Xin chao!

Sapa 15th December 2013 Heavy snowfall caused a traffic jam that extended nearly 5 km on the top of O Quy Ho mountain pass in Sa Pa town in the northern province of Lao Cai on Sunday morning. Many roads and trees have been blanketed by 5 to 10cm thick snow. Local people said the snow started falling at 9:30am on December 15 in the Xe mountain area at an altitude of 2,200m. Nguyen Phuc Thanh, a forest official in charge of managing the Nui Xe mountain area, said that as of 9:30 am today the temperature in O Quy Ho fell to about 2 degree Celsius while the temperature in the Nui Xe Mt area was under 0 degree Celsius. He added that the temperatures continued to fall as of 11:30am. ( http://tuoitrenews.vn/society/16025/in-photos-snowfall-in-sapa ) Romance of the northern winter VietNamNet Bridge - Despite of the cold weather, Hanoi, Ha Giang, Moc Chau ... are very beautiful with yellow mustard flower fields, with roads covered by mist or little ethni...

The Ministry of Culture , Sports, and Tourism announced on Dec 5 that Vietnam’s “Don ca tai tu” (southern folk music) has made UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.   Vietnamese folk music was announced as one of the 11 new inscriptions on UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity at the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Heritage’s 8th session, which runs until tomorrow, Dec 7.  The application was submitted to UNESCO in 2007 and a host of promotion activities were held in the southern provinces to boost the chances of earning recognition for the regional music. According to music researcher Bui Trong Hien of the Institute of Vietnamese Arts and Culture , following the recognition, the conservation of “don ca tai tu” will become considerably easier, as the art has attracted a large number of practitioners and audiences. “We should just le...

Tropical fruit Noodle soup Luxury goods originating from Vietnam VietNamNet Bridge - The names of these luxurious foods and drinks attract not only Vietnamese but international gourmets. Marou Chocolates Marou, the first artisanal chocolate maker in Vietnam, makes its products for serious cocoa fans. The chocolatier has displayed its wares for the past two years at the annual Salon De Chocolate trade fair in Paris. All products are dark chocolate. Tien Giang chocolate 70 percent is a rare type of chocolate which is produced with 70 percent organic cocoa beans grown in the southern province of Tien Giang. Meanwhile, their Dong Nai chocolate is described by the two founders of Marou, Samuel Maruta and Vincent Mouro, as a rare chocolate. It is processed in their factory near Cat Tien National Park in Dong Nai Province. Marou also produces raw chocolate containing 65 percent cocoa. All products of Marou are packed with a special kind of paper wit...