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(TITC) - After 9 days (12 – 20 April) of more than 50 diversified cultural activities, Hue Festival 2014 closed officially on 20 April in Gia Hoi Bridge Park (Hue City) with a colorful ceremony. The closing ceremony had the attendance of Minister of Culture, Sport and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh; Secretary General of ASEAN Le Luong Minh; ministers in charge of culture and art of ASEAN countries; leaders of Thua Thien – Hue Province; and artists, visitors, Thua Thien – Hue’s people. Under the theme “The echo of a river”, the closing ceremony of Hue Festival 2014 is a multicolored art program with the harmony combination of Vietnamese traditional culture and specific culture of many countries around the world. Using the background of Truong Tien Bridge lit by more than 3,000 candles and dazzling firework performance in the floating stage on the romantic Huong River, the art items praising Hue beauty and Vietnamese people and count...

(TITC) - Continuing the theme “Do Son – Sea calling”, Hai Phong – Do Son Tourism Festival 2014 will take place from 26 April to 3 May 2014 with many specific culture, sports and tourism activities.  There are 9 main activities in the framework of the festival including Hai Phong Tourism Golf Tournament in Do Son Golf Course; the ceremony to receive the certificate of Vietnamese Heritage Tree (Rang Thi Area, Ngoc Xuyen Communal House, Ngoc Xuyen Ward, Do Son District); Dragon Boat Racing Festival on sea and performance of paragliding at Area 1 Do Son; the opening ceremony of Hai Phong – Do Son Tourism Festival 2014 in Hon Dau International Resort; the opening ceremony of the Youth Football Tournament in Dam Vuong Course; Sea Fishing Contest in Hon Dau International Resort; Do Son Open Tourism Tennis Tournament in Do Son Stadium and some other locations; bicycle race at Area 1 Do Son. The opening ceremony of Hai Phong – Do Son T...

The Viet Nam Culture Centre in France will play host to a photo exhibition and a film week, starting in Paris on April 26, to mark 40 years of Viet Nam-France relations and introduce Viet Nam as a global tourist attraction. The exhibition is to promote Viet Nam’s image and contribute to strengthening the strategic partnership in politics, diplomacy, culture, economics and social affairs between Viet Nam and France. It will span eight themes, from Viet Nam-France relations, French architecture in Viet Nam and Vietnamese sea and islands, to Viet Nam’s integration and development, traditional craft villages in Viet Nam, traditional festivals, Vietnamese cuisine, and Vietnamese press. Organisers have selected more than 200 photos, about 400 publications, and nearly 100 documentaries for the event. ...

The Carnival Halong 2014 will take place on April 30 in Ha Long City, Quang Ninh Province with many outstanding festivities and splendid fireworks displays. Saigontourist Travel Service Company is ready to offer tours for travelers to explore famous destinations in the north and join the carnival. Both tours depart from HCMC on April 30 and help tourists save VND2 million to VND3 million each compared to tour prices on ordinary days. The tour to Ha Long, Sa Pa and Ha Noi lasts five days and costs nearly VND8.9 million while the tour to Ha Noi, Yen Tu, Ha Long, Ninh Binh and Sa Pa takes six days and is priced at around VND9.6 million. During their vacation, tourists will stay at three-star hotels on Hoang Quoc Viet Street, where the main activities of the carnival will take place. Tourists will just need to walk five to ten minutes from their hotels to parades, watch firework displays and enjoy arts progra...

(TITC) – Recently, Agoda.com – one of Asia’s leading hotel booking sites, has released its fourth annual Asia’s Fresh Destinations list, marking some of Asia’s hottest emerging travel stops which includes Da Nang City of Viet Nam. The Agoda.com stressed the Fresh Destinations is a list of places that saw a boom in travelers, attracted a large amount of expert travelers (i.e. those who travel frequently to new destinations), and where genuine, unfiltered travel experiences are easy to find despite the rising popularity of the destination. According to the website, at first glance Da Nang doesn’t seem like much, but that’s changing fast. New hotels and shopping areas are being built, and money is being spent fast on infrastructure improvements. Nearby UNESCO World Heritage Sites, such as My Son Sanctuary and the Hoi An Ancient Town are major draws, and visitors can hike in the lush Marble Mountains, surf at the famous Non Nuoc Beach, explore caves, visit museums, and of...

Vào 13 – 15/4 hàng năm, khắp Campuchia tưng bừng lễ đón năm mới. Chúng ta cùng tìm hiểu về tết cổ truyền của người Cam Pu Chia nhé!   Tết Chol Chnam Thmay Trong suốt 3 ngày lễ, không khí cả đất nước Campuchia náo nhiệt, đèn hoa sáng rực, các ngôi chùa kéo dài đến các nẻo đường dẫn đến Hoàng Cung. Người dân và du khách, ai ai cũng đổ ra đường tham gia vào các hoạt động lễ hội đường phố lễ té nước, bôi bột màu... Hoạt động đón tết mang tính cộng đồng chủ yếu diễn ra tại chùa, trường học, các khu vực sinh hoạt văn hóa... Khoảng năm ngày trước tết, người Campuchia đã bắt đầu đi viếng chùa, cúng dường để tỏ lòng thành kính Đức Phật, cầu chúc những điều tốt đẹp trong năm mới. Ở Campuchia, tín ngưỡng có ảnh hưởng sâu sắc tới đời sống người dân. Trong ngày đầu năm mới này, mỗi nhà thường đem thức ăn lên chùa để nhờ các nhà sư làm lễ cúng thức ăn lên tổ tiên của mình. Theo quan niệm của người dân Campuchia thì ai càng đi nhiều chùa thì càng có nhiều t...

Lễ Tết cổ truyền Chôl Chnăm Thmây có nghĩa là “Vào năm mới”, (còn gọi là lễ chịu tuổi), là lễ Tết lớn nhất trong năm của người Khmer. Năm nay Tết được diễn ra trong 3 ngày từ 12 đến 14/4 (tức đầu tháng Chét của người Khmer). Từ cả tuần trước tết, không khí tết Chôl Chnam Thmây ở những vùng có đông đồng bào Khmer đã rất sôi nổi. Cũng giống như người Việt gói bánh chưng, bánh tét là một nét văn hoá của người Khơme. Cận tết Chôl Chnăm Thmây, nhà nào cũng đỏ lửa nồi bánh tét vừa để dành vui những ngày tết vừa để tiếp đãi bạn bè, khách đến thăm trong những ngày tết. Thông thường trong ngày thứ nhất, người Khmer sẽ chọn ra một giờ tốt (7 giờ sáng hoặc 5 giờ chiều, hay 12 giờ đêm tùy theo từng năm), mọi người tắm gội, ăn mặc đẹp và mang theo lễ vật vào chùa làm lễ rước lịch “Maha Sangkran”. Lễ này được vị Acha hướng dẫn mọi người xếp hàng đi ba vòng quanh chính điện làm lễ, sau đó mọi người lễ Phật tụng kinh mừng năm mới. Đêm xuống, trai gái tron...

The biennial Hue festival 2014, the eighth of its kind, opened in the central province of Thua Thien - Hue in the evening of April 12 with a spectacular mix of music and performances. Opening the ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc made it clear that the event is to popularise Vietnam and its culture and people to the world. He highlighted the invaluable contributions the cultural heritages of Hue city have made to socio-economic development, as a feature attraction drawing millions from around the world to the region annually. The Deputy PM stressed the need to preserve and uphold the traditional values of the nation, especially in the current process of international integration. Coming next were performances of Vietnamese folk songs and a wide variety of repertoire by art troupes from China, Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Russia, which made impression on festival goers. The nine-day fest...

The annual Sa Pa Tourism Week will take place from April 29 to May 4 in Sa Pa resort town, northern Lao Cai province. A wide array of festivities, including traditional music and dance performances and folk games of ethnic minority groups, are set to get underway at the Ham Rong mountain eco-tourism site. The week also covers cultural festivals of the Mong, Dao and Giay ethnic minority peoples and tours of their villages, a bonsai exhibition, and a trade fair introducing novelty items produced by local residents in the region. The Lao Cai provincial People’s Committee has launched information on the event in the Vietnamese, English and Chinese languages on its tourism e-portal to attract more international visitors. Trinh Xuan Truong, Chairman of Sa Pa district People’s Committee, said preparatory work for the week has been completed, adding that hotels and guesthouses have been fully booked. Truong ...

The 2014 Ha Long Carnival, the highlight of this year’s Quang Ninh Tourism Week, will take place on April 30 on Hoang Quoc Viet street in Ha Long city, the northern province of Quang Ninh. The event, themed ‘Quang Ninh – Integration and Spread’, will feature artistic and musical performances, along with a carnival parade which will draw the participation of nearly 3,800 local professional and amateur artists. A number of foreign artistic troupes will also join this year’s carnival, from countries such as China, Thailand and Laos. In addition to Ha Long carnival, a wide variety of activities are being organised for the 2014 Quang Ninh Tourism Week scheduled in late April and early May, such as a cherry blossom festival, an arts programme entitled ‘I love Ha Long’ and a special high-tech light show as well as a photography exhibition entitled ‘Spiritual Life of the Fishing Community ...

Think back to where you stayed on your last trip. Was it simply a place to rest your head, or did it immerse you in local colour, surround you by wildlife and fire your imagination? We asked Lonely Planet’s authors and editors to nominate the most extraordinary hotels and hostels around the world. Our panel of travel experts whittled them down to 10 breathtaking choices - see which one inspires you to travel in 2014... 1. Mihir Garh ( www.mihirgarh.com ), Rajasthan , India Step into the desert idyll that is Rajasthan's Mihir Garh. Image by James Kay / Lonely Planet. Mihir Garh sits in splendid isolation amid the Thar Desert near Jodhpur . It looks like an enormous sandcastle, a mirage; but there is nothing insubstantial about this ‘fort of the sun’. It took 150 masons, artisans and craftsmen two years to build what the owners describe as ‘a dream realised'. Certainly, it has the feel of a place where commercial considerations play second fiddle to the unbrid...