Sơn Trà peninsula

Located at 13km from Đà Nẵng city, the peninsula is 13km long with low-and-high mount-peaks, it looks like open arms to welcome visitors from Eastern sea. Arrivals to Sơn Trà are convenient in both waterways or by roads but assess by waterways is more exciting and surprising.

Sơn Trà peninsulaPhoto: T.V

Gone with wartimes, Sơn Trà remains untapped as a natural museum, a “second lung” for Đà Nẵng city folks, it’s a protective screen against typhoons, a strategic outpost. Sơn Trà natural reserve is rich in ecological categories of fauna and flora, specifically in coastal forests. There are now 4,370ha of unexploited forests, the cross-breeds of North and South vegetations with 298 flora species of 217 braches, 90 groups and it’s home to monkeys. There are even 400 langurs, long-tail monkeys, red-face chickens. Deep in the forest, it’s ideal for sightseeing tours, picnic, eco-tours or training tours.

Sơn Trà sea is clearly pearl -like with fine and untapped beaches: Tiên Sa, bãi Bắc, bãi Bụt, bãi Xếp, bãi Nam… an aqua cultural services of Đông Hải Company for export, for fishing sightseeing and study-tours. In the South of the peninsula, there are coral reefs, very good for diving discovery. Famous beaches: Con, Xếp, Rạng… under bushy foliages and visitors could avail themselves of swimming, diving, fishing, squids or shrimps catching, climbing or integrating into locals’ life and enjoy their seafood.

To make the best use of Sơn Trà potentials, the city Đà Nẵng has invested over 1, 000 billions VNĐ in infrastructures and protection of the eco-reserves. The city also invested 500 billions VNĐ besides vital project along the East -West economic corridor to build a tourism belt-ring along Sơn Trà - Điện Ngọc coast, expected to become operational in late 2005 and a tourism bridge to link Liên Chiểu – Thuận Phước road with Sơn Trà at the river -mouth (Hàn). A new tourism complex was started, the first is in Đà Nẵng on the peninsula which will satisfy all visitors’ demands in a 4-star complex with entertainment and water-game services. A water-music park technologically equipped by Japan and Great Britain, a family park, family hotel complex, sports services, diving, surfing, para-sailing.

Sơn Trà discovery is eventful during Đà Nẵng visit. Exciting Sơn Trà will be more attractive and successful in well -managed and well-exploited natural recourses honored by the creator.

                                                                              CÔNG THÀNH 

Đá Dựng mountain

Hà Tiên, the Southernmost province is rich in historic and cultural relics. How could visitors to Hà Tiên forget such beauties and landscapes Thạch Động, Phụ Tử or father -and-son mount, Mạc Cửu tomb, Mũi Nai beach, especially the Đ á Dựng tourism complex.

Photo: Phạm Lự

Đá Dựng is locally named Châu Nham, is part of Hà Tiên limestone range, only blue stone in Mỹ Đức commune, about 4km from Hà Tiên town. The mountain is not high but rocky and perilous. There are grottoes on mountain slopes, outstanding in a boundless water-field neighboring Cambodia.

Its legendarily believed that since time mountains met the sea, there were plenty of caves and grottoes and mangroves, an ideal habitat for bird-sanctuaries. Governor of Hà Tiên Mạc Thiên Tích and his learned fellowmen in Chiêu Anh Các (a club of poets) described the scene of white stocks on the mountains to be one of Hà Tiêns ten most beautiful landscapes.

There are 11 caves and grottoes, differently named: Biệt Động, Quân Y, Thạch Sanh, Nam Vang and Hoàng Gia Each name is sourced from a historical event or a man noted for his merits.

Below is cave N04 or Quân Y (or military health service unit) that still retains religious traces of our ancestors. The nature is sparkling in dew-curtain that looks more soleumn and scared at one end of the cave is an ancient pagoda, called Kỳ Sơn Tự.

Thạch Sanh grottoes is on mountain -top, the most beautiful one, stalactites and stalagmites look very much like characters in legendary story Thạch Sanh. There is a fairy -well or Giếng Tiên where fairies normally took a bath. On grotto Trống Ngực, it will make sound like drumbeat when you just lightly flap on your own chest or grotto Rồng where small rocks look like flakes of a dragon.

Visitors to Đá Dựng are happy to discover new thing, apart from mountain climbing, especially to enjoy more legends and folktales told by the local people or written in story-books. 

                                                                               CÔNG THÀNH 

Đông Hồ - Hàng Trống new-year paintings

Traditionally, every year when New-year comes, colourful paintings are on sales from cities to countrysides, from lowlands to highlands, that make Tết atmosphere more happy.

As religious beliefs, more people prefer New-year paintings. Sometimes hand-made pictures are in short supply, painters have to print and for generations pictures get produced by printing on wood scripts.

Famous are paintings from Đông Hồ (Hà Bắc), Hàng Trống (Hà Nội), Kim Hoàng (Hà Tây), Nam Hoành (Nghệ An), Sình (Huế), in the South and in mountainous areas. But best known are paintings from Đông Hồ and Hàng Trống. It’s different from others in materials and painting techniques.

Đông Hồ artists print pictures on wooden scripts. Colours and carvings are made on wooden boards with chisels while Hàng Trống painters make with knives and chisels.

Đông Hồ artisans print colours first, then the carvings, so many pictures need so many carvings and they use poona-paper to keep long the colours. Ink is made of kinds of grass, plants, fruit, soil that have natural colours that are mixed in with rice-powder. So the paintings can live long. These pictures do not need framing in glass, just sticking on the walls…

Hàng Trống paintings are made in Hàng Trống street (Hà Nội) or in other region of the same style and mostly paintings for worship. Hàng Trống pictures are both painted and printed, the images and style are very flexible and active to meet buyers’ demands. Hàng Trống pictures sometimes are made very large to be hung on high buildings. Hàng Trống pictures depict daily life activities, but almost for worships.

Đông Hồ and Hàng Trống paintings are in fast increase to meet ever -growing sense of beauty of the Hanoians and foreigners during Tết.

                                                                     HIỀN THANH 

Khánh Sơn - homeland

Khánh Sơn, a mountainous district of Khánh Hòa province is rich in natural resources and potentials. Khánh Sơn pass is a must to overcome to arrive at a beautiful spot, Khánh Sơn is home to different ethnic groups: Êđê, Tày, Kinh… Khánh Sơn people have a cultural life of a community and Khánh Sơn is said to be homeland of stone musical sets (dating back to thousand years) have been found here. Beyond Tô Hạp town is Sơn Bình commune, a river to surprise us by its upstream flow. It’s beyond all explanations why it’s not downstream but upstream – to highland birds are plentiful. There is a forest of 3-leafpine like in Đà Lạt, streams Lớn (big), Nhỏ (small) and Đá Nhảy are good stop -overs to view the scenes.

The most wonderful site in Khánh Sơn is water -fall Tà Gụ, a nice fall, 15m high, in the wild forest. At the foot of the fall, it’s a small lake where we can take a fresh bath.

The peculiar sounds of stone musical set “mà giá” attract numerous tourists whose ambition to see with their naked eyes and to hear the melodious sounds from stone pieces. The elderly mà giá prepare eco -tourism itinerary right in his gardens, fields by side of a stream and close to a shady forest, just to make his stone musical instrument more honorable and more valuable. Tourists can avail themselves of the small but cozy houses, forest or sit on stones by stream sides to enjoy the musical sounds.

To set consists of 4-stone-bars tied to 4 strong columns by rattans and 4 smaller stone used to strike fastens by a long rope to control the striking. The control-point is a pipe made of banana bark. When the pipe is full of water, it will pull the stones down, the water fill out that make the pipe return to starting –point which help make small stones strike on stone bars to have sounds. Low or high melodies depend on whether the stones are tied close to or higher up from the earth.

How interesting it’s to be in an evening in a stilt-house, drinking alcohol (rượu cần), eating baked chicken or chicken-soup, newrice, and listen to melodies tunes from stone sets harmonized with sounds of drums and gongs. It’s quite relaxing.

                                                                          ÁNH TRINH

Ninh Giang earthen crackers

Visit to any hamlet in Ninh Giang (Hải Dương province) is a good opportunity to see traditional contest of earthen crackers organized on Sundays after Tết holidays. And the locals feel very excited to ready themselves for the event, it’s not because of the prize but of their age-long tradition. Earthen crackers are made of special soil carefully processed, they pound the soil to be fine and make square blocks and on the eventful day, young girls bring the soil to the contest-ground.

On the day, the whole villagers attend and the contestants (of all ages) are very skilful, strong and patient. Crackers are varied depending on the weight, but the least weighty must be 10kgs and the most one is 50kgs in different shapes. The finished cracker looks like a boat and the frame is round and large as a bike-tire. The decisive factor in how to drop. Competitors have to unanimously raise the cracker high in the cheers of spectators and precisely, all drop it down how to let it fall on the ground flatly. If it’s too soft, the crackers will get deformed and if it’s too high, it will broak. The winner is decided by the explosion, resounding and echoing. So to get the soil ready plays an important part in the event, just a minor mistake, it will spoil the cracker.

At final round, the champions are privileged to drop the last cracker and the winner will be dressed with a red coat and upheld high by attendants, then everybody tries to tear his shirt, just to take a piece as a lucky sign for the New year.

Don’t hesitate to come and see how the locals get excited for the event and why the game lives long with the tradition.

                                                           THANH HƯƠNG

SF - Dinh Cô festival

Dinh Cô is a small temple dedicated to a young virginal girl who got drowned. The temple was built on a hill -top near the beach Long Hải in Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu province. The festival lasts 3 days (from 10th – 12th of lunar December every year), thousands of visitors come from TP. Hồ Chí Minh city, Lâm Đồng, Bình Thuận and Southwestern.

In the morning of 10th lunar February, the local pay homage to "the girl", each comer has a white lily as symbol of virginity. Many believers try to climb 187 stone-steps to the temple in a view to pray for gook lucks. On 10th and 11th nights, the whole region is brightly lit up with lights and lanterns. Boats from all corners gather here to make the festival more cheerful and exciting.

The ceremony in held on 12th, from the temple, the pilgrims proceed to the berth, get on board, the ships and boats for the prayers. The ceremony is in solemn atmosphere with traditional performance. Dinh Cô festival is a cultural identity of the fishing villages in Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu.

Việt Nam, a country of 4-season festivals. It's a culture worth being preserved and respected.

SF - Fisher people's festival

Fishersmen ceremony in Quảng Nam - Đà NẵngPhoto: T.V

The event takes place every 3 years in the central part and it lasts 3 days (normally from mid-January to March lunar). It's both ceremony and festival. The eventful ritual is opened at midnight to wish for best luck and safety and to memorize the dead. At about 5 am, it's fishermen ceremony (on land and in the water).

Most exciting is boat-race of the fishing villages and it starts with solemn ceremony competitors show their talents in opening event (4 phases), and each phase with a card to pray for good luck and good weather, good crop.

In fishing village Thuận An (Thừa Thiên – Huế), there's a ceremony of spreading fishing-net that relive the customs of the fishing villages. Firstly, the oldest man is respected to pray for a prosperous year by land Gods, sea Gods… After a round of drumbeat, he drops coins and worship objects on the ground and the children try to take it as gook luck. They are disguised as fish, shrimps… then fishermen bring in a sedan chair with a man on. He spreads the fishing net on the children, the player narrow the round until the children are surrounded.

Children are considered as fish trying to escape, then the fishermen catch the fish. Nice fish are placed nearby the altar, the rest are put "on sales"- everything goes on as well as in real life.

In Quảng Nam - Đà Nẵng, festivals take place normally in lunar mid-March, the locals worship the "Mr Fish" on the Dolphin and also start the fishing season. Fishing boats from all corners gather here. In families, altars are decorated with worship-objects and the ceremony opens on the procession to the open-sea accompanied by performances of folklores and classic opera or tuồng.

Fishing villages in Phú Yên - where almost people earn their living by fishing, the festivals are organized in lunar March when the new fishing season begins to pay their tribute to the forefathers and ancestors to worship "cá ông or the Dolphin", to pray for good and lucky year. The ceremony is held in the village temple with worship offerings, worship speeches, and performances while the festival means games and sports, eating and drinking.

Spring festival - Hung temple festival

Hung temple festivalPhoto: Trần Tuấn

It's national festival to be organized every year at 3 pagodas: lower - central and upper ones on mount Nghĩa Lĩnh, Hy Cương commune, Phong Châu district, Phú Thọ province.

The morning of the 10th of lunar March, it's the eventful festival. After 3 rounds bronze drums and gongs, the ceremony opens, then processions from villages proceed to the centre. Processions look very colourful with flags and canopies, musical bands and the pilgrims. At the front-gate, minority girls perform local dance. From door-gate of well-pagoda to lake Đa Vao there are games and sports: dwelling, tug-of-war, arrow-shooting and sedan-chair procession… In the lake, there are boat-races by villagers. Pair of dragon-boats beautifully decorated speed ahead in the cheers of spectators on either banks. In the grounds, there are ball-throw, swinging or singing contests with local songs (xoan, ghẹo).

Hùng temple is a relic -complex that go deep into the hearts of Vietnamese in a view to worship the national founders and the festival is not only for the people at home but for Vietnamese overseas.

Spring festival - Đống Đa festival

Dragon -dance in Đống Đa festival Photo: Tiến Dũng

The event takes place on 5th of lunar January annually and people get excited to attend. The celebration of Đống Đa - Ngọc Hồi victory at historic Đống Đa mounds in Hà Nội. It's the resounding victory of the farmer – hero Nguyễn Huệ – the emperor Quang Trung who led Tây Sơn army and defeated the Chinese Quing invaders in 1789 ( year of cock). There' s always a performance to relive the victory, dragon- dance, sword - dance, martial arts and popular games: tug-of-war, cock-fighting, Chinese chess, wrestling… that attract visitors far and wide.

Spring festival 01

Spring in synonym of festivals and it's estimated to be 3,000 in all nationwide. In festivals, there are normally worships, processions, traditional arts, folkloric singing or dances or games.
It's a discovery for foreigners to be in Việt Nam Tết, to find out new sprits, new culture and hospitality of the Vietnamese. Occasionally, VTR presents a few to name in Việt Nam.