School bus stop shelter

Nguyen Thanh Tam from the northern city of Hai Phong was browsing Facebook last month when she came across a post seeking child models to promote a "major fashion brand’s" spring 2023 collection. Her daughter, who is almost 4 four years old, loves having her photo taken. She often strikes poses when her mother brings out her camera phone. Meanwhile, the single mom is too busy with work and has little time to spend with her child. So, she’s been wanting to find an extracurricular activity for her child. After signing her daughter up for the modeling gig, Tam was added to a private chat group on the messaging app Telegram where a fake talent scout asked for the baby's age, height and weight. This person later instructed her to contact a male coworker in a different chat group who would help her complete her daughter's application. The admin of the second chat group said the models could make VND7-15 million ($298-640) a month if the outfits used by the child commercial photo … [Read more...] about Parents fall for child modeling scams on social media

According to Director of the Hue Relics Preservation Center Hoang Viet Trung, under the Nguyen Dynasty, the rituals marked the end of the lunar New Year holiday and the start of work and normal activities. The Neu pole was erected on the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month, marking the beginning of Tet. It coincides with the day when the Kitchen Gods are believed to ride a carp to Heaven to report on events from the past year. During 143 years of its reign (1802 – 1945), the Nguyen Dynasty held an annual ceremony to plant the Neu at the Imperial Citadel. The pole carried ritual items on its top, like a royal seal, a paper scroll and pen, which implied that the royal court stopped working during Tet. After the royal ceremony, ordinary people would erect their own Neu and start celebrating Tet. The Neu was intended to ward off ghosts and demons from entering the community during Tet, and guide the spirits of ancestors on the way home for the lunar New Year festival. The custom is also … [Read more...] about Neu pole lowering, seal opening ceremony celebrates new year

Authorities in Quang Tri Province, located in north-central Vietnam, have granted a certificate of merit together with a cash bonus to the creator of a graceful cat mascot statue, called the ‘Miss Cat’ by netizens, used to celebrate the 2023 Lunar New Year (Tet), which is the Year of the Cat. Dinh Van Tam, a 32-year-old local man, who made the charming artistic work, received the provincial government’s certificate of merit, together with a bonus of VND20 million (US$852), from Ha Si Dong, standing deputy chairman of the Quang Tri administration, on Friday. Since the cat mascot statue was put on display at the square of the province’s Trieu Phong District on January 15, tens of thousands of people have flocked there for viewing and photographing during the past seven-day Tet holiday, from January 20 to 26, district authorities said. The cat statue has also caused great excitement to social media communities, who have honored it as the ‘Miss Cat,’ as it is considered truly … [Read more...] about Certificate of merit awarded to Tet cat mascot creator in Vietnam’s Quang Tri Province

Like so many others in Lam Dong Province and other rural areas of southern Vietnam, Toan saw the value of his agricultural land skyrocket in 2020-2021. He took it as an opportunity to start flipping properties for profit. But the market froze last year and short-term loans at high interest rates have now sunk him and many other farmers-turned-inexperienced-traders in impossible debt instead. The veteran coffee grower sold his land 7 km from the center of Di Linh District for several billions of dong in profit during a property price bubble in 2021. He then took out short-term, high-interest loans and used them plus money he made from his land sale to by several more plots he planned to resell for profit in what he thought would be at most 1-2 months. He said he thought he’d be able to sell some of the land back in even just a couple of weeks. But the properties still haven’t sold. In early 2022, Toan poured another VND15 billion ($635,600), including VND6 billion from another … [Read more...] about Debt buries farmers trying to flip property in frozen market

Authorities on the southern island of Phu Quoc are trying to persuade three Russian tourists not to beg. The tourists came to beg on Ngo Quyen Street in Duong Dong District on January 28 Speaking to the local media on Sunday, the vice-chairman of Phu Quoc City People's Committee, Pham Van Nghiep, said that they have sent a team to persuade the three male tourists to stop begging on local streets as "it was presenting a bad image of the tourist city." "The tourists came to beg on Ngo Quyen Street in Duong Dong District on January 28," the official said. "They held a cardboard with Vietnamese reading "Hello, we're from Russia. We've been travelling without money for the last five years. Please support our trips. Thank you". Photos of the three tourists begging in Phu Quoc went viral on Facebook. This is not the first time foreign tourists have been seen begging on Phu Quoc. In 2020, several foreign tourists also held up cardboard signs in Vietnamese asking … [Read more...] about Russian begpackers warned in Phu Quoc

A boat carries tourists on a sightseeing tour of the Tram Chim National Park in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap. (Photo: VNA) Can Tho (VNA) – Boasting a network of canals, immense rice fields and fruit orchards, the Mekong Delta has become a favourite destination for foreign visitors who wish to explore the life on the water and the original culture of the southwestern region . Located on the lower part of the Mekong River with rich alluvial soil, interlacing canal networks, and temperate climate, the region has the best conditions for growing fruit trees. It is the country’s largest fruit growing area with fruits such as rambutan, mango, durian, longan, guava, orange, and plum. Many orchards in the Mekong Delta are known nationwide, including Cai Be, Vinh Kim and Cho Gao in Tien Giang province; Cai Mon in Ben Tre; Cu Lao An Binh in Vinh Long; and My Khanh in Can Tho city. These orchards have not only brought in agricultural income, but have become … [Read more...] about Mekong Delta – An ideal destination for foreign visitors

Cuc Phuong, Vietnam’s first national park, is situated in the Tam Diep Mountain Range, which spans over the territory of Ninh Binh, Hoa Binh, and Thanh Hoa provinces. (Photo: VNA) Ninh Binh (VNA) - Cuc Phuong has been named as one of the leading national parks in Asia by the World Travel Awards for many consecutive years, enabling it to attract more visitors, especially nature lovers . Covering 22,000 hectares stretching across Ninh Binh, Hoa Binh and Thanh Hoa provinces, Cuc Phuong is the first national park of Vietnam. For nearly 60 years since its establishment, Cuc Phuong’s preservation work has made great achievements and the national park itself is internationally recognised as the largest wildlife protection area in Southeast Asia. With its limestone Karts topography, Cuc Phuong’s primary forest has value because of its archeology, paleontology and geology. Many archaeological sites have been discovered here, providing valuable insight into human history. The … [Read more...] about Cuc Phuong National Park – An ideal destination for nature lovers

With ammunition, rifles and bullet-proof vests on display, business is brisk at a Los Angeles area gun show -- so much so you'd never know a mass shooting unfolded nearby just days ago. Thousands of people turned out this weekend in the city of Ontario in California to view dozens of stands at the trade fair called the Crossroads of the West Gun Show. Women pushing baby strollers looked at small pistols while strapping young men examined military-style semi-automatic riles that can handle several calibers of ammo. The vibe is cheerful. Kids under 12 get in free. Most people did not want to address the elephant in the room, though, even as the state mourns. Kids look at magazines in a firearms and accessories shop at the Crossroads of the West Gun Show at the Convention Center in Ontario, California, on January 28, 2023. Photo: AFP A mass shooting at a dance hall in Monterey Park, a 30-minute drive away, left 11 dead on September 21. Two days later, another … [Read more...] about At California gun fair, few speak of recent massacres