Hai Phong Travel Festival to have beauty queen

Hai Phong will organise a travel festival in Do Son Town from April 24 to May 1 with various activities, including a sea beauty contest, buffalo fighting, boat racing and water-skiing.

According to organisers, the sea beauty contest will attract candidates from coastal areas throughout the country, not only from Hai Phong Vietnam as in previous years.
An international sculpture camp will be part of the festival. Forty-two works by Vietnamese and foreign sculptors will be exhibited.
Hai Phong festival, During the festival will be performances by artists from China’s Yunnan, Hong Kong and Macau and the Republic of Korea’s Inchon.
Gourmets will be happy with a food festival, where the atmosphere of a fishing village with sea specialties will be re-created.
The festival is expected to be the largest cultural and travel activity in 2007 in HaiPhong city Vietnam.
On May 1, Quang Ninh province will also hold the Ha Long tourism festival with a great parade on the streets of Ha Long city.
(Source: VNE)

Nha Trang festival: Sea festival in Nha Trang

The sea festival this year, named Nha Trang-Khanh Hoa Vietnam, Civilization and Friendliness, will be held from April 28 until May 4. This is a cultural event with many cultural activities and special festivals.

The event this year will introduce a street festival including pedicabs of flowers, tandems, carriages decorated with flowers which will parade the streets, a beer festival with the participation of the beer firms present in Vietnam.

In addition, a festival of picture (Vietnam picture, Nha Trang picture) embroidering will be held with unique rites by the XQ Nha Trang Company, which has built a house to worship embroidering ancestors at 64 Tran Phu Street.

Kite flying with the participation of traditional kite clubs from Hue City, Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Dinh Province will also join the event at the April 2 Square.

In addition, exhibitions on pottery, calligraphy as well as artistic performances and fashion performances will take place during the Nha Trang sea festival. Ending the Nha Trang festival will be the day of walking.

(Source: SGT)

Sea wolf on beautiful landscape of Nha Trang bay

Jean Pierre, French nationality, whom laid the foundations for diving sports in Vietnam, whose nick name is ‘sea wolf’, talked about why he loves Nha Trang Vietnam and diving.

The man with more than 30 years of diving under the sea all over the world, recalled that he first dived 35 years ago. The beautiful landscape he observed at the bottom of the ocean has been forever embedded in his memory, which then explains why to decided to pursue a career in which he could be in and out of the water.

Jeans Guendel, a German diving guide, described Jean as a ‘sea wolf’. “He can talk about the sea all day, he knows every special characteristic of all the world’s seas,” he said, adding that he has learnt much from sea wolf when working with him.

Jean Pierre said that he finds Vietnamese seas wonderful. Phu Quoc, Con Dao and Hoi An all have favourable conditions to develop dive-discovery tourism. He said that the Hon Mun (Nha Trang bay) sea reserve area with the ecological system of more than 300 types of corals and nearly all tropical sea creatures proves to be the most attractive place and most suitable for diving.

When asked why he came to Vietnam and stayed here to develop the dive-discovery tourism in Nha Trang, Jean said it was predestined. More than 12 years ago, when he traveled around Vietnam, he discovered that Hon Mun was a wonderful place for diving, the Hon Mun. He returned to Vietnam with his wife and diving equipment, which were described by Nha Trang residents as “looking like the equipment on the Discovery programme on TV”.

Jean said: “12 years ago, I discovered that Nha Trang’s sea was very beautiful, it had a diversified ecological system suitable for opening a diving club. At that time, there were no other diving services offered.” Jean has an Instructor’s certificate (granted by the international diving association) and decided to open a diving club in 1994 in Nha Trang.

Established as a small club, which only two other staff, Jean had to train his guides and serve clients himself when necessary. His business was so good that one year later, he decided to sell his club in Thailand to focus solely on Nha Trang.

When asked why he decided to sell the club in Thailand, Jean said that the life in Nha Trang is more suitable to him. The local residents are kind and good-natured, they never harm other people, and more importantly, Nha Trang sea is so beautiful.

Now the sea wolf considers Vietnam his second homeland, where he can live with his indulgence, good friends and students. Nguyen Thi Minh Xuan, Director of Coco Dive Centre, one of his first students, said that there is a natural association of Jean and Nha Trang. Every year, Jean spends nine months in Vietnam, and three months in France to visit relatives and friends.

Now Nha Trang has 10 dive clubs and it attracts more and more travelers, whom adore Nha Trang Vietnam and diving sports. Having the degree of PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer and acting as the consultant for Coco Dive Centre, Jean spends a lot of his time training diving guides. This job requires good health and diving experience.

Diving services have been developing strongly in the last two years in Vietnam. Many training courses have been provided to Vietnamese guides. Many foreigners whom also want to visit Nha Trang enroll in the training courses as it is not as expensive in comparison to courses in other parts of the world.

What challenges Jean most is that the dive service fee remains high at $30-35 per person, relative to the wages of Vietnamese people, at $30-35/person.

(Source: Tuoi tre)

Nha Trang festival: Sea festival in Nha Trang

The sea festival this year, named Nha Trang-Khanh Hoa Vietnam, Civilization and Friendliness, will be held from April 28 until May 4. This is a cultural event with many cultural activities and special festivals.

The event this year will introduce a street festival including pedicabs of flowers, tandems, carriages decorated with flowers which will parade the streets, a beer festival with the participation of the beer firms present in Vietnam.

In addition, a festival of picture (Vietnam picture, Nha Trang picture) embroidering will be held with unique rites by the XQ Nha Trang Company, which has built a house to worship embroidering ancestors at 64 Tran Phu Street.

Kite flying with the participation of traditional kite clubs from Hue City, Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Dinh Province will also join the event at the April 2 Square.

In addition, exhibitions on pottery, calligraphy as well as artistic performances and fashion performances will take place during the Nha Trang sea festival. Ending the Nha Trang festival will be the day of walking.

(Source: SGT)

When did the reform begin ?

The "modern" tunic came in during the 1930s, although Vietnamese women in the countryside still wore the traditional tunic.

Some people believe the ao dai must have first appeared in the South (Nam Bo) because this region was the first under French domination and was a colony directly under French administration. The Vietnamese there were the first to wear Westernized clothes. Westernization came later to the North, which was a protectorate. In addition, the North had a Sino-Vietnamese traditional culture that had been established for two thousand years while the Vietnamese culture in the South was only several hundred years old.

Others think the modern ao dai appeared in the North, as designed by Cat Tuong, a painter whose pseudonym, Le Mur, is the literal French translation of his name, Tuong (the Wall). For that reason, the new tunic was called the "Lemur dress." Cat Tuong could easily sell his designs at his dressmaking business.

Yet still others believe that a Vietnamese designed the modernized tunic, which first appeared in Paris in 1921.

We can probably draw two conclusions about the origin of the modern ao dai:

1) The need to modernize women's dress appeared at about the same time in Viet Nam as in the West.

2) This need found expression in the press, which created a popular movement. Credit goes to two reviews, Phong Hoa and

Ngay Nay, both of which belonged to the Tu Luc Van Doan Group. Although the new fashion may have appeared earlier in another place, the active and efficient writing in Phong Hoa and Ngay Nay popularized the modem ao dai.Painters educated in the French Indochina College of Fine Arts transformed the former tunic with the four or five flaps to show off the woman's figure. They reduced the number of flaps to two, one in the front and the other in the back and discarded the belt. The new tunic was buttoned and shorter, hanging a little lower than the knees; the looser sleeves allowed blood to flow more freely; the collar was higher or turned down. A tighter bodice replaced the looser Vietnamese bra or yem. Supple trousers replacing the skirt covered the buttocks more tightly before making a graceful descent to the ankles.

The modern ao dai was widely popularized in 1934. Before, only women married to Frenchmen dared to wear such fashionable clothes and leave their teeth unblackened. Little by little, the new clothes won the favour of women who had been educated in Franco-Vietnamese schools, including female teachers, nurses, and midwives, and the school girls themselves. Two trends opposed each other. The conservatives considered the new mode of dress immodest; in contrast, the progressives thought women must catch up with modern times. In the end, the progressives won.

During the War of Resistance Against France, which began shortly after the August Revolution of 1945, only women in towns temporarily occupied by the French wore ao dais.After the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, the Geneva Accords divided the country into two regions; then the American War broke out. The ao dai continued to develop in South Viet Nam. However, it was not a suitable garment for life under American bombs in the impoverished North; there, blouses were popular. Women wore ao dais only for formal events and when travelling abroad.

After peace was reestablished in 1975 and the country was reunified, the ao dai recovered its role and position across the country. Women's fashion began to develop markedly after application of the policy of renewal at the end of the 1980s. Western fashions - especially skirts and jeans- began to compete with the ao dai. However, in recent years, fashion designers and contestants in beauty contests have paid attention to the ao dai. Designs for the ao dai have won international prizes, increasing its esteem. And, the ao dai has secured its place as a symbol of Viet Nam.

The Art of Traditional Wrestling

On a beautiful spring day in Nam Dinh, a light breeze blows over the multicoloured traditional flags planted at the four corners of the arena where the finalists of the National Wrestling Championship are about to compete.

Were it not for the dry rhythm of the drum and the overheated ambiance appropriate for sporting events, the surroundings might be a set for an artistic performance, insofar as Vietnamese traditional wrestling (vat) resembles dancing. Indeed, the most impressive aspects of this extremely popular sport are its picturesque and well-choreographed qualities.

Wrestlers waiting for the fights to begin sit around a "carpet." There is no ring or rope. Using lime, villagers have drawn a square of around 10m on each side. The audience sits around the square, watching with anticipation as wrestlers rub their sweaty hands on the earth, all the while watching their opponents out of the comers of their eyes.

"Toong! Toong! Toong!" The drum calls two competitors to the fight. Like all traditional Vietnamese sports, a drum, a gong or sometimes both accompany wrestling. The drum adds rhythm and stimulates the athletes. A speaker announces the competitors, who stand up and step forward to the middle of the "carpet." They are barebacked and wear red shorts with a silk belt around their waist, red for one contestant and yellow for the other.

They dance with light footsteps recalling those of birds. Their arms make supple and undulating movements, displaying their musculature.

Then go the warm-up stage, a spectacle full of panache and rich in colour. Normally, this lasts two minutes while the drums continue beating. Although the performances vary according to schools of martial arts, ail warm-up dances must match the drum's rhythm. Once the wrestlers have finished their warm-up, the principal referee introduces the wrestlers by raising their arms as in boxing. Then the wrestlers turn away, facing opposite sides of the arena. The drum resumes with well-spaced rolls. The two adversaries turn, face to face, and shake hands. Then, with hands on their hips, they stare at each in defiance. As the drum gives a dry beat, they turn and step away from each other. They take further steps as the drum continues, this time at a greater and greater speed. With this, the "artistic" part of the match ends. There are no gifts once the fight officially begins. The wrestlers turn around. They bend their backs and, lowering their knees until they almost crouch, extend their arms. Eyeing one another, they advance toward each other as if gliding, preserving their equilibrium for the first strike.

The beating of the drum regulates the fight. The rhythm accelerates as soon as one of the adversaries initiates a hold. It returns to normal once danger has passed, as if the drum wants to let the wrestlers recover their breath and preserve their guard. When a wrestler falls, the rhythm accelerates, becoming more and more pressing. A finishing stroke of the drum puts an end to the combat when the loser's shoulders touch the ground. The winner and loser stand up, applauded by a prolonged drum roll.

Each wrestler has his own holds, passed down by his coach, who is the only person who knows these secrets. The winner is the wrestler who turns his adversary with his "face to the sky" and forces his shoulders to touch the earth. Under modem regulations, a match is composed of three four-minute rounds. But traditional matches often lasted for hours, since the rules did not allow a draw.

Releasing pigeons (tha chim)

A long with other traditional festival games, releasing pigeons has attracted numerous participants since the distant past. Some villages including Tam Giang and Hoan Son villages in Bac Ninh Province still maintain the tradition.

Every year, Hoan Son and Tam Giang villagers organise bird-releasing festivals in the early summer and mid autumn during the third and the eighth lunar months. Each family raises two or three flocks of pigeons. Judges stipulate that each flock in the spring contest may have ten pigeons but only eight in the autumn. The contests are open to anyone-not just Bac Ninh residents. Bird lovers use these occasions to exchange experiences and learn from each other.

The Judges consist of the trich ha, who distributes numbers to participants and then call the numbers for the birds' release, and the trich thuong, who observes the arrangement of birds in the sky to determine the winner, a flock of birds flies beautifully when all their heads huddle together. Seen from the ground, they look like an arrow disappearing on the horizon.

"Before the contest every trainer practises releasing his birds so that the pigeons are familiar with the flight direction. All the birds return unless they lose their way in a heavy storm. Intelligent pigeons can return to their owner seven days or even two years later".

The bird owner should pay attention to the pigeons' eyes, nostrils and wings to have birds that fly both high and well. Good birds usually have eyes with small, round pupils. Birds with translucent, dry eyes do best at the hot summer festival, and those with wet eyes are best for the dry autumn contest. Birds with small nostrils are better than those with big ones because they can withstand windy conditions and fly higher. Large wings, short tails and narrow shoulders also enable birds to be strong, skilful fliers.

Releasing pigeons is considered a refined form of entertainment. As a traditional saying goes, "Men enjoy many kinds of games, but nothing is as pleasurable as releasing birds".

Vietnamese Rugby or Vat Cu

The rhythmic sound of a drum echoes for kilometers-vibrating, pressing, increasing in urgency. Any spectators arriving late from neighbouring villages hasten along their way. The crowd grows larger and larger around a flat piece of empty space in front of the village pagoda.

Suddenly, the drum stops. Then it resumes, but this time in three long series and accompanied by the metallic sound of a gong. Three respectable old men in long blue robes with puffed sleeves appear. The man in the middle holds a multi-coloured flag; the man on the right, a small drum; and the man on the left, a gong. These are the referees. Behind them come two teams of twenty players each. These young, well-built men are barebacked, with colourful loincloths and red or yellow belts designating their team. The captain of one team holds a tray with a ball on it, covered with a pink cloth.

The referees and players stop once they reach the centre of the playing area. The team leader places the tray on the ground, lifts the pink cloth and delicately places the "ball" in a hole dug in the middle of the playing field. The ball (cu) is made from the root of a banana tree and is twice as large as a football. It weighs four to five kilograms.

Organisers have already dug two goals-holes from 50cm to 60cm deep-at the two ends of the field. During the game, players must catch the ball, as in rugby, and throw it into the goal. Once a player has caught the ball, he may run or pass it to a team-mate. But unlike rugby or soccer, the ball may not touch the players' feet. A single goal wins the match.

This particular match is about to start: The two teams move to the middle of the field. There are no fixed positions. The drum and the gong strike their last notes. With this, a member of the red team passes the ball to a team-mate, who pushes past one, two then three opponents. But a fourth player relentlessly blocks him and grabs the ball. The "yellow" team runs, heading for its goal. The yellows soon regroup to protect the ball. Like fencers en graded, with bent knees and arms stretching forward, they are ready to deal with any opponents who want to interfere.

But the "reds" reorganise and counter-attack. Around ten red players worm themselves into the yellows' defending circle. Then go a collective struggle to possess the ball. Within several seconds, the ball passes back to the reds. They are now in the offensive position and make a lightning attack towards their goal. But they fail. A "yellow" runs even faster and prevents the score. The game continues amidst struggling arms and legs. As the competition grows heated, someone suddenly throws the ball dozens of steps away from the players. A red retrieves the ball and, before any of the yellows can react, races towards his goal. After some quick passing, in the blink of an eye, the ball lies in the reds' goal. Cries, applause, and the sound of the drum and gong bring the players back to reality: The reds have won.

This game requires speed, skill, strength and daring. General Pham Ngu Lao, the "right arm" of Vietnam's great general Tran Hung Dao, invented vat cu (literally, "ball wrestling") in the 13th century to train his soldiers to defeat the Mongol invaders. Like many uniquely Vietnamese sports, vat cu almost disappeared during the French occupation. However, the National Sports Committee has studied the game's original rules and is trying to revive the game. Without doubt, vat cu has returned to become one of the most popular games at Lunar New Year festivals.

Bamboo Jacks (choi chuyen)

This girls' game (chơi chuyen) includes ten thin, well-sharpened, round bamboo sticks and a ball, which traditionally is a fig, a miniature variety of eggplant, a small rock or a clod of clay.

These days, tennis balls are becoming more popular as a substitute. The player tosses the ball into the air. While the ball is in the air, she must quickly pick up the sticks and then catch the ball.

Players often recite a singsong nonsense rhyme: "Cai mot... Cai mai... Cai co… So mang... Thang chang... Con chit... Ngam nga... Ngam nguyt... Chuot chit... Sang ban doi…"

In the first round, the player picks up the slicks one by one. Next, she gathers two sticks at a time, and so forth up to ten. In these stages she plays with only one hand. The girl picks up sticks and catches the ball while reciting the rhyme. Meanwhile, her face reddens and her eyes become intense as she performs in front of her friends.

The peak of the game is the last, most animated stage with all ten sticks in a bundle. During this stage, the player losses the ball and then transfers (chuyen) the pack of sticks from one hand to the other. She must successively switch the bundle, first once, then twice, then three or even more times before catching the ball. The hands of a girl playing chuyen open and close like small, nimble butterflies. If a player's hands are not swift or if her eyes are not sharp, or if she fails to coordinate the two, she will lose her turn. The game will pass to the next girl. Playing chuyen warms up the body and creates a lot of fun. During summer or autumn, small girls play it everywhere, from the shade of a village banyan tree to a deserted market stall.

Rice cooking competitions (thi thoi com)

During Tet, a number of villages in northern and central Vietnam hold cooking contests that may sound simple, but follow strict and complex rules: Cooking in the wind and rain. Tu Trong Village, Thanh Hoa Province has a temple dedicated to the 11th century warrior Le Phung Hieu.

During the temple's weeklong festival the first week of Tet, villagers hold culinary competitions: cooking ordinary rice in water, steaming sticky rice and making rice cakes.

Contestants cook in the open air while in a bamboo boat floating on the village pond. Charcoal, the usual fuel, is prohibited. Instead, each competitor receives some dried sugar cane, which burns only with difficulty. The challenge increases if it is windy and raining. Each contestant must set her rice pot in exactly the right place to take advantage of the wind and avoid extinguishing the fire.

The competition begins precisely at dawn. Hundreds of boats are tied up along the pond bank since as many as 200 young women may participate.

After a salvo of drumbeats, competitors step into their boats, bringing along cooking tripods, rice pots, some damp straw and fuel. They row to the centre of the pond, make a fire and wash the rice.

A second salvo of drumbeats sounds, punctuated by three final beats, the competition starts. The cooking may be done in one pot after another or by using all pots al the same time. The tiny, light boat sways with the competitor's every movement, keeping the craft stable while cooking is like performing a circus act. The competitor who finishes first wins, but quality also counts. People from many villages watch from the pond bank, mothers who have trained their girls for months impatiently wait for the results of their efforts. Other women take advantage of the occasion to look for prospective daughters-in-law who are both good cooks and can also face difficulties with calmness.

Contests for boys and girls villagers in Chuong Village of Ha Tay Province organise similar competitions separately for boys and girls. Female participants must cook rice on the ground while simultaneously carrying a six-to seven-month-old baby from another family on her hip. She must console the infant when he or she cries. At the same time, she must prevent a toad from jumping out of a chalk circle drawn around her. The competition is all the more difficult because the spectators, especially children, take every opportunity to tease the baby.

The contest for boys is no less rigorous. Each boy must stand ready with all the necessary items (rice, water, matches and firewood) on a light boat moored the pond bank. At a given signal he paddles with his hands to the opposite bank, where a row of pots is placed on tripods. He must stay in his unmoored boat while cooking the rice on the bank. The least loss of balance tosses him over into the water.

In Tich Son Village of Vinh Phuc Province, a cooking competition takes place on the morning of the fourth day after Tet. The finished rice must meet particular criteria of taste and consistency. Contestants use two pots. First they boil the rice in a copper pot over the fire. Once the water boils, they pour both the rice and water into an earthen pot and cook the rice over charcoal until done.

The game of squares (O an quan)

Either boys or girls, usually age’s seven to ten, play the two-person game of O an quan (literally "Mandarin's Box"). They draw a rectangle on the ground and divide it into ten small squares called "rice fields" or "fish ponds.

"They also draw two additional semi-circular boxes at the two ends of the rectangle, which are called"mandarin's boxes," hence the game's name. Each person has 25 small pebbles and a bigger stone.

Each player places the stone in one of the mandarin's boxes and five small pebbles in each of the other squares (see diagram above). Then the game begins. The first player takes up the contents of one square on his or her side of the board (but not a mandarin's box) and distributes the pebbles one by one, starting with the next square in either direction. (Since each square contains five pebbles at the beginning, the first move will distribute five pebbles to the left or right).

After the last pebble is distributed, the player takes the contents of the following square and repeats the distribution process. But if the following square is one of the mandarin's boxes, the turn ends and passes to the other player.

If the last pebble falls into a square that precedes one empty square, the player wins all the contents of the square following the empty square and removes these pebbles from the board. If this square is followed by another empty square, the player wins the contents of the square after that, and so on. However, if there are two or more empty squares in a row, the player loses his or her turn.

Once a player has taken pebbles from the board, the turn is handed to the other player. If all five squares on one player's side of the board are emptied at any time, that player must place one pebble he or she has aside back in each of the five squares so that the game can resume.

The game continues until the two mandarins' boxes have both been taken. At the end of the game, the player with more pebbles wins, with each of the large stones counting as ten points. If each player retrieves an equal number of points, then the game is a tie. O an quan remains deservedly popular among older children since it requires good counting skills and forethought in order to win.

A very popular belief among Vietnamese is the custom of the ancestor cult. In every household, an ancestor altar is installed in the most solemn locat

A very popular belief among Vietnamese is the custom of the ancestor cult. In every household, an ancestor altar is installed in the most solemn location.

Vietnamese believe that the soul of a dead person, even if dead for many generations, still rests along with their descendants on earth. The dead and living persons still have spiritual communion; in everyday life, people must not forget that what they enjoy and how they feel is the same for their dead relatives.

On the last day of every lunar year, an announcing cult, cung tien thuong, is performed to invite the dead forefathers to return home to celebrate Tet holidays with their families. During the last days before Tet, all family members visit their ancestors’ graves; they clean and decorate the graves, in the same manner that the livings clean and decorate their houses to welcome the New Year.


On the anniversary of an ancestor’s death, descendants and relatives unite and prepare a feast to worship the dead people and to ask for health and happiness for themselves. From generation to generation, ancestor worshipping customs have been religiously preserved. There are some small variations between those customs among the many Vietnamese ethnic groups, but the common theme of fidelity and gratitude towards the ancestors remains.

Vietnam Villages – Guilds

The Vietnamese culture has always evolved on the basis of the wet rice civilization. Thus, the lifestyle of the Vietnamese population is closely related to its village and native lands.

In Vietnamese society, people gather together to form villages in rural areas, and guilds in urban areas. Villages and guilds have been forming since the dawn of the nation. These organizations have gradually developed for the population to be more stable and closer together. Each village and guild has its own regulations called conventions.

The purpose of these conventions is the promotion of good customs within populations. All the conventions are different but they are always in accordance with the state laws.

Approximately ten thousands such conventions are kept in the History Museum in Hanoi and in other museums throughout the country.

Vietnam Wedding Ceremony

Getting married is an important event in a Vietnamese’s life. The procedure of the ancient wedding ceremony was very complicated. Current wedding ceremony procedures include the following steps: the search for a husband or wife, the proposal, the registration, and finally the wedding.

Depending on habits of specific ethnic groups, marriage includes various steps and related procedures, but generally there are two main ceremonies:

Le an hoi (betrothal ceremony): Some time before the wedding, the groom and his family visit the bride and her family with round lacquered boxes known as betrothal presents composed of gifts of areca nuts and betel leaves, tea, cake, fruits, wines and other delicacies covered with red cloth and carried by unmarried girls or boys. Both families agree to pick a good day for wedding.

Le cuoi (wedding ceremony): Guests would be invited to come to join a party and celebrate the couple’s happiness. The couple should pray before the altar asking their ancestors for permission for their marriage, then to express their gratitude to both groom’s and bride’s parents for raising and protecting them. Guests will share their joy at a party later.

Vietnam Funeral Ceremony

The sense of the dead is that of the final,” says a Vietnamese proverb, meaning that funeral ceremonies must be solemnly organized. Formerly funeral ceremonies went as following: the body was washed and dressed; then a le ngam ham, or chopstick, was laid between the teeth and a pinch of rice and three coins were dropped in the mouth. Then the body was put on a grass mat laid on the ground according to the saying “being born from the earth, one must return back to the earth.” The dead body was enveloped with white cloth, le kham liem, and put into the coffin, le nhap quan. Finally, the funeral ceremony, le thanh phuc, was officially performed.

The deceased person’s sons, daughters, and daughters-in-law had to wear coarse gauze turbans and tunics, and hats made of straw or of dry banana fiber. The deceased person’s grandchildren and relatives also had to wear mourning turbans. During the days when the dead were still laid out at home, the mourning went on with worshipping meals and mourning music. Relatives, neighbours, and friends came to offer their condolences.

The date and time for the funeral procession, le dua tang, must be carefully selected. Relatives, friends, and descendants take part in the funeral procession to accompany the dead along the way to the burial ground. Votive papers were dropped along the way. At the grave site, the coffin is buried and covered. After three days of mourning, the family visits the tomb again, le mo cua ma or worship the opening the grave; after 49 days, le chung that, the family stops bringing rice for the dead to the altar. And finally, after 100 days, the family celebrates tot khoc, or the end of the tears. After one year is the ceremony of the first anniversary of the relative’s death and after two years is the ceremony of the end of mourning.
Nowadays, mourning ceremonies follow new rituals which are simplified; they consist of covering and putting the dead body into the coffin, the funeral procession, the burial of the coffin into the grave, and the visits to the tomb. The deceased person’s family members wear a white turban or a black mourning band.

Vietnamese Customs of Chewing Betel and Areca Nuts and smoking Thuoc Lao

According to legends, chewing quid of betel and areca has been a custom since the Hung Vuong period and is connected to the antique legend of betel and areca.

A quid of betel, also called trau, is composed of four elements: an areca leaf (sweet taste), betel bark (hot taste), a chay root (bitter taste), and hydrated lime (pungent taste). The custom of chewing betel nut is unique to Vietnam. Old health books claim that "chewing betel and areca nut makes the mouth fragrant, decreases bad tempers, and makes digesting food easy". A quid of betel makes people become closer and more openhearted. At any wedding ceremony, there must be a dish of betel and areca nut, which people can share as they enjoy the special occasion.

During festivals or Tet Holidays, betel and areca nut is used for inviting visitors and making acquaintances. Sharing a quid of betel with an old friend is like expressing gratitude for the relationship. A quid of betel and areca nut makes people feel warm on cold winters days, and during funerals it relieves sadness. Betel and areca nuts are also used in offerings. When Vietnamese people worship their ancestors, betel and areca nut must be present at the altar. Nowadays, the custom of chewing betel remains popular in some Vietnamese villages and among the old.

Let’s not forget to mention thuoc lao or strong tobacco. For women, betel can initiate various feminine conversation, but for men, thuoc lao is related to their joyfulness as well as the sadness in their lives.

The Buffalo festival

Quang Nam province in Central Vietnam is home to a number of ethnic minority groups, many of whom have retained their unique cultural traditions. Nguyen Dinh attends a special festival in the Tra My Mountains. In the Southern Tra My Mountains in Vietnam's Quang Nam province, people of the Caodong and Sedang ethnic groups occasionally organize a Trau Hue (Buffalo Pole) Festival.

Since these events are not held regularly, it is a rare honor to attend one. Trau Hue Festivals are not organized by the village or by the community but by individual families wishing to express their thanks to Heaven and Earth. Cadong or Sedang families sometimes promise the deities that they will sacrifice a buffalo if they are blessed with a good harvest or abundant livestock.

The hue is a kind of festival pole consisting of three connected sticks with a total length of over 20m. A stick of wood, a stick of bamboo and a stick of yellow bamboo are bound together with jungle vines and decorated with impressive red, black and white patterns.

Motifs often include birds, animals, rice fields, houses, suns, moons, and stars and relate to people's daily lives. A tall and beautiful hue pole is considered a sign of the villagers' cleverness. In a perfect hue pole, the joints between the three pieces of wood and bamboo are invisible. When a family celebrates a Trau Hue Festival, the entire village feels honored, since it shows that their village is home to wealthy people. Everyone in the neighborhood will join the festivities and enjoy three days and three nights of feasting, singing and entertainment. The host bears all costs, even giving guests a piece of buffalo meat to take home.

The family organizing the Trau Hue Feast will ask the village's shaman to select an auspicious day. The shaman will decide whether a male or a female buffalo should be sacrificed. The selected buffalo is usually one year old. At 3pm on the first day of the festival, young men will gather at the host's home to decorate and erect the hue pole.

When this is done, the buffalo is led in and tethered to the pole with rattan rope. The men and the host family now gather in the house's kitchen to play gongs and pray. They invite the deities to return to earth to witness their thanksgiving ceremony. They then return home to rest in preparation for a night of drinking and dancing around the hue pole.

Soon it is dark. The village rings with the cheery sound of gongs. Villagers carrying torches walk to the home of the host family. Only one item is served - a dish of tender steamed banana leaf and rice pulp. Some people cook and others eat. After eating, people go into the yard and use hollow bamboo straws to drink rice alcohol from a pot. They dance in circles around the buffalo. They sing, play drums and gongs and dance without rest. The inner circle is made up of the village's female dance team. They follow a lead dancer and dance basic steps. The outside circle features men carrying gongs and big drums. They perform strange moves to attract attention. A Trau Hue Festival is an occasion for young men and women to meet and to confess their love. Many couples begin their relationships after a Trau Hue Festival. A tired dancer is immediately replaced by a fresh one. The villagers stay up all night.

Sunrise marks the official start of the festival. The key rites begin. The host family stands within the inner circle near the buffalo. One by one, they whisper their prayers to the deities, believing that the sacrificed animal will take their prayers to the King of Heaven. Village elders also approach the buffalo and sing sad songs that express their sorrow at having to kill the buffalo in order to build a bridge between mankind and the deities.

In this reverent atmosphere, the host takes a 2-meter-long spear and thrusts it into the buffalo's flank. The tethered buffalo runs around the pole, and young men launch similar long spears into its body. After about 10 thrusts the animal collapses, blood gushing from its sides. Some water is poured onto it and the animal raises its head to catch the water, and then stops breathing.

The host butchers the dead buffalo and divides the meat for the villagers. He retains the head and the guts as offerings. Guests continue to eat, drink, sing and dance. After the festival, only the hue pole remains. Cadong and Sedang people will not remove this pole but leave it until it rots and collapses. They believe that these elaborately decorated poles contain the spirits of their ancestors and form a link between men and gods. A hue pole standing in the yard confirms the host family's wealth and brings honor to the host family and the entire village.

Lunar New Year Hoi An

Lunar New Year Hoi An ‘One’ is a number that is given priority in every culture; so, the first day of any event across the world is commemorated with much fan fare. No different is the festival of the Lunar New Year in Hoi An in Vietnam. Though the town of Hoi An is a small central Vietnam location, it celebrates all its festivals rather grandly. Hoi An too, like the rest of Vietnam, celebrates the Lunar New Year very grandly. The Lunar New Year in Hoi An, which is also called “Nguyen-Dan” and popularly referred to as the “Tet” is the Vietnamese New Year. The Vietnamese traditional calendar follows lunar patterns, unlike the west. So the “Tet”, which in Vietnamese translates as ‘first morning of New Year’, falls on the first day of the first lunar month.
There is a huge amount of preparation that follows the “Nguyen-Dan” or Lunar New Year in Hoi An. The run up to D-day involves splurging on food, clothes, decorations and, very importantly, flowers. The occasion in itself lasts for span of 7 days; the official holiday, however, is for three days. The week long festivities will see people turning out in colorful costumes to watch parades, waving flags and hopping form stall to stall in the various fairs that are held. While food is a sure draw for visitors during the Lunar New Year in Hoi An, the week also hosts several cultural programs of traditional music, dance and drama. Some of the most famous of these are the Fournoble-animal dance, the Unicorn dance and the Dragon dance. During this time you will also be able to choose from a wide display of traditional Vietnamese arts and crafts. However, amidst this fanfare, people remember to pay homage to their god at the several Shrines and Pagodas. Aside of Buddha, Tao Quan the ‘earth God’ is interceded to. At night fire works are displayed and drums and gongs are used to ward off the evil Na A and his evil wife.

Legendary Night Festival in Hoi An

A festival dedicated to the moon, somewhat like the yearly Mid Autumn Festival, the Legendary Night Festival in Hoi An differs from its annual counterpart mainly in the frequency of its commemoration. The Legendary Night Festival in Hoi An is popular under many names. Colloquially referred to as the “Traditional Festival in Hoi An”, its other official name is “Hoi An Full Moon Night”. As is evident from the name, the Legendary Night Festival in Hoi An is a night festival. More specifically it is a moon festival.
This enchanting festival of the Legendary Night Festival in Hoi An is a monthly ritual of homage and gratitude to the moon. The most alluring characteristic of this festival is the fact that for that one night every month, the town of Hoi An transforms itself into an early 19th century town. Artificial lightings are turned off and vehicles are ordered off the streets. The Legendary Night Festival in Hoi An is held on the 14th day of each Vietnamese lunar month, on a full moon night. On this occasion, the locals walk the moon and lantern lit streets in old traditional costumes. Visitors to the town can witness people of different ages reciting poetry or performing traditional Vietnamese operas on the street. In this festival the revelry lies in the quiet, the peace, the poetry and the enchantment.

The streets on the Legendary Night Festival in Hoi An that are decorated with colorful traditional lanterns, truly is a mesmerizing sight. Added to this is soulful folk and opera music wafting from all corners punctuated by the chanting of lyrical poetry. All of these take place between 5:30pm and 10:00pm. The atmosphere is one of nostalgia. Revelry is brought out only in participation and laughter of the moving audience. A major draw of the Legendary Night Festival in Hoi An is the fact that it is one of the few exotic and enchanting festivals around the world which does not require a season to visit.

Marine Sports Festival Hoi An

Marine Sports Festival Hoi An Vietnam - Hoi An - Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City - Hue If you thought that the Marine Sports Festival in Hoi An is one of the cultural rather than the religious festivals of the fishing town of Hoi An, then you are quite mistaken. The Marine Sports Festival in Hoi An, on the face of things, appears to be a festival where most of the events are water sports conducted in the river. However, the festival has its religious connotations too. The Marine Sports Festival in Hoi An is celebrated annually in the 4th month according to the Vietnamese lunar calendar, and is celebrated on the final Sunday of the month. True, that the Marine Sports Festival in Hoi An is mostly about traditional water sports; but this cultural event coincides with the ‘Festival of Buddha’s Birthday’, and hence gains in religious significance. The Buddha’s birth day occurs around the 4th moon of the lunar calendar; and more precisely, on the 8th day during this phase of the moon.
The event approximately falls in the month of May according to the Western calendar. The Marine Sports Festival in Hoi An has another significant occasion attached to the festival. The festivities mark the beginning of a new Buddhist year. While the religious rituals include offering of prayers and burning of incense by the followers of the Buddha; the religious events consist of picnics to preach Buddhism and mass prayers interceding for peace and prosperity for both the individual and the country. Cultural events that mark the occasion are, as the name of the festival suggests, boat races and swimming competitions on the Cam An Beach. Aside of these, the locals take the opportunity to showcase traditional folk music, dance, dramas and other cultural and artistic activities