Beautiful Vietnam

A café in HCM City offers customers a very special atmosphere as it is home to up to 40 parrots of 20 different species. The café located on Nguyen Van Huong Street, District 2, has been open since 2014. Colourful parrots are not kept in cages and are very friendly so customers can touch them. They originate from Asia, Africa and America.  The café is among the first parrot cafés in HCM City. Parrots are priced at millions of VND each, but some are even worth up to USD5,000 such as Harlequin Macaw species from South Africa.  The parrots are taken care of by a staff member. The average cost for caring each parrot is VND3 million (USD128) per month. Many parents take their children to the café to see the parrots  The cute parrots  They are trained in a professional way, so they are well-behaved to customers  People are keen on playing with parrots … [Read more...] about HCM City’s unique parrot cafe

The Vietnam heritage photo contest has been launched by the Cultural Heritage Association of Vietnam to celebrate Viet Nam National Heritage Day on November 23. Winner of the 2017 Vietnam heritage photo contest. Photo: Vietnamtourism.com Organised annually since 2012, the contest aims to introduce images of Vietnam to the international community and to raise public awareness of maintaining and preserving the cultural and natural heritages of the country. In addition to traditional themes such as nature, culture, and lifestyle, there will be two new themes namely Ao Dai (Vietnamese traditional long dress) and travel experiences in Vietnam. All Vietnamese citizens and foreigners can send colored or black and white entries as long as they were captured within the last two years. Each candidate can send a maximum of four single photos for each category and four photo collections. Each set should contain no more than six photos. Entries can be sent to … [Read more...] about Vietnam heritage photo contest launches

Banh giay Quan Ganh, a white, flat, round glutinous rice cake with or without green beans inside, is enjoyed by lots of people, both Vietnamese and foreigners. The cake is a specialty of Hanoi. Thuong Dinh village in Hanoi's Thuong Tin District specializes in making the cakes. Unlike the Giay cakes of other regions, which often don’t have anything inside and are eaten with pork paste or roasted cinnamon pork, Quan Ganh glutinous rice cakes are categorized into 3 types: with sweet filling, savory filling, or vegetarian filling. The cake has the aroma of glutinous rice blended with green beans, meat, and spices. Making a white “chubby” cake involves many steps. The glutinous rice is soaked overnight, then steamed, ground, and shaped into flat, round patties. Green dong leaves must be washed and dried. The next steps are to make the filling and shape it into small balls. Nguyen Thi Tuat, a Thuong Dinh cake maker, said, “Selecting the rice and green beans is … [Read more...] about Banh giay Quan Ganh, a specialty of Hanoi

A collector has donated 376 items in his collection to the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province Museum. Nguyen Ngoc An donates 376 items to Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province (right) The reception ceremony was held on August 3 by the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Nguyen Ngoc An who is living in Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province, donated axes, bowls, dishes and vases and other items. A large number of them date back to 500-700 B.C. and come from the Sa Huynh, Dong Son and Oc Eo cultures. Several items were made over the hundreds of years covered by the Ly, Tran, Le, Mac and Nguyen dynasties. An also donated items from the Chinese Han and Ming dynasties. Dong Son cultural items on display An said his collection helped him understand more about the rich culture and lives of people in the past. He wanted to donate the items to help promote understanding among researchers, students and the wider public. The museum will choose the most outstanding items for display … [Read more...] about Hundreds of artefacts donated to museum

A farmer in Soc Trang Province successfully propagated the new type of longan after accidentally discovering a longan with purple peel. Tran Van Huy and the purple longan tree Tran Van Huy, the owner of Ke Sach Garden in Phong Nam Commune, said even though he still hadn't have any young plant for sale yet, many people had ordered seedlings. He said, "Thai traders did ask to buy the seedling three to four years ago. But I refused so they haven't been back since." The purple longan has appeared in recent years but attracted lots of attention in the Mekong Delta Region. The fruits are five times more expensive than other local fruits but they are also rare. According to Huy, he accidentally found a purple longan branch among hundreds of longan trees in his 3,000-square-metre garden more than 15 years ago. The whole branch, up to the leaves, had a purple tint and the peel colour was as dark as the grapes. "It looked so strange that I decided to plant it," he said. "It grew … [Read more...] about Farmer earns huge money from purple longan