Smithsonian center for folklife and cultural heritage

Co Loa Citadel represents the thousand-year history of the nation. This annual event is held to pay tribute to King An Duong Vuong, founder of the ancient Vietnamese kingdom of Au Lac, who led the fight against foreign enemies and ruled the country for 50 years in the 3rd century BC. The colorful festival of Co Loa Temple will take place until February 6. Photo: VNA At the opening of the festival, Dong Anh District People's Committee Chairman Nguyen Xuan Linh recalled that more than 2,300 years ago, after leading the resistance war against more than 50,000 Qin soldiers, King An Duong Vuong established the capital of the Au Lac Kingdom in Co Loa. “This is one of the extremely valuable historical sites with unique architecture and also an important archaeological site of the country,” he said. "The Co Loa citadel has become a symbol of the proud ancient Vietnamese civilization," he added. Being considered one of the oldest festivals in Vietnam, Co Loa … [Read more...] about Co Loa Temple Festival opens

Vietnamese people erect a Neu tree in front of their house to show off their land holdings and mark the border of their house. The bamboo pole was stripped of its leaves, except for a tuft at the top. The decoration on the Neu trees varies between regions and periods. On the top of the bamboo tree, they often hang a snatch of pineapple leaves, chicken feathers and a circle of New Year cards made of bamboo and do (poonah) paper. According to cultural researchers, the circle of bamboo cards symbolizes happiness and chicken feathers represent holy birds with powers that can help the family. The pole is also believed to ward off ghosts and demons from entering the community during Tet. It also seeks to show the way to ancestors who want to return home for the lunar New Year holiday. As legend goes, the Tet pole erecting tradition is originated from the Buddhism. Legend has it that long time ago, devils occupied the land of humans. Seeing humans’ suffering, the Buddha helped them … [Read more...] about Neu pole wards off evil spirits, welcomes blessings

On the occasion, Dien Bien Dong district (Dien Bien province) held a series of programs from January 23 to January 26. With many cultural activities such as sports exchange and folk games, the programs attracted the participation of many visitors and local people. In the framework of the programs, together with cultural space, tourists also joined trading activities of the locals, such as selling traditional costumes, food, jewelry. This was one of the series of this year’s spring festival activities in Dien Bien Dong district with beautiful traditional cultural identities. It was also an occasion for local people to introduce their products, while encouraging trade activities, contributing to promoting local socio-economic development, in line with preserving and promoting local traditional customs. Translated by Minh Anh … [Read more...] about Spring Festival in Dien Bien province

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), the scale of the Vietnamese retail market is USD 142 billion, which is expected to reach USD 350 billion in 2025, with contribution of 59% to total GDP. Last year, the total revenue from retail sales of goods and services rose 21%, exceeding the target of 8%. A survey by Vietnam Report showed that over 53.8% of total retail firms enjoyed similar and higher business results compared to the pre-pandemic level. Experts held that growth of retail sales is being supported by rise in income and the strong recovery of the tourism sector as well as relevant sectors such as transport and accommodations, as well as the effectiveness of inflation control measures. Particularly, from now to the lunar New Year (Tet) Festival, which falls in late January, consumers are predicted to loosen their wallet dramatically. At the same time, there are signs of vibrant retail activities as many foreign investors have announced their plans to … [Read more...] about Retail market forecast to bustle this year

Illustrative image (Photo: vietnamnet) Hanoi (VNA) – The bustling game market in Vietnam is offering numerous opportunities for developers, according to experts. Le Quang Tu Do, Director of the Authority of Broadcasting , Television and Electronic Information under the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), cited data from App Annie 2020 showing that Vietnam ranked seventh in the world and second in Southeast Asia in the number of game downloads. Meanwhile, the country also ranked third in the top 10 game application manufacturers in the region. For every 25 games downloaded, there is one produced in Vietnamese studios. According to the statistics of Sensor Tower and the Vietnam Game Studio Club, there are currently about 5,000 games produced by Vietnamese people, mostly for children, entertainment, and education. Do said that the wage of each game developer in Vietnam is about 187 million VND (7,975 USD) per year, while that of each artist is abour 389 million … [Read more...] about Local game developers eye great opportunities at home

Germany’s famous travel site reisereporter.de has run an article highlighting the world’s top 25 trending destinations for 2023, including Vietnam’s Hoi An ancient city and Ho Chi Minh City, recently voted by readers of TripAdvisor – the world's largest travel guidance platform. Hoi An in the central province of Quang Nam occupies the second place, following Cuba (Photo: Screenshot) Specifically, Hoi An in the central province of Quang Nam occupied the second place on the list as part of the annual Travelers' Choice Best of the Best Awards, following Cuba, while the southern metropolis secured 11th place. The category reveals destinations with the greatest year-over-year growth in interest on Tripadvisor based on travelers' reviews over a 12-month period between November 1 and October 31. "Hoi An on the central Vietnamese coast is a well-preserved example of the important Southeast Asian trading port it was from the 15th-19th centuries," Tripadvisor commented. … [Read more...] about Hoi An, HCM City among world’s top 25 trending destinations in 2023: TripAdvisor

A street in Hanoi is flooded after heavy rains. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Alongside urbanisation , flooding in cities of Vietnam, a country highly vulnerable to climate change, is getting complicated and needs concerted solutions, according to experts. There are more than 800 cities nationwide, including the two special municipalities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Big and populous cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, and Vinh of Nghe An province have frequently suffered from heavy losses caused by downpours and flooding. Nguyen Van Tien, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said Vietnamese cities, especially major ones, are centres of economic, social, and cultural activities and also concentrations of infrastructure facilities and residential areas. They are exposed to many disaster risks, including flooding, which requires proactive preventive and timely response measures. … [Read more...] about Urban flooding needs concerted solutions

PANO – Cao Bang province on December 15 th solemnly organized a ceremony to mark the 70 th founding anniversary of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) and 25 th anniversary of whole people’s defence day, and announce Tran Hung Dao forest’s recoginition as a special national relic site. The event was attended by State President Truong Tan Sang. Opening the ceremony, Secretary of Cao Bang Provincial People Committee and Chairman of the provincial People’s Council Ha Ngoc Chien recalled the establishment and victorious revolutionary traditions of the VPA and the province. Art performance at the ceremony On December 22 nd , 1944, as instructed by President Ho Chi Minh, the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) was founded in Tran Hung Dao forest in Tam Kim commune, Nguyen Binh district, Cao Bang province. Of the first 34 soldiers of the army at that time, 25 were from ethnic minorities in Cao Bang. Three days after its establishment, with ingenuity and couragousness, … [Read more...] about Cao Bang marks VPA’s 70th founding anniversary

Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Phan Tam speaks at the ASEAN Conference on 5G . (Photo: Minh Son/Vietnam+) On the morning of October 11, in Hanoi, the ASEAN Conference on 5G took place within the framework of the International Digital Week organized by the Ministry of Information and Communications of Vietnam. Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Phan Tam said that ASEAN countries all have 5G development strategies but are facing problems with infrastructure, standards for deployment and information security. Therefore, the cooperation of ASEAN countries to build a 5G roadmap is one of the priority tasks and goals in the coming time. Lao Minister of Technology and Communications - Boviengkham Vongdara, said technology is one of the contents of long-term cooperation between Laos and Vietnam. "Laos wants to learn from the experiences of other countries, including Vietnam, which has achieved many achievements in digital transformation," … [Read more...] about ASEAN discussing 5G deployment roadmap

All major streets in Vietnam’s tourist highland city of Da Lat were packed with vehicles on Thursday, the last day of the seven-day Tet break (2023 Lunar New Year) as so many personal cars and passenger vans traveled to the city. The traffic jams were serious as so many vehicles entered the city center even though the number of visitors during this Tet was not too big compared to last year’s edition, as noted by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters. Tran Manh Son, a visitor from Ho Chi Minh City, told Tuoi Tre that it took him nearly an hour to drive his family in his car for a distance of about three kilometers from a hotel on Trieu Viet Vuong Street to Tran Hung Dao Street. “Cars and larger vehicles were overloaded everywhere, so many cars inched a bit, as slow as walking,” Son said. The area of Xuan Huong Lake was constantly congested from 8:30 am to 11:00 am, and the same situation was recorded in many other sites, including the city’s flower garden, the Ong Dao … [Read more...] about Vietnam’s Da Lat City overcrowded with vehicles of Tet goers