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| Children are kept warm in cold weather conditions. Photo: Tuoi Tre |
Christmas is just a few days away so people in Ho Chi Minh City have flocked to the sparkling downtown area for celebration.
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| Children are kept warm in cold weather conditions. Photo: Tuoi Tre |
Christmas is just a few days away so people in Ho Chi Minh City have flocked to the sparkling downtown area for celebration.
There is still one week left before Christmas but the festive atmosphere is hard to avoid with many streets colourfully decorated in the capital city of Hanoi.
Preparations have been underway at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Nha Chung Street, Hanoi for two weeks before Christmas. Tiếp tục đọc “Sparkling Hanoi streets welcome Christmas” |
Fansipan mountain in Sapa district in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai has been covered with snow and frost on December 19.
The temperature dropped to minus 7 degrees Celsius on the previous night, and minus 4 degree Celsius on early morning of December 19. Tiếp tục đọc “Snow blankets Fansipan Mountain” |
The underground military operation bunker where the Vietnamese government worked during the American War in Thang Long Imperial Citadel has been opened to visitors for the first time.
The Thang Long Heritage Conservation Centre opened the bunker and exhibition about the general command headquarters on the occasion of 45th anniversary of victorious air defence of Hanoi during the American bombing raids of Christmas 1972.
The bunker was built in early 1965 by military engineers. They demolished the two-storey command building to disguise and cover the bunker. The bunker has three rooms, covering 64 square metres. The roof is 1.5 metres higher than the ground and has three layers to protect officers against falling bombs and rockets. It was supposed to be a shelter even against nuclear or chemical weapons.
Decisions issued during the 1972 air battle and supply routes for the south were from the site. The first sirens warning of US air force attacks were approved in the bunker.
After 1975, the bunker was largely abandoned until it was renovated in 2012.
Some photos of the bunker:
Tiếp tục đọc “Thang Long Citadel bunker opened to the public” |
Mu Cang Chai, a rural town in the northern province of Yen Bai lined with mesmerizing terraced rice fields, has been named one of the 19 most picturesque peaks on earth by US travel site Insider.

Also on the list are Japan’s Mount Fuji, Peru’s Rainbow Mountain, Iceland’s Kirkjufell Mountain, which was used to shoot “Game of Thrones”, the world’s longest continental mountain range, the Andes in Bolivia, Europe’s largest mountain chain, the Alps, and the active volcano Mount Rainier in Washington State in the US. Tiếp tục đọc “Mu Cang Chai among world’s 19 most beautiful mountains”
Chuong (Bell) pagoda in Nhan Duc village, Hung Yen province, guards a number of precious historical relics. It is part of the Pho Hien Special National Relic Site.
Built in the 15th century, Chuong pagoda has been upgraded twice, in 1702 and in 1711.
Tour guide Nguyen Thu Lien explains why the pagoda is often called Golden Bell Pagoda: “Legends say that in a huge flood thousands of years ago, a wood plank drifted to the region carrying a golden bell. Nhan Duc residents tried to bring the bell ashore but it wouldn’t move. When the monks of the pagoda came, they managed to bring the bell to the pagoda.” Tiếp tục đọc “Ancient Chuong pagoda”
Young people in Hanoi have been flocking to gardens on the outskirts of the city to witness the beauty of blooming canola flowers.

A canola field is filled with its signature yellow blooms in a Hanoi suburb. Photo: Tuoi Tre Tiếp tục đọc “Hà Nội – blooming yellow with canola flowers”
| A cave located in the Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park. — Photo chinhphu.vn |
Lê Thanh Tịnh, the park’s director was quoted by local newspapers as saying the newly-discovered caves are in buffer zone of the park in the province’s mountainous Minh Hóa District. Tiếp tục đọc “58 newly-discovered caves in Quảng Bình”
The national border marker number 0 is located at 1,860m Khoan La San mountain in Sin Thau commune, Muong Nhe district of Dien Bien. It is the connecting point of Vietnam, Laos and China.
Travellers at the national border marker No.0. Tiếp tục đọc “Border marker number 0 attractive to travellers” |
Over the past five centuries, locals in the ancient pottery village of Thanh Ha in Hoi An, Quang Nam have kept their traditional method of making pottery – hand made and wheel thrown.
Local people use clay on the Thu Bon river to make pottery. Tiếp tục đọc “The Ancient Pottery Village of Thanh Ha” |
HCM City’s streets are full of colourful decorations to welcome Christmas and New Year.
Santa Claus and snowman decorations in front of buildings and shopping centres Tiếp tục đọc “HCM City brightens up for Christmas” |
VietNamNet Bridge – Madelon Willemsen, head of the Vietnam office of the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC, said that the wildlife-related tourism activities that have been popular in the country for decades, such as elephant riding, souvenirs made of wild animal parts, the consumption of bear bile and dishes cooked with wild animal meats, need a radical rethinking.
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| Tourists ride elephants in Central Highlands Province of Dak Lak. Elephant riding will be banned as of 2018. – VNA/VNS Photo |
When the 2015 version of the Vietnam’s Penal Code takes effect on the first day of 2018, tourism businesses operating programmes that exploit wildlife could be charged with new offenses, she said at a conference for sustainable tourism development held in Hue City on Wednesday.
“The charge will not only result in penalties but also harm the business’s reputation. Certainly, no one could develop sustainably with negative comments from customers,” Willemsen said. Tiếp tục đọc “Tour firms may be fined for environmental offenses”
Travel and tourism is a cornerstone of the global economy. It already accounts for 10.2 percent of global GDP, and 292 million jobs. And the sector is growing rapidly, thanks to the expanding global middle class, improved digital and physical connectivity, and human curiosity. If travelers spread out around the world evenly, tourism would be relatively easy to absorb. Of course, that is not the case, now or likely in the future. By 2020, the 20 most popular countries will add more international arrivals than the rest of the world combined (exhibit).
Similar imbalances occur in cities and at individual sites. Overcrowding is a global problem, with places as diverse as Thailand’s Koh Khai Islands, Peru’s Machu Picchu, and Venice worrying about the side effects of the tourism they depend on. Tiếp tục đọc “Coping with success: Managing overcrowding in tourism destinations”
Stores and building facades in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have been colourfully decorated over the last days, warming up the atmosphere on the threshold of Christmas.
![]() A colourful Christmas tree decorates the front of Hotel Metropole Hanoi Tiếp tục đọc “Hanoi & HCMC streets sparkling ahead of Christmas” |
Built in 1832 in Xich Dang village, Hung Yen province, Xich Dang Temple of Literature hosted examinations and ceremonies to honor outstanding Confucians during feudal times.
It is one of 6 temples of literature that still exist today and the second oldest after the Temple of Literature in Hanoi. Thu Hoa has a story about this national cultural and historical relic.
Visiting Xich Dang Temple of Literature on a sunny day, Dao Thanh Thuy, who has lived in Germany for nearly 20 years, recalls her childhood memory: “We were born in Hanoi. My grandparents lived in Xich Dang village. When we visited them, we often climbed trees and over the gate of the temple and played around the bells. Previously, local people weaved mattresses here. The temple has been upgraded but its ancient beauty remains.” Tiếp tục đọc “Xich Dang Temple of Literature”