A writing competition titled The Memory of Ha Noi was launched yesterday, Sept 20, as part of the celebrations for the capital’s 1,000th anniversary.

Its sponsors are the Viet Nam Association of Photographic Artists; Nestle Nescafe brand of coffee and the website cungtrochuyen.com and the contest has been combined with last month’s photo contest of the same name.

The sponsors on cungtrochuyen.com say it is the first time two contests have been co-ordinated so that competitors can fully express their deep sentiments about the capital.

A link between the websites cungtrochuyen.com and www.vnphoto.net will be created so that photographers can share their views about the work.

The writing contest will close on October 30 with a first prize of a Sony camera worth VND6 million; a second prize of VND5 million and a third prize of VND4 million.

Organisers say they have received more than 1,100 photos since the launch of the contest last month and these will be displayed at a four-day exhibition titled 1,000 Looks of Ha Noi in the Ha Noi Library, 47 Ba Trieu Street on October 2-5.

The photos will be auctioned to raise money to preserve and improve the cultural values of Ha Noi, says Nestle Viet Nam marketing director Sakulborrirug Chaiyong.

Bidders will also have the opportunity to buy a Nescafe lacquer box designed to symbolise the historical epochs of Thang Long - Dong Do - Ha Noi.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News