September 20th, 2006
Ao dai
Sweep through Hue and the classic grace of women clad in ao dai will surely to make a lasting impression on you. But behind the beauty is a rich history, brimming with cultural significance.
Most Hue women have at least one ao dai of violet colour, a specific characteristic for this ancient capital. Ao dai have been an indispensable part of life for Nguyen Thi Duyen Sanh for 35 years. The 52-year-old former schoolteacher wore an ao dai for the first time at age 16, shortly after Hue was battered by war.
Her ao dai, made of a milky-white raw cloth with a short collar, dangling waist, long sleeves and broad wide flaps, was sewn by hand by her elder sister. It had, of course, all the elements to make it terribly en vogue with girls at her high school.
Van Phong Bay is a place of superlatives. A report of the Vietnam Maritime Department shows that Van Phong is one of the world’s deepest bays.
If you’ve already explored the downtown area of Hoi An and other parts of central Vietnam on foot or by cyclo, bicycle or motorcycle, and wonder if there are any other ways to travel the region, consider a sidecar tour for your next trip. Victoria Hoi An Resort and Spa has launched sidecar tours of the countryside, along roads up to the Laos border area and through mountains and rivers of Central Vietnam.
A legend tells that in the autumn of a thousand years ago, there was a torrential rain accompanied by severe winds in Vong Village, on the outskirts of present-day Hanoi . At that time, the paddy was just about to ripen and the storm threatened a big loss. The villagers had to collect and dry the young rice as alternative food to avoid starvation. Unexpectedly, the product had a such a distinct flavour and fragrance that the villagers repeated the process in later years. As a result of the fame of the young rice, this kind of food was brought to other places in the area. Then, it was much sought after by connoisseurs and was one of the village’s tributes to the King of the Ly dynasty (11th-13th century). In Vietnamese, it is called cốm.
Mid-autumn festival is on the 15th day of the seventh month of a lunar year. The mid-autumn day is a festival of children. However, adults also take part in the festival activity. Children have a lot of play such as singing and dancing, parading lanterns of moon or star or animal shapes.
Bamboo is ubiquitous in the Vietnamese countryside. Almost all villages are surrounded by bamboo hedges. Images of bamboo are attached to childhood, while a bamboo cane is a good companion to support old people when walking.
It is located in the south east of Ha Noi, passing Chuong Duong Bridge turns right and go about 10 km along the dike of red river is Bat Trang village. Bat Trang belongs to Bat Trang Village, Gia Lam District. This is a potteryvillage with a half-millenary historic development. Some decades recently, the vitality of this village is still blown up by the thousands of pottery-kiln on fire day and night.
Among the dozens of craft villages in the Song Cau area, the cradle of the Song Hong (Red River) civilization, Phu Lang is well known among many ceramic artisans. For years the village seemed unchanged. However, since the Patron Saint of ceramics making, Luu Phong Tu, brought the craft from China to Phu Lang and taught his children and co-villagers to make ceramic articles, dozens of generations of craftsmen have settled in Phu Lang and earned their living by practicing this occupation.
0n their first visit to the imperial city of Hue, visitors are often surprised at seeing huge ancient bronze casting items. They include the cauldron in the front yard of Can Chanh Palace, a set of nine urns at Hien Lam Palace, the arc girders on Trung Dao bridge that links Thai Hoa Palace’s yard to Ngo Mon Gate, the nine statues of Genies standing inside Quang Duc and The Nhan gates, the half-length portrait of the patriotic Phan Boi Chau located on the top of Ben Ngu hill, just to name a few. Except for the bust of Phan Boi Chau all other tems were cast from the early 18th to the early 19th centuries.