Tram Chim National Park - an attractive destination for tourists

Tram Chim National Park, a reduced model of Dong Thap Muoi, with a natural history of collective ecology of geomorphology, hydrography and underwater creatures, appears to be an attractive destination for both local and foreign visitors.  

Located in Tam Nong district, Mekong Delta Dong Thap province, the 7,313 ha park is designed to preserve the typical submerged in-land eco-system that develops mainly in Ha Tien, Dong Thap Muoi (the Plain of Reeds) and U Minh areas. The park boasts a diversified flora which includes some 130 species classified into 6 principle communities.  

Yen Tu Buddhist spring festival begins

Thousands of tourists and pilgrims flocked to the opening ceremony of this year’s Spring Yen Tu Pagoda Festival in the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh on Feb. 23, the tenth day of the first lunar month.

Prominent those present at the ceremony were Vice State President Nguyen Thi Doan and the Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha’s Executive Council, Most Venerable Thich Thanh Tu.

Buddhist dignitaries, monks, nuns, followers and visitors joined together in offering incense to King Tran Nhan Tong, who reigned over the country from 1279 to 1293.

Yen Tu has so far welcomed over 250,000 visitors since the first day of the lunar year and its festival will last three months during spring.

Yen Tu mountain is located about 50km from Ha Long City. The route of the pilgrimage, which winds from the foot of the mountain to its highest peak, is almost 30km. Dong Pagoda, which sits atop the mountain’s highest peak, is more than a kilometre above sea level.

The area’s beautiful natural landscape and awe-inspiring scenery, along with surrounding ancient pagodas and hermitages, are said to have been the reason that King Tran Nhan Tong passed the throne to his son so that he could devote his life living as a Buddhist monk at Yen Tu mountain. Whilst there, he founded the Truc Lam meditation sect, which has led to Yen Tu being recognised as the country’s leading centre for Buddhism./.

Vietnam’s underworld

From 1965 to 1973, people from Vinh Linh district in Quang Tri province lived in the Vinh Moc tunnels, harbouring soldiers, storing ammunition and simply surviving.

If you asked a tourist to name a network of war era tunnels in Vietnam, no doubt they would say Cu Chi, which is now known throughout the world as a symbol of Vietnam’s dogged determination and military guile during the Vietnam-American war. But there were plenty more underground tunnels built during the country’s struggle for reunification.

Sa Huynh artefacts explain piece of the past

Hundreds of objects displayed at the National Museum of Vietnamese History will inform people about an ancient culture that flourished 2,000-2,500 years ago.

The museum has launched an exhibition featuring artefacts of the Sa Huynh Culture, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the culture’s discovery in Viet Nam.

The Sa Huynh Culture is the name given to the urn field (jar burial) culture of the coastal plains in central and southern Viet Nam. Archaeological sites have been discovered from the Mekong Delta to just south of the Tonkin region.

Famous ancient dance relives or lives again

“Con di danh bong”, a cross-dressing double act dance has been restored at the Hao Nam ancient village’s festival in Hanoi after over a half a century. The dance has also been performed every Saturday night at the free stage in front of the Dong Xuan Market.

Bong is a kind of drum while Con di means tarts, so Con di danh Bong literally means “tarts beating the bong drums”!

If the dragon dance is performed in a procession, the Trong Cai (Big Drums) go first and the dragon dance follows. Mua Bong can be performed at the front, back or in the middle of the procession.