HCM CITY — The Saigontourist Holding Company yesterday organised a closing ceremony for Nguyen Hue Flower Street which opened during the Tet (Lunar New Year) Festival.
The city People's Committee commended the active participation of 48 organisations and 78 individuals in the 2011 Tet Festival.
An estimated of 1 million people visited Nguyen Hue Flower Street during Tet.
The main sponsor for this section, Kinh Do Company, contributed VND500 million (US$25,000) to the Sponsoring Association for Poor Patients.
The organiser also collected VND68 million ($3,400) of coins from the Wishing Pond that were sent to the association.
Hue kicks off eight-day New Year festival
HCM CITY — Thua Thien-Hue Province authorities on Thursday kicked off an eight-day annual festival celebrating the New Year at Huyen Tran Temple in Hue City.
The temple worships both Princess Huyen Tran, who is considered the founder of Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Tri and Quang Nam provinces, and her father, King Tran Nhan Tong (1258-1308).
The first event of the festival was a prayer and ritual ceremony conducted by Buddhist monks to pray for peace and prosperity in the new year. Leaders and residents of Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Tri lit incense sticks during the ceremony.
The festivities include lanterns, traditional prayers for good luck, folklore performances, handicraft exhibitions and a vegetarian food festival.
The festival ends on February 17.
Hoi An students to learn Japanese in pilot plan
QUANG NAM — The central province of Quang Nam on Thursday started a pilot programme to teach Japanese language at the primary and junior-high school levels.
The lessons are being taught in one third-grade class at Luong The Vinh primary school and two sixth-grade classes at Kim Dong junior high school in Hoi An.
The programme's organisers are Hoi An City People's Committee and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the Human Resources Institute (HRI) Viet Nam.
Japanese teachers from HRI Viet Nam are in charge of helping the students get acquainted with Japanese language and culture through interactive activities.
Nakamura Kouji, a teacher at Kim Dong School, said: "I started to discover a big world outside Japan when I first made contact with foreigners."
"I hope that Vietnamese students like the subject and realise it is a way for them to know more about the country, people and culture of Japan," Nakamura added.
Since the 17th century, Hoi An has a longstanding history of commercial exchanges with Japan. Many relics of Japan can be found in Hoi An. — VNS