Viet Nam News
by Minh Thu
The Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) has launched new tours to museums, theatres and other places of historic and cultural interest in the capital to highlight their remarkable history.
Tours such as “History of Viet Nam - Discovering the Earth”, “History of Viet Nam - Dawn on the Rivers”, “Vietnamese Fine Arts - Treasures in Ha Noi” and “Viet Nam Countryside - A View” will take tourists to beautiful destinations in Ha Noi and give them a chance to enjoy the city’s history, culture and art.
The move is a step in the plans of Nguyen Ngoc Thien, minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, to organise quality art programmes and build cultural products to serve tourists.
Following Thien’s direction, VNAT has coordinated with Viet Nam National Museum of History, Viet Nam Fine Arts Museum, Viet Nam National Puppetry Theatre, the Centre for Research, Preservation and Promotion of Vietnamese Traditional Culture, and travel agents to introduce tours to connect museums and theatres with tourism products.
Phung Quang Thang, vice chairman of the Viet Nam Society of Travel Agents, said foreign tourists to Ha Noi would now have more tour options to select from to discover the city. Electric cars and open-air buses will be used for hop-on, hop-off tours connecting the remarkable spots in the city.
“These are attractive products honouring the fine value of the capital’s history and culture,” he said.
Heritage House, 87 Ma May Street
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| Heart of the city: Heritage House, 87 Ma May Street is a great example of the type of architecture that once prevailed throughout Ha Noi’s busy Old Quarter. — VNA/VNS Photo Anh Tuan |
It may be hard to imagine, but Ma May Street was once located on the banks of the Red River in the midst of a commercial harbour. The wooden house is a destination for the tour “Dawn on the Rivers”.
Dating back to the 19th century, this special house is a great example of the type of architecture that once prevailed throughout Ha Noi’s busy Old Quarter.
The house, with a narrow frontage, consists of two main blocks, linked together by a square yard in the middle on the ground floor, allowing light and air to flow through.
The street-facing room on the ground floor is used to sell goods. Behind it is a living room to host guests, with a kitchen and bathroom located to the rear. Upstairs has a bedroom and ancestor altar.
The balcony on the second floor is an ideal place to grow ornamental plants. Flower pots too can be arranged here to provide a relaxing atmosphere.
All the walls in the house are painted a typical yellow, like other traditional houses in Ha Noi. The furniture and decorative items are reserved in good condition. Though it was last renovated in 1999, the house continues to be an ancient beauty in itself.
Tourists can come and see how a family once lived in the city’s downtown. They can buy traditional Vietnamese decorative items, souvenir and lacquerware. The house is a 10-minute walk from Sword Lake.
Bach Ma (White Horse) Temple, 76 Hang Buom Street
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| Typical style: Bach Ma Temple’s architecture bears a resemblance to that of a Buddhist temple in the north of Viet Nam, with beautifully decorated interiors and a red-lacquered palanquin. — Photo courtesy of the VNAT |
It is believed to be the oldest temple in the capital, built in the ninth century by King Ly Thai To to worship the holy White Horse. The story goes that the horse had helped the king out when the walls of the Royal Citadel collapsed by using its hooves to delineate an area where the walls should have been built instead.
The temple’s architecture bears a typical resemblance to that of a Buddhist temple in the north of Viet Nam, with beautifully decorated interiors and a red-lacquered funeral palanquin.
Inside the Bach Ma Temple is a statue of the White Horse, a shrine dedicated to Confucius and a Phoenix Altar for offerings to the four seasons. There are also altars to worship Buddha and the Mother Goddess.
The temple guards the east side of Thang Long (former name of Ha Noi).
National Museum of Vietnamese History
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| Trip through time: National Museum of Vietnamese History is a must-see for history buffs. — Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism |
This is a must-see for history buffs. A free audio guide is included with the tour.The museum spreads across two sites. Site One is set in a stunning colonial-era building and houses some beautiful historically important exhibits, while Site Two was formerly known as the Viet Nam Museum of Revolution.
With two gates on Pham Ngu Lao and Trang Tien streets, Site One is a magnificent example of Indo-Chinese architecture.
The building was also home to the (research centre) L’ Ecole Francaise d’Extreme Orient (EFEO), during which it became a museum to exhibit EFEO finds.
The building deteriorated over time, and it was not until the early 1930s, following a seven-year renovation, that it was ready for the public.
The entrance gives way to an impressive two-storied octagonal building, with exhibits all around and many galleries to the rear.
It covers the country’s pre-history through the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945).
The museum also houses various “national treasures” recognised by the government, such as bronze drums, statue of a panpipe-playing couple piggybacking, Viet Khe boat tomb from the Dong Son era (circa 2,500 BC), a ceramic storage jar with brown patterns dating from the Tran Dynasty (1226-1400) and the original version of the book Duong Kach Menh (Revolutionary Path) written by President Ho Chi Minh.
Site Two is just across the road, on Tran Quang Khai Street. The exhibits here show the Vietnamese people’s resistance wars against the French and American invasions and the country during the Doi Moi (Renewal) era and integration process.
It’s worth visiting the museum with the Ha Noi Opera House, an iconic French architecture, which is a five-minute walk from the museum.
Viet Nam Fine Arts Museum, 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street
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| Home of art: Viet Nam Fine Arts Museum is set in a stunning three-storied, 1930s-era building. A visit to this museum provides some good insights to Vietnamese culture and art as it owns the best and most diverse art collection in the country. — Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism |
A visit to this museum provides some good insights to Vietnamese culture and art as it owns the best and most diverse art collections in the country.
The museum is set in a stunning three-storied, 1930s-era building, originally ordered to be built by the French to house French female students daughters who came to study in Ha Noi.
The exhibits offer a pre-historic view of Vietnamese art up to the era of the resistance wars and contemporary period through paintings, sculptures and visual arts.
A three-storied annex to the main building houses distinct galleries displaying “Applied Decorative Arts”, costumes and other arts from different ethnic groups. The first floor has folk art, ceramics and temporary exhibits.
The museum is located next to the Temple of Literature, so one can easily combine the two landmarks.
Art performances showing quintessential national culture
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| Traditional life: A scene from "The Soul of the Vietnamese Village", describing the landscape, daily activities, culture and beliefs of the rural people in northern Viet Nam. — Photo courtesy of the show’s organiser. |
"The Soul of the Vietnamese Village", a show produced by the Centre for Research, Conservation and Development of Vietnamese Culture, describes the landscape, daily activities, culture and beliefs of the rural people in northern Viet Nam.
It highlights all four genres of folk music recognised as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, including ca tru (ceremonial singing), nha nhac (royal court music), hat van (spiritual singing accompanied by trance rituals to worship the Mother Goddess) and quan ho (love folk duets).
The show involves a wide range of traditional musical instruments, including monochord, dan nhi (two-string zither), dan day (plucked lute), dan thap luc (16-string zither), dan tam thap luc (36-string zither), flutesand drum. Even kitchenware and brooms are used as musical instruments.
“The show aims to promote folk music among Vietnamese people and foreigners,” says producer Mai Tuyet Hoa.
“The music, along with the stage decor and sound effects, creates a space typical of northern rural areas. Lighting techniques and self-painted backdrops are used to add more effects to the show. We also use the sound effects of insects, birds and water flowing to remind audiences of childhood in their hometowns,” says Hoa.
Apart from the Thang Long Puppetry Theatre downtown, VNAT will introduce a performance at the Viet Nam National Puppetry Theatre at 361 Truong Chinh Street. It’s a harmonious combination between water puppetry and stage puppetry. The show presents selective pieces featuring the quintessential Vietnamese culture. VNS