Dinh Thi Cho, 52, a Ba Na minority woman living in An Toan Commune, Gia Lai Province, has devoted her life to the traditional brocade weaving craft of the Ba Na ethnic group.
Every day, Cho spends her time weaving colorful brocade with her handloom. She told baodantoc.vn that brocade weaving is not only her means of livelihood but also her love. To date, she is the only artisan in the commune that pursuits the traditional brocade weaving craft of the Ba Na ethnic people.
Cho formerly lived in Vinh Son Commune, where her aunt was a skilled brocade weaving artisan. She took her spare time learning the traditional craft from her aunt. She could make the first brocade scarf as gift for her mother after a few months of learning. When her family moved to An Toan Commune, she brought with her the weaving loom presented to her by her aunt.
Over the past 40 years, Cho has made thousands of colorful brocade fabrics, skirts, blouses and scarves from that very loom. She gave most of these products to her relatives to instill in them a love of brocade weaving craft. She also teaches the traditional craft to interested ones at her home, hoping to protect her people’s traditional craft from falling into oblivion.
A mural route calls for single-use plastics reduction
On October 21, the World Wildlife Fund for Nature in Vietnam (WWF-Vietnam) coordinated with Hue City’s Department of Tourism and the People’s Committee of Dan Dien Commune to inaugurate the Cu Lac-Ngu My Thanh mural route with a view to developing tourism and contributing to single-use plastics reduction in this tourist destination.
The mural route is part of the “Hue – the single-use plastics reduction city in Central Vietnam” project funded by the WWF-Vietnam. The single-use plastics reduction tourist destination in Ngu My Thanh-Con Toc (Dan Dien Commune) by Tam Giang Lagoon was introduced early this year, where eight local tourism service establishments have committed to implementing specific measures to reduce single-use plastics in their business.
These establishments have been equipped with initial tools such as glass water bottles, water filtering machines, waste bins for sorting and signboards to facilitate project implementation. The Hue Tourism College and travel companies will organize tours of the mural route calling for single-use plastics reduction in Ngu My Thanh-Con Toc. According to vietnamplus.vn, the route has 10 huge murals drawn by young artists, volunteers and local people, depicting the life on Tam Giang Lagoon, sceneries and environmental protection messages.
Performing tug-of-war in the capital city
On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the “Ritual and game tug-of-war” inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, teams from South Korea and some other countries will arrive in Hanoi to perform tug-of-war with Vietnamese teams.
This is one of the 30 cultural and artistic activities to take place at the Thang Long-Hanoi Festival 2025 themed “Heritage-Connection-Modernity” to be held from November 1 to 16 in Hanoi City.
According to tuoitre.vn, the Thang Long-Hanoi Festival 2025 will take place at Hanoi’s typical destinations like Thang Long Imperial Citadel, Ngoc Son Temple, Temple of Literature, Hanoi Museum and Hoan Kiem Lake.
International tug-of-war teams will compete with 10 domestic teams at Tran Vu Temple, Long Bien Ward, Hanoi. The “Heritage Convergence” displaying traditional products of three ancient capitals (Thang Long, Hue and Hoa Lu) and the Central Highlands provinces will be held at the Temple of Literature.
There will be a seminar on a decade of preserving and promoting the “Ritual and game tug-of-war,” ao dai fashion show, painting exhibition, variety shows, exhibition on archaeological discoveries, traditional water puppetry performances, to name but a few, during the Thang Long-Hanoi Festival 2025.
Traffic policemen present flowers on Vietnamese Women’s Day
On the Vietnamese Women’s Day (October 20), women who came to pay traffic fines at the Da Phuoc Traffic Police Station (under the HCMC Police Department’s PC08) in Chanh Hung Ward, HCMC, were surprised to receive flowers, gifts and keyholders from the policemen at the station.
A representative of the Da Phuoc Traffic Police Station told thanhnien.vn that all the citizens coming over to the station to pay traffic fines will be welcomed and have a chance to learn traffic law. On October 20, the Vietnamese Women’s Day, the policemen at the station presented flowers, gifts and keyholders (each has a QR code for recipients to scan to search traffic rules) to female violators.
The Da Phuoc Traffic Police Station is in charge of maintaining traffic order and safety and coping with traffic violations in HCMC’s former District 8 and part of former District 7.
