, respect the contribution of young people towards preserving
cultural traditions and raising their awareness and responsibility to
developing the national heritage," said Hanoi Association of Literature
and Arts president Do Thi Hao.

During the festival,
visitors are enjoying calligraphy demonstrations and folk games, music
and dances, plus an exhibition displaying 500 items dating from the Dong
Son Culture (700-100BC) to the Nguyen dynasty (19th-20th century), as
well as artefacts from the Thang Long Royal Citadel ruins and photos of
the 82 stone doctoral steles at the Temple of Literature).

The cuisine and craft villages of Hanoi are also being highlighted,
including such crafts as embroidery, wood carvings, copper statues and
rattan furniture. Artisans from the craft villages are performing
rituals to pay tribute to their ancestors who established their village
trades.

Researchers also participated in a workshop on
Nov. 23 to discuss the preservation of Hanoi's tangible and intangible
heritage, such as Duong Lam Village, Thang Long Royal Citadel, Thang
Long folk dances, and traditional beliefs and festivals.

"To preseve the vestiges of these cultures, we need to improve the
knowledge and techniques of the preservationists," said the director of
the Thang Long - Hanoi Citadel Preservation Centre, Nguyen Van Son.
"Those who join in preservation must have professional skills, technique
and responsibility for what they do."

The festival, which
ends on Nov. 25, was co-organised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports
and Tourism, the Hanoi People's Committee, the Ministry of Education and
Training, and the Vietnam Cultural Heritage Association./.

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Runner takes silver in 1,500m

Unflagging: Vietnamese runner Truong Thanh Hang takes a victory lap after claiming a siver medal for Viet Nam in the women's 1,500m at the Asian Games yesterday. — VNA/VNS Photo Quoc Khanh

HA NOI — Runner Truong Thanh Hang bagged a silver medal in the women's 1,500m at the Asian Games yesterday after a strong last 50m to finish between two Bahrainian athletes.

Hang clocked in at 4 minutes 9.58 seconds, 1.36sec slower than Bahraini Maryam Yusyf Jamal, who took the gold.

Bahraini Mimi Belete Gebregiorges came in at 4:10.42 to take bronze.

Hang's performance was the best by a Vietnamese runner since the country made its debut at the Asian Games 28 years ago.

The HCM City native, who won two gold medals in the Southeast Asian Games in the 800m and 1,500m last year, did her best to beat her previous time of 4:11.60 on the track yesterday.

"I'm very glad to win the silver today. It's beyond my expectation at the Asian Games because I just keep my eye on my favourite 800m," Hang said after the race.

"I did not believe myself in the 1,500m race, however, I tried to finish with my best time," the 24-year-old said.

Viet Nam also qualified for the women's 4x100m relay final, finishing their heat in 45.12sec yesterday.

On Monday, Hang's teammate, Vu Thi Huong, set a milestone for Viet Nam's athletics at ASIAD when she bagged a bronze medal in the women's 100m.

Viet Nam have so far won 12 silver and 12 bronze medals. They are currently 26th in the medals table.

Viet Nam yesterday beat China 2-0 in the second match of the women's sepak takraw regu event yesterday.

It was the defending champions' second win of the games.

The Vietnamese won the first hotly contested set 22-20. The second set went more smoothly for the visitors, who won 21-12.

The champions, who failed to defend their team title last week, will face Thailand in the final today.

Thailand recorded their second win yesterday beating Myanmar 21-9, 21-19.

The eagerly anticipated clash between Viet Nam and Thailand is likely to determine the competition's eventual winner as the two sides are considered the best in the world.

Meanwhile, Tran Van Long booked a berth in the final round of the men's single 200m canoe race after clocking a time of 43.075sec. — VNS

Asian Games Medals Tally

Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1 China	165	85	79
2 South Korea	64	55	74
3 Japan	34	64	68
4 Chinese Taipei	12	11	29
5 Iran	12	9	15
6 Hong Kong	8	14	14
7 Kazakhstan	7	14	26
8 India	7	12	20
9 Thailand	7	7	26
10 Malaysia	6	13	8
11 Uzbekistan	5	13	17
12 North Korea	5	10	15
13 Indonesia	4	8	10
14 Singapore	4	6	6
15 Bahrain	3	0	3
16 Kuwait	2	3	0
17 Philippines	2	2	8
18 Qatar	2	2	4
19 Saudi Arabia	2	1	2
20 Mongolia	1	2	6
21 Kyrgyzstan	1	2	1
22 Pakistan	1	2	1
23 Jordan	1	1	1
24 Macau	1	1	0
25 Tajikistan	1	0	2
26 Viet Nam	0	12	12
27 Myanmar	0	5	1
28 UAE	0	2	0
29 Lebanon	0	1	2
30 Afghanistan	0	1	1
31 Bangladesh	0	1	0
32 Iraq	0	0	2
32 Laos	0	0	2
34 Oman	0	0	1

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