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Artists perform at the Temple of Literature in Ha Noi yesterday — VNA/VNS Photo Viet Y |
HA NOI — Viet Nam's biggest festival, Tet (lunar new year), has been packed with a variety of different celebrations across the country.
Thousands of people flocked to the central province of Binh Dinh to celebrate the Ngoc Hoi- Dong Da Victory (1789-2010) at the Quang Trung Museum in Tay Son District on the fifth day of the lunar year, marking the 221st anniversary of King Quang Trung's victory over the Chinese Qing invaders.
Hundreds of artists, martial art practitioners and local students performed the historical periods of the Tay Son peasant uprising led by national hero Quang Trung - Nguyen Hue.
A similar event, held at Ha Noi's Dong Da Cultural Park, aimed to celebrate Ha Noi's 1,000-year anniversary in October.
Ha Noi authorities burned joss sticks and paid tribute to King Quang Trung, saying that the victory was a symbol of the Vietnamese people's enduring patriotism and solidarity against invaders.
The battle was won thanks to the talented military strategies of the Tay Son insurgent army under the leadership of national hero Quang Trung, they said.
Colouring the event were performances from the Ha Noi Cheo (traditional opera) Theatre, dragon dances, a game of human chess and martial arts shows.
Earlier on Wednesday, or the fourth day of the new lunar year, a cable-car system, the first of its kind, was put into operation in the southern province of Vung Tau's Ho May eco-tourism complex.
From the cable cars, tourists and travellers can enjoy Vung Tau's landscape, including its beaches, mountains and cherry flowers.
"The cable cars will help tourists to easily access the Ho May eco-tourism site and enjoy virgin forests, peacock farms and many other things," said a manager of the site.
Meanwhile, the southern province of Tay Ninh started a festival called Nui Ba which attracted hundreds of pilgrims and tourists wanting to pay tribute at the Ba Temple, to wish for a healthy and prosperous new year.
"This year we spent VND5 billion upgrading the road from Ba Mountain's roots to its top to create favourable conditions for travellers to enjoy the festival, which includes a fishing competition, tennis, dancing and singing," an official from Tay Ninh Province said.
He added that the festival, which will last until the end of this month, is expected to attract more than 1 million pilgrims.
Aside from Tay Ninh, the central province of Khanh Hoa has claimed a sudden increase of tourists and travellers before and during Tet, nearly triple compared to the same period last year, according to an official from the provincial department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The province's tourism sites of Vinpearl Land, Hon Tam, Hon Mun, Con Se Tre and Tri Nguyen had received thousands of guests each day, the official said.
Moreover, Nha Trang had opened a street for pedestrians which included 24 shopping and food stalls.
In the northwestern province of Dien Bien, local authorities launched a tree growing festival in memory of President Ho Chi Minh. More than 500 trees were planted on the third-day of the Lunar New Year.
People around the country chose to travel in droves during Tet, with many going abroad.
In HCM City, more than 30,000 city residents travelled during the long holiday season, figures from travel agencies show.
Doan Thi Thanh Tra of Saigon Tourist travel company said nearly 2,000 booked domestic tours with her company to popular destinations like Nha Trang, Phan Thiet, Da Lat, and Buon Ma Thuot, while another 600 went on foreign tours.
Her firm's offices in Ha Noi, Quang Ninh, Da Nang, and Can Tho organised tours for a further 1,200, she added.
Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai, director of Foreign Affairs and Media at another large tour operator, Fiditour, said the number of people booking tours jumped 30 per cent this year.
Bookings for foreign tours was also much higher since this year many people had almost 10 days off from work.
Fiditour operated more than 150 tours during the holidays, with all of them becoming fully booked a month in advance.
Demand for travel to Singapore, Cambodia, and Hong Kong was so sharply up that Fiditour was unable to meet the demand.
Many longer tours costing more than US$1,000 – to places like Australia, Europe, and South Korea – also saw a lot of demand, the company said.
Ben Thanh tourist company organised country-wide tours for 1,050 foreign visitors between February 9 and 23.
The He Tre tourist company said Nha Trang, Mui Ne, and Da Lat were among the most popular destinations this year.
There were also MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions) tourists this Tet.
Saigon Tourist organised a trip for 420 employees of an international insurance company who attended a conference in Thailand, a trip to Da Nang for 150 employees of another firm, and a pan-Viet Nam tour for 77 international visitors.
There were also 1,100 MICE tourists from Japan's Matsuo Company, 130 from Prudential insurance company, and 98 from AIA Insurance.
Tan Hong tourism company and Viet Excursions served 1,156 visitors arriving aboard the German ship Aidacara on New Year's Eve.
On February 16 Italian cruise ship Silver Whisper arrived with 351 passengers from countries like the UK, Australia and the US to celebrate Lunar New Year in the country. — VNS