Keo Pagoda designated special national relic

 

The Keo Pagoda in Duy Nhat commune, Vu Thu district, in northern Thai Binh province, has been recognised as a special national relic for its unique historical, cultural, architectural and artistic values. 

The province held a ceremony on October 24 to receive the title and officially open the 2012 Keo Pagoda Autumn Festival. 

After the first ceremonies, the delegates, along with many Buddhist monks, nuns, followers and tourists, offered incense in commemoration of Buddhist monk Duong Khong Lo and those who took part in the pagoda construction, from the 17th century. 

Speaking at the ceremony, a senior official from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism underlined the unique values of the pagoda and urged Thai Binh province to preserve and promote these values so that it is worthy of becoming one of the nation’s special cultural heritages. 

Just over 130 km away from the capital Hanoi, Keo Pagoda, which was built in 1632, is an ancient building but has 102 rooms, more than any other pagoda in Vietnam. 

There are two passages which separate the pagoda from the temple. They are designed with curved roofs that join together at the 11.5m-high iron and wood bell tower. The tower has three storeys, each of which possesses its own tiled roof and bronze bell. 

The 108,000 m2 pagoda is home to a wealth of ancient artefacts, which range from intricately engraved wooden dragons to a collection of over 100 statues. 

It has also preserved many valuable antiques, such as a pair of candlesticks from the Mac Dynasty, pottery and altars from the Le Dynasty and several imperial boats. 

The Keo Pagoda Autumn Festival is held annually from the 13 th to 15 th of the ninth lunar month, in honour of monk Duong Khong Lo, who is said to have cured King Le Thanh Tong of illness. 

In addition to the traditional religious rituals that commemorate the Buddhist monk, the festival also hosts a variety of cultural activities that reflect the lifestyle of the Red River Delta’s agricultural communities.

Source: VNA

 

Keo Pagoda designated special national relic

 

 

The Keo Pagoda in Duy Nhat commune, Vu Thu district, in northern Thai Binh province, has been recognised as a special national relic for its unique historical, cultural, architectural and artistic values. 

The province held a ceremony on October 24 to receive the title and officially open the 2012 Keo Pagoda Autumn Festival. 

After the first ceremonies, the delegates, along with many Buddhist monks, nuns, followers and tourists, offered incense in commemoration of Buddhist monk Duong Khong Lo and those who took part in the pagoda construction, from the 17th century. 

Speaking at the ceremony, a senior official from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism underlined the unique values of the pagoda and urged Thai Binh province to preserve and promote these values so that it is worthy of becoming one of the nation’s special cultural heritages. 

Just over 130 km away from the capital Hanoi, Keo Pagoda, which was built in 1632, is an ancient building but has 102 rooms, more than any other pagoda in Vietnam. 

There are two passages which separate the pagoda from the temple. They are designed with curved roofs that join together at the 11.5m-high iron and wood bell tower. The tower has three storeys, each of which possesses its own tiled roof and bronze bell. 

The 108,000 m2 pagoda is home to a wealth of ancient artefacts, which range from intricately engraved wooden dragons to a collection of over 100 statues. 

It has also preserved many valuable antiques, such as a pair of candlesticks from the Mac Dynasty, pottery and altars from the Le Dynasty and several imperial boats. 

The Keo Pagoda Autumn Festival is held annually from the 13 th to 15 th of the ninth lunar month, in honour of monk Duong Khong Lo, who is said to have cured King Le Thanh Tong of illness. 

In addition to the traditional religious rituals that commemorate the Buddhist monk, the festival also hosts a variety of cultural activities that reflect the lifestyle of the Red River Delta’s agricultural communities.

Source: VNA

 

Ha Long Bay future discussed

Entitled Developing and Promoting the Values of World’s Natural Heritage Ha Long Bay – New Vision, the event was hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The conference also noted disadvantages and challenges that strategists may face in seeking suitable solutions.

More than 150 researchers, and environmental and tourism experts attended the event.

Speaking at the conference, Cultural Minister Hoang Tuan Anh said the increasing number of tourists visiting Ha Long Bay created significant challenges in preserving and developing the country’s most famous tourist attraction.

“Any preservation solutions based on tourism development will be encouraged,” he said.

The provincial Party Committee’s Secretary Tran Minh Chinh said tourism development of Ha Long Bay was crucial to the province’s sustainable economy, thus the “development should connect tightly with environment protection,” he said.

The nation’s Development Strategy 2020 and Vision 2030 has identified Ha Long Bay as attracting millions of domestic and international tourists each year.

Therefore, Quang Ninh has set four main goals, including to locate the development of Ha Long Bay within a national and global context, to develop the tourism trademark of Ha Long Bay to keep it the No1 attraction, to promote it effectively in connection with environmental protection and to raise the awareness of local people and tourists of environmental protection.

Most of the participants shared the same opinion about the beauty of the World’s Natural Heritage site. However, how to develop tourism effectively without negative influences on the environment was a significant issue.

Many thought the awareness of the environment was limited in local people working in the tourism field; tourism and souvenir products lacked diversity; investment, preservation and development did not befit a World’s Natural Heritage site.

UNESCO chief representative in Viet Nam Katherine Muller-Marin suggested the authority urgently control the waste from ships on the bay, otherwise the pollution would affect the marine area and beaches of Cat Ba National Park.

To use a human force to collect rubbish on the bay was not an effective method to protect the environment, Muller-Marin said.

An average 2.5 million tourists, including 1 million foreigners, visited Ha Long Bay every year. Ha Long Bay and some other neighbouring areas in recent years had attracted more than 40 foreign investment projects with a total capital of more than $1 billion.

Significant capital had been invested by numerous domestic and foreign enterprises to develope Ha Long tourism products.

Ha Long Bay future discussed source:  VNS

Phu Quoc National Park

Situated in the North-East of Phu Quoc Island in the southern province of Kien Giang, the park has special and unique biodiversity values compared to other national parks across the country.

Located on an island that has a mixture of continental and coastal climate, the park possesses a rich ecosystem of primeval, secondary and indigo forests.

 

Its indigo forests are distributed across sloping hills and lowlands that are flooded in the rainy season.

The topography of the national park is hilly, although not particularly steep, with its highest point at 603m on Mount Chua.

Drained by numerous, mainly seasonal, streams, the only sizeable river on the island is the Rach Cua Can River, which winds through the southern part of the park before flowing into the sea on the west coast of the island.

Remarkably, the national park alone is home to more than 920 species of plants and a large diversity of coral reef. Phu Quoc Island supports 12,794 ha of lowland evergreen forest, 86 percent of which is within the national park itself.

At lower elevations, the national park shows distinctive formations of Melaleuca, a family of trees that sport evergreen leaves, alternately arranged in dark green and grey-green colours.

In regards to local fauna, a list of 43 mammal species belonging to 18 families and 6 orders has been compiled in the park.

Silvered langur, slow loris, pygmy loris, crab-eating macaque, stump-tailed macaque, small-clawed otter and fruit bats are just some of the rare species that conservationists are concerned about.

Due to the plentiful coral reef on the south of the island, there are over 120 species of fish, 130 species of mollusk and 62 species of sea weed recorded in the area.

Interestingly enough, Phu Quoc is also one of only two places in Vietnam where the Dugong, a marine species on the brink of extinction, can be found.

Phu Quoc National Park proves to be a fantastic destination for tourists as it offers a wide range of activities such as camping, trekking and swimming. It is also ideal for those who want to study a wide variety of tropical forests.