Monday, May 12, 2014

Da Nang, a beauty city in Vietnam

Da Nang (Đà Nẵng) is Vietnam's third largest city, and is located on the South China Sea coast, midway between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and the largest city of Central Vietnam. It is the economic powerhouse of central Vietnam, it combines the buzz of a bigger city with beautiful beaches and great restaurants. A lot of money has recently been poured into tree-lined boulevards, bridges and beachside resorts. One of the famous works is Song Han Bridge was built by the people of Da Nang. It is the first swing bridge to be built in Vietnam. The bridge is an important part of Danang's cityscape. Recently, another gorgeous bridge was built to connect the two sides of Han River is Dragon Bridge.In this structure the head of the Dragon reaches toward the ocean which reflects the Dang Nang's people wills as they want to be one of the strongest city in Pacific area.

Danang’s a beautiful city on the Han River, on the East Coast with very attractive features that cannot be seen any where else. The sandy beach’s running wild kilometer-long and have more beautiful resorts, surfing and entertainment facilities. My Khe Beach in Da Nang was the Forbes Magazine (USA) voted as one of six most attractive beaches on the planet. Danang is located among the three UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Hue, Hoi An Ancient Town and the My Son Sanctuary. This place has organized the annual International Firework Competition in Spring and International Parachute competition in Summer which attracted a huge tourists every year.

Favoured by nature, Danang is located among the three World Cultural Heritage: Hue, Hoi An Ancient Town and the My Son Sanctuary. Danang is a place that happily and efficiently serves as a point of departure to all that this area has to offer. Danang is not only the center of the three world heritage sites but also has many beautiful landscapes that visitors can hardly forget after visiting.





Monday, May 5, 2014

Vietnam's Tet holidays



The Tet Holiday is the biggest annual celebration in Vietnam, which is held during the first 3 days of the Lunar New Year. During these days, people welcome the new coming year with good health, luck and success. The Tet holiday is very special for Vietnamese families as they reunite and celebrate together.
The preparation for Tet holiday takes place very soon because it requires many steps. All members of families clean and redecorate their houses together, and then they buy food, drink such as cookies, sweets, candied fruit, melon seeds...to offer to their guests and to store up because during this occasion many shops are closed.  A branch of peach flower or a kumquat tree will be present in every home during these special days. Children are the most excited, as their parents will buy them new clothes.  In addition to buying things, many Vietnamese families make Chung cake, pickled onion, frozen meat, which are our country's traditional food on Tet holiday.  We decorate the ancestral altars with a five-fruit tray, vegetables, sweets, and flowers.
In the last day of the previous year, people become more excited as they feel that the New Year is very near to them. Everybody waits for the sacred moment when the clock points 0:00 am and light fireworks everywhere to wish for health, luck and happiness throughout the next year. Normally  Contrary, on the first morning of the year everything seems peaceful and quiet as people are sleeping longer to enjoy the moment with their extended family. However, there are some families who get up early to go back to their hometowns to visit their ancestors' graves and relatives.  From the noon on, everybody goes to their neighbors' houses to wish them a happy New Year.  The children wear their new clothes are very excited, as they will get lucky money from adults.  There are many activities to welcome the new coming spring during this occasion, like children writing their first essay, in the hope for good results in school. In spring festival, everyone takes part in the traditional games such as rollercoaster, tug of war, cooking rice, cock fighting etc., to express their happiness while farmers wish for better crops.  Women often go to pagodas to show Buddha their hearts and wish their families good things and power to avoid bad luck.  During the first days of New Year, Vietnamese people do things that are supposed to be good for themselves and their loved ones such as wearing red clothes, buying salt, praying... and avoid saying taboos (related to death, breaking...).  Each region in Vietnam has its own customs for celebrating the Tet holiday, which are special and unique.
"Tet" is the word that is very familiar to Vietnamese people whenever we think about our country. This is the time for family reunions, festivals and people giving love to their loved one.  As for me, I enjoy the warm and cozy Tet's atmosphere when all extended members of my family stay and talk together.







the streets are extremely crowded.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Vietnamese dead's anniversary



I have just booked tickets for my son and me to go on a trip to visit my family in Vietnam.  This time I will join in my grandfather’s death anniversary party.  In Vietnam the dead ceremony is a painful event but the death anniversary is not, except for the first few years when the family is still feeling the pain because of the lost.  Generally, about 3 years after the member passes is when the family gets over the loss, and the death anniversary becomes more like a party for everyone to gather to enjoy foods and talk stories about everything in memory of the person who passed away.  Basically, my family will make a lot of food and invite relatives, neighbors and friends to come over to eat.  Each guess will bring a gift such as fruits, beer, wine, or meat to the party.  When they go home everyone will have a small bag of snacks to bring home.  I remembered when I was young I loved to wait for my dad or my mom come home so I could have some snacks to eat.   The Snacks are usually cookies, fruits or sweet mochi or sometimes it is a leftover food from the party.  My grandfather passed away almost 20 years ago but every year his death anniversary is important to us because it is a chance for a family reunion, and have a good time eating food. I can’t wait for this even.


Sunday, April 20, 2014

My hometown: Cu Chi, Ho Chi Minh city



Today, I would like to introduce my home town of Cu Chi.  Cu Chi is a suburb of Ho Chi Minh City and it is famous for the Cu Chi tunnel system. This tunnel system is some of the largest tunnels in Vietnam, which is an immense network of connected underground pathways. It was built by soldiers and locals during the Vietnam War to hide combats and to communicate and transit supplies from one place to another.  Some tunnels include functional hospitals, food and weapons storage. Back in the old days it played a very important role in ensuring victory of the Vietnam War.  Nowadays, the historic value of this place is it is an attractive tourism destination from Ho Chi Minh City for both domestic and international tourists. If you have a chance to visit Ho Chi Minh, please stop by my hometown for an unforgettable experience.