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A month before the Lunar New Year, or the traditional Vietnamese Tet Holiday, gardeners in Dac So Commune, Hoai Duc District, are busy harvesting Buddha’s hand citron, a special fruit for ancestor worship on Tet. The fruit is also known as Citrus medica or finger citron. With the shape of Buddha’s hand, the fingered lemon has long been considered a fruit that brings blessings and good fortune according to Asian beliefs. Farmer Tran Thi Tuyen’s Buddha hand fruit farm in Dac So Commune, Hoai Duc District. Photos: Huy Pham/The Hanoi Times Up to 80% of the total 100 hectares of farmland in Dac So is used for growing this type of tree, making the place a hub for fruit production. According to Tuyen, the fruit originates from the northern mountains and is then grown on a large scale in the locality. Owing to its exquisite appearance and aroma, Buddha’s hand fruit is used as a religious offering in Buddhist temples and Vietnamese household...

Vietnam’s “bamboo diplomacy” and “Make in Vietnam” chip production efforts have been highlighted by Swiss journalist Guy Mettan in an article published on online newspaper bonpourlatete.com on January 12. The article was released ahead of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s attendance at the 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, according to VNA. The article of Swiss journalist Guy Mettan. Photo: VNA In the early 2000s, the author visited Vietnam several times to prepare for a book on the Geneva Accords, which ended the war and restored peace in Indochina in 1954. The author was fascinated by the remarkable changes in the country since then. The article mentions that 2023 was a busy year for Vietnam, with its “bamboo diplomacy” policy and efforts to become a new hub of the semiconductor industry. Vietnam took full advantage of the opportunities brought by the international situation, increasing its foreign activities and st...

Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Duong Hai Hung speaks at the press conference. Source: Vietnam’s embassy The Vietnamese Embassy in Italy has hosted a press conference to announce the Vietnam-Italy Year 2023 and the celebration plan for the 50th anniversary of the bilateral diplomatic ties (March 23, 1973) and 10 years of the strategic partnership between the two countries (January 2013-2023), VNA reported. The January 14 press conference saw the attendance of Italian Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Maria Tripodi, President of the City Council of Rome Svetlana Celli, among other Italian officials. Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Duong Hai Hung stated that the embassy will coordinate with Italian agencies and localities to organise celebration activities in Rome, Milan, Florence, Venice, Napoli and other cities throughout 2023. Such activities are expected to open up cooperation opportunities, deepen the strategic partnership and fa...

As many as 50 units put their various culinary products on display at the festival, including processed food, raw materials used in food processing, as well as machinery and equipment for production and packaging. Aside from introducing quintessential cuisine to the community, festival is to fully tap into the culinary industry’s potential, create a healthy playground for young people, and contribute to fostering the start-up eco-system whilst accelerating socio-economic development. The Vietnam Culinary Forum 2023 is also held as a platform to discuss orientations for the development of the night-time economy and cuisine aimed at retaining international tourists. In addition, business representatives in the F&B (Food & Beverage) industry have also mapped out a strategy to promote smart tourism with a specific focus on the development of the green culinary trend. The function aims to introduce culinary culture, craft products, regional specia...

Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone invites PM Chinh to step on the podium while military bands play the national anthems of Vietnam and Laos. Both leaders later review the guard of honour. Earlier, right after arriving in Vientiane, Chinh lays a wreath at a monument dedicated to Laos’ unknown martyrs in tribute to Lao people who sacrificed for the independence and freedom of the country, as well as for Vietnam’s independence, freedom and reunification. The two leaders pose for a group photo. This is the first official visit to the neighbouring country by PM Chinh and his first overseas trip this year. PM Chinh is also the first foreign leader to visit Laos since Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone took office. Lao PM Sonexay Siphandone and his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh hold talks immediately after the welcome ceremony. Both sides discuss a score of measures to step up political-diplomatic and...

The host then invites shamans to conduct the worship ritual. Family members arrive at the house to clean up and prepare offerings for the New Year celebrations. The ceremony invites deities and the souls of ancestors to participate in New Year celebrations with their descendants and then bless them with good luck. After the ceremony, family members can then enjoy a meal together. Ethnic villagers stick small bags of cakes to a bamboo tree, sending local residents’ wishes for a new year with fertility, sufficiency, and prosperity. A man conducts the ancestor worship ritual to banish evil omens from a family. Many villagers come to share the joy and dance after the ritual, praying for good weather and a bumper harvest in the year ahead. Local women begin to sew clothes for their families for the New Year celebrations. The post Crop praying ritual in New Year of Dao Tien ethnic people appeared first on Vietexplorer.com . ...

The Hue Monuments Conservation Center hosted the “Thuong tieu” (neu pole erection) ceremony on January 14 at Hue Imperial Citadel (Dai Noi) in the central province of Thue Thien-Hue. The neu pole erection for the Lunar New Year is a traditional practice of the Vietnamese, and also an important etiquette to welcome the new year of the Nguyen dynasty court. Source: tcdulichtphcm.vn The nearly 20-metre bamboo pole was carried by ten costumed soldiers in a procession, where it was put up to the backdrop of ceremonial music and smoke from burning incense at the Ancestral Temple. The erection of the Neu pole on the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month, marks the beginning of Tet. It coincides with the day when the Kitchen Gods are believed to ride carp fish to the Heavens to report on events from the past year. Similar Neu pole erecting ceremonies will also be held at different places from now to the last day of the lunar year. The event follows the ancient royal custom of the N...