Hoi An tops Wanderlust travel list

The ancient city of Hoi An in the central province of Quang Nam was placed in the Top City category in the Wanderlust Travel Awards 2015, the city's information and sport centre revealed on February 4.

 The ancient city of Hoi An.

The tourism hub in the central region of Vietnam ranked fifth in the category with a 94.12 percent satisfaction rating from readers surveyed by the British travel magazine.

Vietnam was listed in the Top Country category with a 94.56 percent rating.

In 2013, Wanderlust also declared Hoi An the world's top city in its Readers' Travel Awards.

In 2012, Hoi An was shortlisted in the top ten Asian cities for US magazine Conde Nast's Traveler's Readers Choice Awards. The following year, the UNESCO-recognised world heritage city was chosen for the Townscape Award by the UN-Habitat Regional Office in Asia.

Covering an area of 60sq.km, the city has 22.5sq. km of agriculture and forest land and 11sq.km of lakes and channels. The central city was the first place in Vietnam to host a Car Free Day and the first location in the central province launching the 3-R (reduce, reuse and recycle) programme while promoting the use of reusable bags.

The city created a pedestrian street in its old quarter in 2002 and installed a solar-powered lighting system in Hoai River Square. The Hoai River and its channels feature in a list of the 10 most famous canals in the world compiled in 2014 by the US-based travel website www.touropia.com.

Source : dtinews[dot]vn

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Fireworks displays planned for Lunar New Year

The capital city of Hanoi's People's Committee has decided to stage five high-range fireworks displays, alongside 25 smaller ones, across the city on the Lunar New Year's Eve.

Fireworks light up the Hanoi sky last year. There will be 30 sites of fireworks displays this Lunar New Year's Eve (midnight of February 18).

Major areas earmarked for festivities include Hoan Kiem (Sword) Lake, Thong Nhat Park in Hai Ba Trung District, Lac Long Quan Garden in Tay Ho District, Van Quan Lake in Ha Dong District and My Dinh National Stadium in Nam Tu Lien District.

The committee also approved a proposal for fireworks to be set off at the Hong (Red) River's alluvial ground under the Long Bien Bridge.

Source : dtinews[dot]vn

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Chung cake making frenzy pre-Tet

Hanoi's Tranh Khuc Village is in a cake-making frenzy ahead of the Tet holiday as locals step up production of their famous traditional Chung cakes, a green-pea delicacy wrapped in dong leaves that is a staple on every Vietnamese table as family and friends gather for the annual festival.

Farmers have been bringing in peas, rice, green beans, peppers and pork, and the essential green dong leaves harvested in Thanh Hoa and Nghe An Province, to Tranh Khuc Village, Duyen Ha Commune, for weeks. The villagers select the best quality produce to make Chung cakes by the thousands.

A skilled villager can make and wrap three cakes a minute, with a person devoted to each step of the cakes' preparation.

Dang Thi Thang, a villager, said everyone rises early to begin preparing the ingredients. The cakes need to be soaked in water for up to 10 hours. The previous day's production is shipped out each morning to customers.

Most households in Tranh Khuc Village make cakes based on the orders they receive. The portion of ingredients inside each cake vary with price, which varies from VND40,000, VND50,000 and VND60,000.

 

Dong leaves brought from the forests

Cleaning the leaves

Beans and fatty pork are marinated

Peppers used to spice up the taste

Rice covers the beans and pork

Wrapping the cakes

Large Chung cakes

Smaller cakes

Putting cakes in large pots

Source : dtinews[dot]vn

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Vietnam gains attention in photo contest

Many photographers have turned their lenses towards Vietnam and its unique landscapes for the 26th National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.

The contest is still accepting submissions, attracting the participation of thousands of photographers, both professional and amateur, from around the world.

 

Two young women in Mui Ne - Ng Yeow Kee

As of June 2, 100 out of just under 9,000 entries were taken in Vietnam. Subjects range from landscapes to everyday life scenes.

Official categories include travel portraits, landscapes, sense of place and spontaneous moments. The deadline for the submissions is June 30.

The first prize will be a paid eight-day trip for two people to Alaska. The second place winner will receive a free trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico, while the third-prize winner will be treated to a visit to the coast of Maine.

Photos sent to the contest taken in Vietnam:

Ox racing festival in An Giang Province - Son Nguyen

Son Doong Cave in Phong Nha - Ke Bang - by Chris Miller

Linh Phuoc Pagoda in Dalat - Chiara Cristoni

“First kiss” - Stephanie Hamilton

Two little boys in Ha Giang - Antonin Laroche

Hoi An after rain - Janine Griggs

“Imperial City Kitty” - Janine Griggs

“Hoan Kiem Lake Morning Tai Chi” - Janine Griggs

“Golden Sunrise” - Wally Santos

“Banana Lady” - Helen Dittrich

“Hanoi Light Bulb” - Paul Lackner

“Mankind's gift to nature”, taken in Thai Binh - Mauricio Corridan

An elderly man in Hoi An - Andrew Macdonald

“Christmas Angels” - Sai kit Leung

“The House of Fertility Gods” - Simon Goei

Sunset in Hoi An - Benjamin Ce

Ha Long Bay on a rainy day - Horst Grasser

Source : dtinews[dot]vn

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Plum blossoms cloak Bac Ha plateaux

As Tet draws near, the plateaux of Lao Cai Province’s Bac Ha District are cloaked in a mantle of white plum blossoms, making it a major draw for tourists and visitors wanting to revel in its picturesque beauty.

For the past 30 years, Bac Ha District in north western Vietnam has turned on a spectacular show as its Tam Hoa trees prepare to go into fruit, ultimately yielding a sweet crop unlike its sour cousins.

Many local households have escape poverty by planting the Tam Hoa plum, which yields good profit for their labour, with the added bonus of revenue from foreign and local visitors flocking to see the blossoms.

Bac Ha district has some 1,000ha under cultivation for Tam Hoa plum and leads Lao Cai Province and the rest of the western region in plum production. As the trees go into blossom with the onset of Tet, the district lives up to its name as "the white plateaux".

Some photos of "the white plateaux":

 

Plum blossoms cloak Bac Ha plateaux

Source : dtinews[dot]vn

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HCM City ranks in top 50 safest cities

HCM City is has made The Economist's list of 50 safest cities in the world, though at 48 it is a long way down from the safest, Tokyo, which was followed by Singapore, Osaka, Stockholm and Amsterdam.

 

Ben Thanh Market in HCM City.

But foreign and local residents differed in their view of HCM City as a safe city, Lao Dong Newspaper reports.

Birgit Muller, a German visitor on his second trip to HCM City, said, "I totally agree with HCM Ciy’s position in the report. Compared to many cities I have been to, HCM City is quite peaceful. Local people are quite friendly and I feel safe when travelling here.”

Another traveller, Peter Wesse, congratulated HCM City. “I think HCM City is really safe. I have come to the city for the third time and usually stay for two weeks.”

Local residents said HCM City has many weaknesses and was far from safe.

“I don’t know how can HCM City be voted as a safe city," said Thanh Thuy of District 1. "Compared to many cities in the world, HCM City does not have terrorism or uprisings, but it’s quite common here to see thieves and pickpockets," she said.

Thien Chi, a student HCM City Teachers’ Training University, said he was quite surprised at the ranking of HCM City because going out at night required vigilance against thieves.

The Economist ranked cities around the world using 40 metrics that spanned four main categories: digital security, health security, infrastructure safety and personal safety.

The report said Ho Chi Minh City finished last in “infrastructure safety”, that is, the quality of roads, number of disaster-related deaths and the like.

Source : dtinews[dot]vn

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Pizza Cones points to global integration

Quick and cheesy:Pizza cones are available in flavours like seafood and chicken mushroom.

For diners who feel that previous pizzas fell flat, this Vietnamese fast food franchise offers a convenient solution. Annalise Frank reports.

When Le Thi Bich and her husband Nguyen Chi Nghiem travelled to Taiwan, they came upon a fast food restaurant serving pizza cones.

"Taiwanese flavours are very strong," said Bich, 31. "They only had one flavour: Chicken and cucumber. But it had a lot of spices."

Bich and Nghiem "loved" the fast-food pizza adaptation and decided to bring it back to Viet Nam - but they changed the spices to suit Vietnamese tastes.

The couple has two children and wanted an opportunity to build a family business in the restaurant sector. This was their chance.

The trend of making pizzas in cone form caught on in Europe and the US more than a year ago, and has spread to a few Asian countries. But Pizza Cones was the first to introduce it to Viet Nam, Nghiem said.

The couple opened their first restaurant last March in Ha Noi and has since expanded to eight locations, including four in Ha Noi, one in Ha Long City and one in HCM City run by Nghiem's brother, Nguyen Chi Nghia, 38.

Tea and fries: Diners can pair their cones with French fries or sweet tea.

Pizza cones are generally made by hand in Italy, Nghiem said. It takes about an hour. But Taiwan's adaptation, using a machine, shapes the dough in 17 seconds. Pizza Cones uses similar machines.

"Around the world, pizza has been known as a slow food, but we changed the concept, made it fast - fast like KFC or something," said Nghia, who was up in Ha Noi for a visit.

After the speedy dough-shaping process, Bich and Nghiem stuff the pizza ingredients in and bake the cones for 5 to 7 minutes. Served in a wrapper on a plastic stand, the cones were hot, dripping with cheese and ready to be eaten on the go. I visited the original restaurant, a small, purple-and-green hole-in-the-wall in Hai Ba Trung District.

Waffle dogs: These "waffles"contain hot dogs.

I chose the chicken mushroom sauce pizza cone and my friend had the seafood pizza cone - both customers' favourites, according to Nghia.

The first bite started with crunchy crust and ended with a mouthful of chicken, mushroom, mozzarella and a white alfredo-style sauce. That was my favourite bite. The cone was crispy, and the cheese on top was bubbling and brown.

The ingredients tasted fresh. The product was plain, devoid of any complex flavours, but in that satisfying, warm, comforting way - like a plain croissant or a grilled cheese.

My cone paired well with the restaurant's most popular drink, a fruity hong tra (pink tea) that goes for VND19,000 (US$0.9) and is actually pretty orange. It's the classic sweet and salty combo, reminiscent of grabbing pizza and a Coca-Cola at a bowling alley or diner back in the US. The French fries also tasted like standard diner fare.

Pizza Cones Address: 148b Bui Thi Xuan, Ha Noi, Viet Nam Tel: 093 680 06 55 Price Range: VND50,000-65,000 Comment: Name says it all

The family-run business opens at 9am and closes at 11pm.

In addition to pizza cones (VND29,000 each), they also serve hot dogs wrapped in waffle cones (VND19,000), spaghetti (VND39,000), several variations on fried chicken and French fries (VND15,000-25,000) and salads (VND19,000-29,000).

Pizza Cones started serving their waffle-wrapped hot dogs, a strange but oddly fitting addition to the menu, six months ago. Nghiem and his wife wanted a new, exciting product to bring in more customers.

"In Ha Noi they really like French food," Nghia said.

"So they (the couple) went to search for a new product and found the ice cream cone hot dog."

Then, around Christmas, Pizza Cones debuted a new line of sandwiches, called Bear Paws, made with bear-paw-shaped wheat and rice flour buns. Customers can choose their bun flavour - plain, chocolate or green tea - and their fillings - beef, chicken or fish. — VNS

Source : vietnamnews[dot]vn

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