Central Highlands province presents gongs to villages; Short stories compete for regional literary award; Scandia Villa opens Tuy Hoa tourism village; Ha Noi to host traditional cooking competition

As part of an effort to preserve the traditional cultures of ethnic minorities, all 576 communal houses in Dac Lac province are expected to receive a gong by next year.

As part of an effort to preserve the traditional cultures of ethnic minorities, all 576 communal houses in the province are expected to receive a gong by next year, it said.

There are now 3,375 gongs, 2,680 in the possession of the E De people, 627 with the M’Nong, and 68 with the Ja Rai.

Short stories compete for regional literary award

Cao Duy Son’s short story collection, Ngoi Nha Xua Ben Suoi (Old House by the Stream), is in competition this year for the Southeast Asian Writers Award, presented annually by the Thai royal family to encourage and honour poets and writers in the region.

Ngoi Nha Xua Ben Suoi

was recognised by the Viet Nam Writers Association in 2008 for its depictions, in a simple and spontaneous style, of the lives of people in Viet Nam’s mountain regions.

Following Nguyen Ngoc Tu’s Canh Dong Bat Tan (Endless Field), which won the ASEAN Writers Award last year, Ngoi Nha Xua Ben Suoi is the latest Vietnamese work to compete for a regional prize.

Scandia Villa opens Tuy Hoa tourism village

An international coastal tourism village project worth US$10 million broke ground in Tuy Hoa City, in the southern province of Phu Yen on an area of 3,884ha by Sweden’s Scandia Villa and Resort Ltd.

In five years, the village will be able to welcome more than 1,000 visitors per day. “This national tourism project will first be able to receive visitors after it completes its first phase in 2011,” Helena Van, the company’s chairwoman of the board, said.

The area will have a seaside resort, a 4ha park, 200 villas, 120 hotel apartments, a 4-star resort, a 5-star hotel, a tennis yard and other entertainment centres.

Ha Noi to host traditional cooking competition

A traditional Vietnamese cooking competition will take place in Ha Noi, headed by the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

The competition will be held for cooks from many hotels and restaurants across the country. Each contestant must have at least three years of working experience to enter, and each hotel or restaurant can have one to three staff members to prepare traditional dishes.

This competition will be organised to celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long - Ha Noi and 50 years of Viet Nam Tourism.

The first round will be held in individual regions by the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism from now through October 15. The best results will be sent to the VNAT before October 30 to take part in the finals in mid December.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News