Hà Giang Pictures (Cảnh đẹp Hà Giang)

Hà Giang Pictures (Cảnh đẹp Hà Giang)

Hà Giang is a province in northeastern Vietnam. It is located in the far north of the country, and contains Vietnam's northernmost point. It shares a 270 km long border with Yunnan province of southern China, and thus is known as Vietnam's final frontier. The province covers an area of 7945.8 square kilometres and as of 2008 it had a population of 705,100 people.

The provincial capital, also called Hà Giang, is connected by Highway 2 and is 320 km away from Hanoi. The border crossing is at Thanh Thủy, 25 km from the capital, Hà Giang town. It is one of the poorest provinces of Vietnam as it has mountainous topography with the least potential for agricultural development.

Quang Nam

Quang Nam is a province on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bordered by Thừa Thiên-Huế Province to the north, the nation of Laos to the west, Kon Tum Province to the southwest, Quảng Ngãi Province to the southeast, the East Sea to the east, and the city of Da Nang to the northeast.

Quang Nam is located in the middle of Central Vietnam and is surrounded by Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Ngai, and Kon Tum provinces. The Truong Son Mountains, Laos, and the East Sea also border the province.
Quang Nam has various of mountains and hills (covers 72% its surface) with many high mountains such as Lum Heo Mountain of 2,045m, Tion Mountain of 2,032m, Gole - Lang Mountain of 1,855m... Main rivers run from Truong Son Range to East Sea as Vu Gia , Thu Bon, Tam Ky rivers.
Climate: Quang Nam's climate is influenced by monsoon. The annual average temperature is 25ºC. It is hot and dry from February to April and rainy from September to December. The average humidity is about 84%. The annual average rainfall is 2,000mm. The average sunny hours: 1,944 hours/years.

Hoi An Ancient Town

Mau Son- A marvelous Mountain to visitors in Vietnam tourism

Visiting Mau Son Mountain of Lang Son province, visitors in Vietnam tourism will not only have chance to enjoy the wonderful landscapes, fresh atmosphere, but also have chance to learn about the local tradition and culture by joining the daily life of ethnic minority groups.

Mau Son Mountain is located in Loc Binh District, about 30km from Lang Son City to Mau Son Tourist Area.

With the wind whistling up and the cloud floating down, the sky seems within hands reach. The panorama from the highest peak in Lang Son region is like a Chinese ink drawing.

Huong Pagoda Festival

The beautiful verse describes scenic spot of Huong Pagoda, designated by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage site, which makes one can’t help having the feeling that is one were lost in a world offairies. Huong Son attracts visitors not only with its wonderful landscape, but also with its sense of philosophy embodied inside its splendid caves, of which Huong Tich and Tuyet Son are the most impressive.

Objects of worship: Phat ba Quan Am -Avalokitesvara (Goddess of Mercy)
Time: The 6th day of the first lunar month
Destination: Huong Son Commune, My Duc District, Hanoi City (Ha Tay Province - older)
Characteristics: Buddhist services, sightseeing

Visitors are bewitched by the beauty of thesecases which look half real and half unreal. That explains the reason why thecold weather cannot keep thousands of pilgrims and tourists away from the Huong Pagoda Festival, the nation’s longest and most elaborateannual festival.

Oficially occuring from the 15^th day to the 20^thday of the second lunar month, Huong Pagoda Festival mainly consists of sightseeing trips to pagodas, temples and caves as well as visiting ceremonies to ask favours from Lord Buddha. Situated approximately 60kilometers southwest from Ha Noi, Huong Son boasts quite a few pagodasbuilt in the Posterior Le Dynasty. Annually, a vast number of pilgrimshave been flocking to the northern province of Ha Noi’s My Duc Districtfor the three-month Huong Pagoda Festival, enjoying the beauty of the Huong Son limestone mountains at a time when apricot trees are in bloomand pay tribute to Buddha, specifically to Avalokitasvara, one ofBuddha's disciples.

 

Legend has it that the festival is held to worship a princess named Dieu Thienwho incarnated Avalokitasvara and attained enlightenment there. As theprincess was born on the 19th day of the second lunar month, that dateis now observed by all Vietnamese Buddhists as a saint day. The shrine in which she practised her religion was discovered in the 15th century by three monks. The pilgrimage to Huong Son dwindled to a trickleduring the war years and the temples and shrines were left vacant..In 1770, Lord Trinh Sam wrote five Chinese characters to describe Huong Tich Cavern: Nam Thien De Nhat Dong (the most beautiful cave in Vietnam). The Huong Pagoda Festival started during the Le-Trinh c                                                            Dynasty. In 1958, after the restoration of peace in North Vietnam, the Government and President Ho Chi Minh personally gave instructions for the repair of the pagodas and temples and there storation of the festival. Annually, visitors to the festivalto enjoy the beauty of the Huong Son limestone mountains at a time when apricot trees are in bloom and pay tribute to Buddha, specifically to Avalokitasvara, one of Buddha's disciples.

Accordingto the legend, a pilgrimage to Huong Pagoda in the spring will brin ghealth, prosperity, good luck and happiness. And whether you believe inthe story or not, there's no disputing that a trip like this offers aperfect chance to get closer to both nature and Vietnamese tradition.

Lo Lo marriage customs

Wedding gifts must include both sticky and ordinary rice, pork and wine for the wedding party. Other gifts may include a skirt, blouse, bracelet and necklace for the bride as well as a quantity of white silver.

Like most people in other area, the Lo Lo ethnic minority regards marriage as an extremely important event in an individual’s life.
Acording to Lo Lo customs, the groom’s family must select four matchmakers  including two men and two women to officiate at the marriage proposal ceremony, which is usually carried out by two happily married couples.
After selecting an auspicious day, the four matchmakers take two bottles of wine and other offerings to the bride’s house for the formal marriage proposal. If the bride’s family agrees to the match, they will hold a feast, drink the wine and set the date of the wedding.
Wedding gifts must include both sticky and ordinary rice, pork and wine for the wedding party. In addition, other gifts such as a skirt, blouse, bracelet and necklace for the bride as well as a quantity of white silver.

Khi Tổ quốc cần

Song: Khi Tổ quốc cần 

The official song of The 6th Representative Congress of the Vietnam Youth Union 

Enjoy a bowl of subtle "Cao lau" and remember Hoi An forever

"Cao lau" was considered by the Quang Nam people as a special symbol representing Hoi An.

Who visit to Hoi An always remember Cao Lau, the foremost traditional food here. Cao Lau -  a special food that only appears in the ancient town of Hoi An- does not taste like any other Vietnamese dish. It  has something in common with Japanese and Chinese noodles, though more refined.

Simacai - Mường Khương - Bát Xát - Sapa

Two Pa Dí ethnic minority women in Mường Khương

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Traditional dresses of the Pa Dí ethnic
minority women with special hats.

21 October to 3 November 2012 – I joined a photographer on a 14-day trip to the North West of Vietnam and we shared the costs. This is my third visit to the mountain region over the past 3 months. On this trip, I visited two provinces which are Lào Cai and Lai Châu. This blog is about the first destination of my trip which is Lào Cai province. Except for Sapa which is a popular tourist site, the other towns which we visited such as Simacai, Mường Khương and Bát Xát are located in the border area and they are very close to China. 

We got a bus from Lào Cai city to Simacai town. Next day we walked 5km to Bản Thẩn village of the H’mong ethnic minority people. We saw an elementary school and H’mong children were running around classrooms while their teachers had not arrived yet. They were shy at first, then they all loved to see their own photos in our cameras. We also talked to the teachers at this school.

Sapa town (lake & mountain view)

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Things have changed since my last visit to Sapa
4 years ago (April 2008). There are a new park and
beautiful lake in the town.

They are Vietnamese girls and they shared with us difficulties of their works. Not only they teach H’mong children Vietnamese language, they also have to go to every H’mong house and encourage H’mong parents to let their children go to school. They cannot refuse to drink rice wine which H’mong people invited. At school they also have to cook food for H’mong children. During my two trips to the North West, I met many teachers working in the remote region. I always admire their patience and enthusiasm for the meaningful works despite their rather low pay. 

We walked back 5km to Simacai town and by chance we met three Vietnamese at our guesthouse. They agreed to give us a free hitchhike in their 7-seater car to Mường Khương town which is located 65km away from Simacai. It took us 3 hours to travel on this route because the road was very bad. Unfortunately, our driver was a drunk man (he is boss of the other two Vietnamese) and he drove like crazy. The mountain scenery on the way was stunning, but we were more nervous about a car accident than enjoying the landscape. We were lucky to be given a free hitchhike,

Four Seasons in Ho Guom

Located in the heart of Hanoi, Ho Guom or (Hoan Kiem Lake) with legends and surrounding ancient vestiges, such as Tortoise Tower, Ngoc Son Temple, Hoa Phong Tower, But Tower (pen-shaped tower), is a drawing card for the thousand-year-old Capital.

In spring the Lake is as beautiful as a romantic painting and in summer the space around the Lake is shady and brilliant with flamboyant reflections on the water. When autumn comes with its slightly cold winds, Barringtonia trees surrounding the Lake are in blossom and its red flowers fall over the trees’ foot and the lake’s surface.

Cai Luong or Renovated Opera

In comparison with cheo (popular opera) and tuong (classical opera), cai luong is a new type of theatre in Vietnam, combining drama, modeled after French comedy, and singing.

Cai Luong (Renovated Opera) appeared in the southern part of Vietnam in the 1920s. Now, this form of music is a new type of theatre.

Discover Vietnam - Hue

Discover Vietnam - Hue

Waves and Sands in Binh Thuan

Stretching 192km along the coast, Binh Thuan Province borders south-Central and Southeast Vietnam, having the geographical, economic and cultural characteristics of both areas, which makes its tourism potential, especially sea tourism the most unique in the country.

“Paradise” of health resorts

On October 24, 1995 a total solar eclipse occurred in Phan Thiet Town (now Phan Thiet City) of Binh Thuan Province, attracting hundreds of thousands of domestic and international scientists and visitors. Since that day, the name of Binh Thuan has become an impressive spot on the tourist map of Vietnam and the world as well, and the 24th of October has become the Province’s Tourism Day.

Regarding Binh Thuan’s tourism sector it is impossible not to mention the geographical name of Mui Ne – Phan Thiet which is considered a paradise of health resorts. Since long ago, the image of Mui Ne with white sand dunes stretching out in the bright sunshine of a tropical region, waves of sea crashing into the calm fishing village, rows of coconut trees and stone steps of different size and shapes has become familiar to visitors.

Ha Tay

Ha Tay lies in the Red River Delta, the south-west of and at the entrance to the capital city of Hanoi. Ha Tay is situated from latitude 20031’ to 21017’ North and from longitude 105017’ to 1060 East. Ha Tay is an ancient land taken shape by Son Tay region “Xứ Đọi” and Son Nam thuong area (Son Nam region). During historical time of foundation and development, Ha Tay has always been located near the capital cities of Vietnam, which created favorable conditions for setting up a long-lasting culture tradition, worth of a land of “quintessence agglomeration, superpower and pre-eminent men” which have had a stable position in the country’s history.

Tay Phuong pagoda

Đá Chông historical site

Direction board to the site

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Đá Chông (65km away from Hanoi) used to be a reserve
headquarters of the Central Committee during 1960 - 1969.
After that it became a place for preserving
Hồ Chí Minh's body during 1969 - 1975.

Sunday 29 July 2012 – I travelled with my parents and other old people from their retirement organisation to Đá Chông historical site which is located 65km away from Hanoi. The area is 234ha in extent, mostly hills and jungle with two large lakes. There are many sharp rocks which look like arrows. Perhaps it is the reason why the locals called this place as “Đá Chông” (arrow rocks). In May 1957, President Hồ Chí Minh visited this place for the first time on an inspection of army practice. He decided to choose this place as the reserve headquarters for the Central Committee. 

9 minutes to introduce Vietnam's tourism

The origin of “Tao Quan” - The three kitchen gods

As the legend goes, each year on December 23 of the lunar calendar, the Kitchen God takes a ride on a carp to the Heavenly Palace to make a report on the affairs of the household on earth and then returns on December 30 to welcome the New Spring.

There is a popular belief in Vietnam that Tao Quan, the Three Kitchen Gods, are present in the kitchen of every home.

These gods observe everything that takes place there. At the end of the lunar year, on the twenty-third day of the twelfth month, they depart to make their report to Ngoc Hoang, the Jade Emperor, supreme divinity of the Taoist Heaven. On that day, Tao Quan are offered the best of food and spices and are presented with gifts of money and clothing.

The idea of a threesome is unique to this story. More often the kitchen god or genie is described as a single person and may be called Ong Tao, Ong Lo or Ong Vua Bep.