The Vietnam Culinary Culture Association (VCCA) honored six signature dishes of Thua Thien Hue Province on November 7.
The six signature dishes of the ancient imperial city of Hue are bun bo Hue (beef noodle soup), che bot loc boc heo quay (sweet soup with roasted pork stuffed in tapioca starch), com hen (mussel rice), banh loc (tapioca starch dumpling), va tron hoa mau chay (vegetarian fig salad), and com hap la sen chay (vegetarian steamed rice wrapped in lotus leaves).
These six dishes are among the 121 national signature dishes honored in phase 1 of the project to build and develop Vietnam’s culinary culture as a national brand in the 2022-2024 period by VCCA. VCCA has been searching for the value of Vietnam’s culinary culture through the country’s 1,000 signature dishes. The data will be digitalized as the “Online Map of Vietnamese Cuisine” and the “Online Museum of Vietnamese Cuisine.”
According to Saigon Tiep Thi Online, such national signature dishes will help promote Vietnamese brand – the culinary culture – all over the world as a premise for Vietnam’s tourism development.
Hang Dau Water Tower welcomes visitors
Hang Dau Water Tower, a nearly 130-year-old architectural work at the six-way intersection of Hang Than, Hang Luoc, Hang Giay, Hang Dau, Quan Thanh and Phan Dinh Phung streets in Ba Dinh District, Hanoi, has been turned into an art space and will be open to visitors for the first time from November 17 to December 31 this year.
Architect Cao The Anh, artist Nguyen Duc Phuong and their aids have turned the old water tower into an installation space inspired by Oriental conception. The sound installation features the sound of water in the nature, whereas the light installation depicts the images of recycled objects from urban waste.
The installation art at Hang Dau Water Tower is part of the Hanoi Creative Design Festival held by the Hanoi People’s Committee and the Vietnam Association of Architects. The art space is also held at Gia Lam Railway Station, Hanoi Railway Station, Long Bien Railway Station and Long Bien Bridge during the festival.
Hang Dau Water Tower was built by the French colonial regime in 1894. The water tower is a three-story stonework in the cylinder shape, with a conical roof and a lightning rod on top. It has a 1,250-cubic-meter steel tank, but its 17 windows have been closed, vnexpress.net reported.
Halong Bay named among world’s 51 most beautiful places
The UNESCO-recognized heritage Halong Bay in the northeastern coastal province of Quang Ninh has been named among the 51 most beautiful places in the world by U.S. magazine Condé Nast Traveler.
The magazine said that Halong Bay is beloved for its blue waters and spread of limestone islands, all occupied by tropical trees and wildlife.
Beyond its natural beauty, travel enthusiasts can be involved in numerous exciting activities while exploring the bay, such as kayaking, discovering mysterious caves, mountain climbing, and visiting fishing villages, according to the Vietnamplus news site.
Previously, several renowned travel magazines also gave highly positive reviews to Halong Bay. In April 2023, CNN’s travel website named it one of the 25 most beautiful destinations worldwide. Prior to that, the famous travel magazine Travel+Leisure voted Halong Bay one of the top spots to watch the most beautiful sunrise and sunset in Asia.
Photography club offers free pre-wedding photoshoots for 1,000 couples
The story about a photography club in HCMC providing free wedding photoshoots for couples with difficult backgrounds has gone viral on social media and won the hearts of numerous citizens.
Founded in 2015, the club has captured over 1,000 sets of wedding photos for couples. It has around 30 official members and numerous collaborators from various professions, including doctors, engineers, and office workers. All members share a passion for photography and a commitment to supporting those in need.
Couples who seek out the club for wedding photos are often manual workers, people with disabilities, or those facing unfortunate circumstances.
Lieng Tran Ngoc Trung Hieu, aged 40, head of the club, told the Thanh Nien news site that many poor and unfortunate couples have not had their wedding photos taken or organized a wedding ceremony, even though they have children and live together. Understanding their circumstances, the club supported them and enhanced their happiness with meaningful photographs. He hopes these couples will have more significant moments and consider them great motivation to strive for their future.
