26 countries to participate in Hue Festival 2012

To date 36 art troupes from 26 countries and territories have registered to participate in Hue Festival 2012, according to organisers.

Europe and America will send 14 troupes, Asia 11, and the rest will come from other continents, said representatives of the Hue Festival Centre.

France remains the traditional and special partner at this year’s festival, which will send Smooth band (hiphop , funk and jazz), Carabosse troupe from Poitou Charentes region, street band Jazz Combo Box, and artist Francois Audrain to the event.
Two Russian art troupes will take part in the festival, the Piatnisky Song and Dance Ensemble, specialising in Russian folk music, and the Raduga dancing group. 
The UK, Belgium, Argentina, Cuba, Mexico, Australia, Poland, Japan and the Republic of Korea are expected to give impressive performances at the festival, said organisers.
More than 300 media workers have registered to cover the event. There will be 17 official information sponsors, including Vietnam Television (VTV), Voice of Vietnam (VOV), and Vietnam News Agency (VNA).

This year’s festival will take place from April 7-15 to mark the National Tourism Year in the North-Central Midland region.

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Ten most famous beauty sports named “dragon” in Vietnam

In Vietnam’s culture, Dragon (means: “Rong” or “Long” ) is one of the Four Saintly Beasts. Many famous places in Vietnam have been associated with “Rong”:

Thang Long: is the old name of capital of Dai Viet during dynasties: Ly, Tran, Le, Mac, Le Trung Hung ( 1010 – 1788 ), nowadays, It is renamed as Hanoi Capital.

According to our legend, when King Ly Cong Uan left capital Hoa Lu for this land, he saw a dragon flying up. He decided to name this “Thang Long” means “dragon flies up”. In 2010, the grand celebration of 1.000 years of Thang Long Hanoi was held in Hanoi Capital.

Cuu Long River: is the common name of distributaries of Mekong River which flows through Vietnam. As, these distributaries flow into the sea through the network of nine tributary rivers (today there is only seven one left ), Vietnamese call them “Cuu Long” ( means “Nine Dragons” ). This is also name of Mekong Delta. Located in the South of Vietnam, Mekong delta has typical culture and beautiful natural scenery.  

Ha Long Bay: is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a popular travel destination, located in Quang Ninh Province. Administratively, the Bay belongs to Ha Long City, Cam Pha Town, and part of Van Don District. The bay is well –known for thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various sizes and shapes with amazing beaches.

The name “Ha Long” means “descending dragon”. According to  local legend, when Vietnamese had just started to develop into a country, they had to fight against invaders. To assist Vietnamese in defending their country, the gods sent a family of dragons as protectors. This family of dragons began spitting out jewels and jade. These jewels turned into the islands and islets dotting the Bay, linking together to form a great wall against the invaders. After winning the battle, the dragons were interested in peaceful sightseeing of the Earth and then decided to live in this bay.

The place where the mother dragon descended was named Ha Long; the places where the dragon’s children attended upon their mother was called Bai Tu Long Island and the place where they wriggled their tails violently was called Bach Long Vy Island.

Long Bien Bridge: One of a symbol of Hanoi. The Hanoians often  proudly called it “Cau Rong” (means “Dragon Bridge” ). This is the first bridge  across  the Red River  that connects two parts of Hanoi City, by the famous French designer Gustave Eiffel. Long Bien Bridge was built in 1899 – 1902. It was, at that time, one of the longest bridges in Asia with the length of 1.862m.

Ben Nha Rong ( Nha Rong Wharf ), Ho Chi Minh City: is a famous historical sites in Ho Chi Minh and also a major trading port along the Saigon River. The building was an unique architecture with the roof decorated by carvings of dragons, which is popular in many pagodas in Vietnam. In 1911, patriotic young man Nguyen Tat Thanh (the young name of Uncle Ho ) left Nha Rong Wharf on board of a French Ship to seek ways to secure national salvation. Nowadays, this building is named Ho Chi Minh Museum as a place of memorial to President Ho Chi Minh. It annually attracts millions of domestic and foreign tourists to visit, learn about the historical life related to the revolutionary activities of Uncle Ho.

Ham Rong Bridge ( means: dragon’s jaw), Thanh Hoa province: across the Ma River, is located 4km northeast of Thanh Hoa City. This bridge was ever a well –known in war time. Originally built by the French during the colonial era in Vietnam, the bridge was sabotaged in 1946. From 1962 - 1964, the Vietnamese started rebuilding it. It was a grey metallic construction, resting on a central concrete pier and on concrete abutments at each extremity. Nowadays, Ham Rong is used for railways and is regarded as a symbol for the will of people in Thanh Hoa Province.

Ham Rong Mountain, Sapa, Lao Cai: is known as part of the famous Hoang Lien Son range in Vietnam. The mountain look  like a dragon’s head looking up to the sky. That’s why it so –called Ham Rong. From the mountain, Sapa appears amazing and wonderful. This becomes a favorite place for many travelers who like the beautiful scenery and fresh cool climate.

Long Hai Beach , Vung Tau: being called as a blue sea dragon, this beautiful beach is widely known for its stretching sand, romantic and blue water.

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Best street food city title food for thought

Best street food city title food for thought

Saigon has been named one of the 10 global cities of street foods. But both local authorities and street hawkers should expend more effort to make safe street foods available to tourists from afar. 

Street food hawkers' hospitality and, particularly, honesty are essential for pleasing tourists, be they first-timers or those making a return visit.

Food & Wine, a prestigious U.S. magazine on lifestyle with a focus on culinary delights, has picked Saigon as one of the world’s top-10 cities offering the most fascinating street foods [for your reference others are Istanbul (Turkey), Mexico City (Mexico), Marrakech (Morocco), Hong Kong (China), Los Angeles (the U.S.), Austin (the U.S.), Berlin (Germany), and Bangkok (Thailand). The accreditation is meaningful in that it not only instills in cosmopolitan tourists the urge to visit HCMC but also excites street hawkers in this city where street foods are ubiquitous and awesome.
For ages, many foreign tourists have been delighted to experience Saigonese street foods. Apart from the distinctive tastes, they also gain the palpable sense of local atmosphere and direct contact with the local lifestyle in the most natural way.
However, as tourists are indulging themselves in tasting Saigonese street foods, more than anyone else, Saigonese residents have to mull over the two sides of a coin: food hygiene, an issue plagued with many problems.
One of the reasons for this issue is the fact that street foods in Saigon are mostly family business which doesn’t bother much about food hygiene control exercised by local authorities. However, it would be unfair if the street food business is killed off in the name of health safety. Street foods are a “love child” of the spontaneity deep-rooted in the lifestyle of Saigonese and Vietnamese.
Meanwhile, regular food hygiene inspections conducted by related authorities have suggested worrying results. Street food hawkers and sidewalk food stall owners have adopted a popular mentality which can be used to explain why it is so.
Pragmatism, if you will! They argue that the majority of their customers are one-offs. Consequently, they can overcharge them at will and care nothing about their health. As many street eateries have no name or registration, it would be unrealistic to require their responsibility should a customer suffer a mishap relevant to their products.
On the one hand, street foods are indisputably part of the local culture of the Saigonese. On the other, residents in Saigon are every discreet about introducing their street food favorites to tourists worldwide on account of the dark side of the issue. More often than not, foreign travelers to this city experience Saigonese street foods on their own being backpackers or during free time in their tours. Few local tour operators have so far been bold enough to embrace street foods in their official programs. Risks abound, everyone knows!
On one side of the coin, Saigonese street foods are culturally and gastronomically attractive. On the other, however, they are unorganized and bewildering. While adequate and reasonable interference from urban authorities is nowhere to be seen at the moment, expectations of street food sellers’ business ethics are just Utopian dreams.
Now that Saigon has been given the street food commendation, Saigonese authorities should reconsider their managerial role to seek better future for this business. The authorities’ actions should promote street foods as a tourist product capable of luring international arrivals and generating profits for local dwellers.
As to street food hawkers and stall owners, they should highly esteem the full value of every bowl of food or seat they offer. The desirable quality of each of them is capable of generating better income and earning the prestige attached to Saigon as a premier tourist destination.

Source: Vietnam Net

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Enjoy tourism services with one US Dollar

Enjoy tourism services with one US Dollar

That is the familiar canvassing of every tuk –tuk drivers in Siem Reap (Cambodia) when they meet visitors from the buses. Some tourists wonder about that price, some sits calmly in the car. Those who saw this for the first time also gradually select one driver to be taken to their hotel.

Tuk –tuk car – an interesting and cheap service in Cambodia
 

Along the way to hotel, many people are worry because with only one US Dollar, they wonder if the driver could be a pickpocket or not. Actually, the driver will take you around the city to see some other good hotels for price and it facilities before take you to the hotel you need. That is really a popular welcome without swindle.
 

In Cambodia, the type of services worth only one US Dollar is very various. On every street, there are many shops with signboard of one US Dollar for their products or services. Many children selling souvenirs also offer one US Dollar for a series of products such as flutes, muscle relaxant, or some pictures of Cambodia. 
 

There is no scramble for visitors in most of shops, or stores in tourism areas of this beautiful country. Visitors coming here are hardly disturbed or followed by sellers. In a romantic and sunny afternoon, we easily see an European student peacefully sitting by the Angkor Temple and free his soul to enjoy the beauty of spectacular wonder; or a professional journalist recording a film about cultural activities in Siem Reap.
 
Angkor Watt Temper
In comparison with tourism resources, Vietnam has more advantages than Cambodia does such as length of the coast, a large number of beauty spots, historical cultural heritage. Mr Sam Promonea, Deputy Minister of Cambodia Tourism, said that the advantages of natural and marine resources of Vietnam are not as much as Cambodia’s.
 

In the year 2000, number of International tourists to Cambodia was 466,000 turns. In the year 2010, Cambodia’s tourism industry attracted more than 2 million turns. The number of visitors increases 5,1 times each 10 years. Meanwhile, Vietnam Tourism develops better and faster than Cambodia tourism: The number of visitors was 2,14 million turns in 2000 and  twice times increased in 2010.
 

The Prime Minister of Cambodia, Mr Hun Sen said that the tourism industry will become the “engine” ofCambodia’s economic growth and Cambodia was committed to be one of the most famous destinations in the world. This seems to be done from the small details but close to visitors such as just 1 US Dollar for many different products and services here.
 

Obviously, It is not easy to receive money from traveller but with one US Dollar, it is completely impossible!

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