Vietnamese booth at Mexican festival

 

 

During last week’s La Nao Festival in Acapunco City in Mexico a booth displayed Vietnamese cultural products, fine arts works, lacquer paintings and images of the nation and people, reports VietnamPlus.

Thousands of visitors came to the Vietnamese product area and were interests in goods such as ao dai (Vietnamese long dress), conical hats, lacquer art as well as images depicting Halong Bay and the country’s achievements in the mission of renovation and development.

Many tourists also lingered to ask more about the nation’s history, custom, weather and specialties in each region.

Luis Walton Aburto, major of Acapunco City, stressed that Vietnam is one of only a few countries who have taken part in the festival every year since 2007. This year saw one million visitors.

The Fair of Colors, Sound and Flavors also featured two booths of fine arts products and traditional cloths from the nation last week. The association of Vietnamese students in Mexico dressed themselves in traditional costumes to parade from Zocalo Square to the Revolution Monument and joined many cultural exchange activities to promote Vietnamese culture to international friends.

Source: SGT

 

Binh Dinh pottery largely overlooked

Van Son has been famous for centuries as a pottery making village, one of the oldest in Binh Dinh Province.

 

Meticulous craftsmanship

Meticulously-crafted, the products from Van Son Village, An Nhon Township’s Nhon Hau Commune have been turning soil into art for a long time, and have become known throughout the country.

Despite economic development and rapid urbanisation, Van Son's industry remains vibrant.

Its products are mainly earthenware, which can be seen in a number of places, including Bac Ninh, Hue, Danang, Quang Nam, Kien Giang and Rach Gia.

According to local craftsmen, it takes a lot of time and effort to create a product ready for sales in the market.

Cao Van Binh, 52, who is an experienced craftsman from Van Son, said “In order to make pottery that is up to standard, the potter first has to make sure that the materials are of alluvial soil or clay. They then have to be well-kneaded, dried, and pounded. After that impurities will be removed, making it into a soft and silky powder. Such a process requires a lot of time and know-how. Only after that are they ready for the kiln."

Currently, craftsmen in Van Son are facing some difficulties in maintaining this tradition, due to the lack of availability of appropriate soil, high production costs and low selling prices.

Vo Thi Phung, 38, from Van Son, said soil prices have doubled, to VND100,000 (USD4.79)  per wagon.

Tremendous time and effort put in

Industrious craftsmen

Shining up before sale

Preparing for the kiln

Final products

Travel firms launch charity tours diffidently, exploring situation

 

Charity tours have been added into the lists of tourism products offered by travel firms. However, the firms still keep very cautious in developing the new product.

Go traveling and making charity

In fact, charity programs have appeared on the “menus” of many inbound tours designed for high end travelers for a long time. However, charity tours have just become a new tendency among people who love traveling for discoveries.

Vietravel Hanoi has become the first travel firm in Vietnam that runs an advertisement campaign for charity tourism, having designed the tours to northern mountainous provinces, where ethnic minorities live.

With the new tourism products, travelers not only can enjoy the sightseeing, explore the nature and culture of the high land, but also can be closer to local people with charitable activities to be organized at schools, mountainous villages. They would also be able to donate books, mosquito nets, blankets and clothes to local children, to help improve the quality of local people’s meals, or deliver medicines to them free of charge.

Duong Mai Lan, a senior executive of Vietravel Hanoi, said the launching of the tours associated with social purposes has led to the sharp increase in the number of travelers since 2011 and the diversification of the travelers.

Hanoi Redtours and Vietran Tour have also added charity programs into the tours from Hanoi to the northern provinces of Ha Giang, Lai Chau, Cao Bang, Bac Kan and Dien Bien. With the tours, travelers would be able to visit nursery schools, primary schools, donate clothes and join extracurricular activities with ethnic minority children.

Especially, an executive of Hanoi Redtours said the firm sets up low fees for the tours, while it does not strive for profits when developing the tours. However, this would help attract travelers to the destinations remaining unfamiliar to many people.

Meanwhile, Vietran Tour encourages travelers to bring old clothes, books, pens and sweets with themselves, so that they can donate to local children if they want.

Thu Anh from Vietran Tour said that charity tours have been applauded by travelers, especially those who are office workers or middle aged people.

The tours have also attracted young travelers, who love discovery trips and want to learn more about the local traditions and culture. Meanwhile, charity activities would help them do that, while making the trips more interesting.

The hurdles on the way

Though having realized the attractiveness of the new type of tourism, travel firms still have not developed the tours in a large scale.

Lan from Vietravel said travel firms have to take very costly and careful field-works in order to design the tours. It takes a lot of time to discuss with local authorities about the plans, seek information about the people who need help, draw up charity plans, and follow a lot of other procedures. 

In some cases, it takes more time than planned to design a tour, mostly because of the obstacles relating to the administrative works.

In general, big travel firms would find it easier to contact local authorities and organize larger scale charity activities. This explains why small travel firms still keep hesitant about the tours.

Deputy Director of Hanoi Redtours has affirmed that charity tourism would develop strongly in the future thanks to its high sociability and competitive tour fees. Meanwhile, local authorities can cooperate with travel firms to attract more travelers by setting up reasonable policies to attract tourists. 

Source: To quoc/Vietnamnet

 

Coconut palms - symbol of Ben Tre

Visitors to the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre now have the chance to enjoy its famous fruit, traditional craft products and folk culture.

 

They can travel in a small along the rivers or canals in the shade of coconut trees and stop on the way to relax in fruit orchards and coconut gardens.

Ben Tre is located in the lowest part of the Mekong River basin, some 85km south of Ho Chi Minh City. It has three main islands wedged between the Tien Giang River to the north and the Co Chien River to the south, with the Ham Luong River running straight down the middle. All of these rivers are offshoots of the Mekong as it splits out into many fingers before flowing into the South Asian Sea.

The province is famous for its rice and fruit cultivation, but its traditional life has changed little over time, with tourists wandering through the markets, sipping coffee, taking boat trips and visiting local museums.

Coconut palms have become the symbol of Ben Tre since land was first reclaimed in the southern part of the country. During the war, coconuts were used to make coconut oil, which served as a viable substitute for kerosene. The province now has nearly 36,000 hectares of coconut plantations that have survived through protracted wars and remain dear to the hearts of local people.

There was a time when many people in Ben Tre felled coconut trees for some economic reasons, but now they have replanted them, producing around 242 million coconuts each year.

Many handicrafts are made from coconut materials including sandals, dolls, small baskets, bed lamps and vases. Tourists can visit local coconut candy factories to watch the candy being made and also buy some to take home as special gifts for their family and friends.

In addition to coconuts, Ben Tre is also known as the "king" of specialty fruit, with 41,000 hectares of orchards yielding 375,000 tonnes of fruit a year. Some of the province's unique specialties include milky yellow-fleshed and stoneless durians, green-skinned pomelos, Cai Mon mangosteens, high-yield "Four Season" mangos, and special Mo Cay oranges.