Xin chao!

(Source: http://tuoitrenews.vn/lifestyle/25105/vietnamese-people-celebrate-the-new-year-photos)

A group of Vietnamese and Japanese scientists have announced the discovery of the first volcanic cave system in Vietnam, one part of which is considered the longest such feature in Southeast Asia, according to the General Department of Geology and Minerals of Vietnam.

A Vietnam Airlines flight departing from Hanoi for Singapore on Thursday morning marked the official opening of a new terminal, now the country’s largest and most modern of its kind, at Noi Bai International Airport.

The ten sows at a pig farm in the southern Vietnamese province of Vinh Long start a new day as early as 4:00 am, when the radio above them is turned on, broadcasting the morning news. The pigs relaxingly wag their tails as the sound of the news radio fills their farm, an apparent sign of their enjoying the treat. The radio is played continually until 10:00 pm, a practice Pham Van Phuong, who raises the ten-pig herd, has followed for more than a decade. “I learned from TV and newspapers that foreign people let their cows listen to music to produce more milk, so I thought it would work with my pigs as well,” Phuong told a morning show by national broadcaster VTV1 on December 8. The idea flashed into his mind more than ten years ago, when his pigs were repeatedly startled by noises and miscarried. “I think the music will keep the pigs comfortable,” he said. With the radio playing for 18 hours a day, Phuong’s pigs will listen to anything the station broadcasts, from news ...

The wall is about 20m long, and is on Hoang Van Thu street (Source: http://ngoisao.net/tin-tuc/thu-gian/an-choi/bi-mat-buc-tuong-duoc-chup-anh-nhieu-nhat-hoi-an-3106810.html) (http://hoian60s.com/toan-canh-hoi-an/giai-thuong-hoi-an/ve-hoi-an-ngam-buc-tuong-duoc-chup-anh-nhieu-nhat-hoi-an.html )

Hotels, resorts and travel agencies in Binh Thuan Province, famous for its Mui Ne beach, have agreed to cut prices to fight a dramatic decline in Russian tourists' bookings due to the ruble's fall. Nguyen Van Khoa, chairman of Binh Thuan Tourism Association, said many hotels and resorts including Oriental Pearl, Sea Horse, Muine De Century, The Cliff, Muine Bay, Ocean Star, Pandanus, Rock Water Bay, Park Diamond, Muine Ocean, Blue Ocean, Little Muine, Dynasty, Sea Gull, Ca Ty, and Minh Hung have agreed to offer discounts for tour organizers.

Samsung has offered to raise its investment in Vietnam to US$20 billion in 2017 if their existing business here goes smoothly, according to a new government report. The South Korean giant has become Vietnam’s biggest foreign investor with over $12.6 billion in registered capital. Workers at Samsung's cell phone factory in Bac Ninh Province, northern Vietnam. Photo: Mai Phuong

After three years of construction, a $645.3 mln passenger terminal at the Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi will be put into operation on December 25.   The 4-story Terminal 2, the largest of its kind in Vietnam so far, has been built since December 2011 by a workforce of 1,300 people with a total cost of ¥75.5 billion ($645.35 million). Of the investment, ¥59 billion ($504.27 million) is sourced from the Japanese official development assistance (ODA) and the remaining amount is the local counterpart capital. Workers are now completing the last work items of the facility so that it can be inaugurated in a week’s time. The terminal is 996 meters long and has a total gross floor area of over 139,000 square meters. The new facility can serve 10-15 million passengers per year.

TuoiTreNews - Ninety percent of royal dishes stemming from Hue City – Vietnam's former capital – and available now in the market are inauthentic because they are not prepared in a proper way, experts said this week at a seminar.

This morning, Dec 18th 2014 - Sapa: 1.5oC                          - Hanoi: 10.4oC                         - Hai Phong: 10.6oC (News and photo credit: http://www.thanhnien.com.vn/chinh-tri-xa-hoi/bang-gia-phu-trang-nui-doi-sa-pa-518186.html)                        

In an explicit gesture to boost tourism, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has instructed agencies concerned to consider waiving tourist visa requirements for more nationalities and to continue streamlining visa procedures that have been decried as ineffective. Under a resolution issued last week that outlined several measures aimed at developing the industry, PM Dung asked the ministries of public security, tourism, and foreign affairs to work with relevant agencies to make careful checks and propose the list of visa waiver countries. The resolution did not dwell on the specific nationalities. But last August, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Transport proposed that the central government waive tourist visa requirements for France, Germany, the UK, Spain, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, India and Canada in a bid to pull in more visitors from those markets. “We believe there are very strong arguments to broadening the list of visa waiver countri...

Ăn cơm = Eat rice (have lunch or dinner) (Vietnamese has rice for meals) Ăn cơm đi con = Eat rice, my son/daughter Ăn cơm đi! = Eat rice, now! (I'm angry now, if you don't eat now, and eat all, don't think of watching movie, playing game...) Ăn cơm đi! = Eat now! (Don't cry, it is useless. Your mother is not here. And I'm your "second" mother. Your father is far away. He can't help you)

Da Nang City in central Vietnam has led the “World’s Destinations on the Rise" category of the 2014 Travelers’ Choice Awards given by travel site TripAdvisor. The city beat nine other destinations around the world to rank first, including Sihanoukville (Cambodia), Limassol (Cyprus), Ao Nang (Thailand), Bodrum City (Turkey), Naha (Japan), Hurghada (Egypt), Kazan (Russia), Manaus (Brazil), and Eilat (Israel) – listed in descending order. The coastal city was also ranked highest in the “Asia’s Destinations on the Rise” category, followed by Cambodia’s Sihanoukville, Thailand’s Ao Nang, Japan’s Naha, the Republic of Maldives’ Male, Azerbaijan’s Baku, India’s Leh, Sri Lanka’s Kandy, Armenia’s Yerevan, and India’s Rishikesh. “The port city of Da Nang is a beacon for foodies, who flock here to sample the famously fresh and bold flavors of Central Vietnamese cuisine,” TripAdvisor wrote about Da Nang. “Taste your way through the streets on a walking or biking culinary tou...

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has signed off on a proposal that will grant state employees nine days off for Tet (Lunar New Year) and two other extended holidays in 2015. An announcement posted on the government website Monday said the official holiday will begin on February 15 and end on February 23. State employees will have to work on Saturday (February 14) to make up the extra day off (Monday, February 16).