The cultural heritage of Ca Trù singing, Hanoi Vietnam

Hanoi is preserving and developing its cultural heritages by offering to the public as well as visitors an opportunity to see and enjoy the performances at first-hand.

Of these is Ca Trù singing, a kind of traditional folk art in the north of Vietnam using the sung poetic forms in different melodies combined with unique musical instruments. Ca tru first appeared in the 11th century and was performed at royal receptions and religious rituals. It was later performed more widely in singing parlors.

A Ca Trù performance comprised by three artists: a female singer who uses breathing techniques and vibrato to create unique ornamented sounds, while playing the clappers or striking a wooden box, and two instrumentalists who produce the deep tone of a lute-like instrument with three strings and the strong sounds of a praise drum.

Ca Trù was inscribed on the list of intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding in 2009 by UNESCO.

(A Ca Tru group of three performers)

Ca Trù is a must see to know about the old Vietnamese culture in the past. Coming to Hanoi, visit French colonial architecture styles, talking to Vietnamese cultural researchers, local artists, explore the old quarter called 36 old streets and enjoy Ca Trù singing is a part of Vietnam northern cultural experience for what is recommended highly by professional tour-organizers.

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Five more luxury hotels operational in Hanoi for National Tourism Year

Hanoi plans to put into operation five more luxury hotels, offering an additional 2,000 rooms during National Tourism Year 2010.

They include four five-star hotels, namely Hanoi Plaza, with 600 rooms, the PetroVietnam hotel complex with 350 rooms, Keang Nam Vina complex with 500 rooms and Crowne Plaza Hanoi, 393 rooms.

The city now boasts 213 hotels with nearly 10,000 rooms, including 36 three to five-star hotels.

Last year, the room occupancy rate was 55.41%, a fall of 21.7% compared to 2008.

The average duration of stay was 2 days per foreign tourist who came from major markets as Japan, the Republic of Korea, France, Australia, China and ASEAN countries.

The city’s tourism sector expects a surge in the number of foreign tourists during the national tourism year, helping raising the rate of hotel room occupancy.

(Source: VNA)

Food fest to bring slice of Hanoi to HCMC

HCMC residents will have a chance to savour authentic Hanoi cuisine and experience the rural ambience of northern Vietnam at a three-day event held to mark the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long- Hanoi.

The “Thang Long Citadel cuisine in South Vietnam” Festival at Van Thanh Tourism Park would introduce "significant cultural traits and folk cuisine of the North," said Chiem Thanh Long, Director of Van Thanh Tourism Park. "We are getting ready a miniature of ancient Hanoi at the park."

The event, organised by the HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism will open on December 11. There will be a rural market, snack counter, temple festival, and traditional feast.

Visitors can enjoy delicacies like banh gai Hang Be (glutinous rice cake dyed black in a concoction of leaves made in Hang Be Street), banh gio Do Mang (pyramidal rice dumpling filled with meat, onion, and mushroom from a place called Madame Demange), banh com Hang Than (grilled cake of young rice in Hang Than Street), and banh tom (crisp shrimp pastry).

A death-anniversary feast and a wedding feast will be the highlights of the event.

"We will have artisans and officials from the Vietnam Cuisine Research Institute to make it a genuine northern feast," Long said.

"Every day we will serve only 40 tables of traditional feast, which will cost VND960,000 (US$52). Each table will have ten dishes serving six people."

Besides the food, daily Northern Vietnamese life will be depicted, including a market with street vendors in traditional costumes and calling out to passers-by, an exhibition of Vietnamese wines, and an exhibition of paintings and books about Thang Long, the country’s ancient capital.

Huynh Van Son, a department representative, said northern folk games would be on display, including Chinese chess, water puppetry, and wrestling.

There would be performances of ca tru (ceremonial singing), quan ho (love duet), hat xam (songs of an itinerant blind musician), and hat xoan (folk workship singing of Phu Tho Province), he added.

Around 8,000 visitors were expected at the festival, Long said. It will run from 4pm to 9pm on each of the three days.

(Source: VNS)