Tea Plantation

The Vietnamese live on farming and one of the well-known agricultural products is green tea. The photo above depicts a cottage in a green tea plantation in Da Lat City. Dalat has a long history of tea planting. At first, local people planted some tea trees in their neighbourhood or picked up tea leaves in the forest. After the departure of the French administration, they invested in this industry by doing research and expanding their growing areas that lead to the increase of their tea quality.

The most growing regions are Thai Nguyen Province in northern Vietnam or Lam Dong Province in central highlands. There are three popular kinds of tea that include black tea, green tea, and oolong. The second is the most favourite drink for Vietnamese. The green tea is processed to scent jasmine or lotus or pandan tea that is served after a meal.

A question for a foreigner is how to buy a bag of delicious tea. It is hard to find our a solution as most of the tea companies are small- or medium-scales ones that don't stand out in the complicate market of Vietnam. The best way is that you visit the tea plantation that is known to see in person how they grow and to find how quality they are and directly purchase from farmers.

The photograph courtesy of Tuoi Tre Online

Mangrove Forest Ru Cha

The photograph above describes the pristine beauty of Mangrove Forest Ru Cha, which is nestled in Tam Giang Lagoon, Middle Vietnam. In late October, trees turn grey-white that gives an impression of the forest covered with snow. Ru Cha is touted as a tourist attraction for those who want to stay from stuffy city life and earsplitting atmosphere to enjoy a tranquil place, poetic landscape.

The forest brings to you a moment of relaxation as it is circled by lakes, channels and endowed with a diverse ecosystem, including a wide range of fauna and flora. In addition, it gives an opportunity to take a boat on a small river in the middle of the forest to learn more about the harsh life of fishermen, to enjoy the untouched natural beauty and the authentic cuisine of Middle Vietnam.

In terms of climate change, The Worldwide Life Fund (WWF) sponsored a two-year project (2014-2015) on planting more than 23,000 mangrove trees on the coastal area to retain biodiversity here.

The photograph courtesy of Tuoi Tre Online

Thuy Khue Street

Thuy Khue Street is one of the streets in Hanoi, which still preserves old features like village gates and moss covered roofs of temples or communal houses dotted in a modern coat of the urbanization. High-rise buildings and villas have developed to replace front street gardens and village houses. However, thanks to huge trunks and their large foliage, Thuy Khue still retains its ancient look and give cool shapes to pedestrians in the scorching days. In addition to this, a large number of village gates clusters in a section near a market. An interesting thing is that none of them looks alike; some are recently restored, others are colourfully faded.

Each gate bears a different name that is a short but intimate name like Gieng, Hau, Chua. They are intimate as they are names of persons. The gates exist from generation to generation of residents dating back thousand years.

The photograph courtesy of VN Express Online

Hoi An Ancient Town

Hoi An was once a Southeast Asian port in the 16th and 17th century and also a museum of the construction styles. Luckily, it still preserves Chinese temples, Japanese-designed bridge, French construction style houses, and old canals.

You should miss walking along Hoi An Riverside where many colourful lanterns float, creating an interesting atmosphere. For those loving beaches, it offers two lovely beaches 5 km far away from the town centre.

Hoi An is also known for Middle Vietnam gastronomy, shopping, skilful tailors who make a suit in a short time.

Two things about Hoi An Ancient Town make you unforgettable is that the town is too small to walk around and its traffic is nowhere near as big as a big city. on roads are pedestrians, bikes, and bicycles.       

The photograph courtesy of Thanh Nien Online

H'Hen Nie supports Vietnam in the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup

The 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup has come to the semifinal that includes fours teams: the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia. On Saturday 1 December 2018, Thailand is going to fight against Malaysia and on Sunday 2 December 2018, Vietnam will play guest to the Philippines on the first leg of the semifinal.

The soccer fans of the four countries are earnestly waiting for two important matches. Vietnam is taking the lead of the group with three wins against Laos, Malaysia, and Kampuchea and a goalless draw with Myanmar. Meanwhile, the Philippines ranks the second in the other group with two victories over Singapore and Timo Leste and two draws with Indonesia and the current AFFcup champion Thailand.

The photograph courtesy of Soha Online

Epson International Pano Award

This is a piece of art by amateur professional Chin Leong Teo, Singaporean, describing two Vietnamese girls clad in ao dai (white long dress), traditional costume, carrying baskets on their shoulders. It is also one of more than 5,000 entries of the Epson International Pano Award contest, which has drawn the attention of 1,251 professionals and enthusiasts around the world. This prestigious competition is dedicated to the craft and art that showcase the panorama beauty.

Founded by Australian landscape photographer David Evans with the support of Epson Australia, the competition has developed thanks to photographic professionals and enthusiastic sponsors. In other words, it has grown on the love and passion of the art. It gives an opportunity to showcase winning pieces of art or top score entries. 

2018 award pool worth over $50,000 includes $20,000 cash.

The photograph courtesy of Tuoi Tre Online

Storm Usagi hit the mainland in Vietnam

In the early afternoon of November 25, 2018, storm Usagi weakened into the tropical depression, then into a low-temperature zone and approached the south-central and southern Vietnam, with unleashing winds at 60 to 90km per hour and gust at up to 130km an hour.

Usagi, which is considered as the ninth storm to hit Vietnam this year, has made its circulation, combined with an enhanced cold front. According to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorology Forecasting, it was anticipated to bring heavy downpours to provinces in south-central and southern Vietnam from November 25- 27.

Storm Usagi has hit Ho Chi Minh City with showers in this city. The local administration has encouraged residents to stay indoors. Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province was battered by torrential rains and strong gusts that is flooding many streets and breaking lots of trees, paralyzing the traffic system of the city. Nha Trang, Cam Ranh, and Khanh Hoa Provinces have also suffered from the same situation.

The photograph courtesy of VN Express Online

Lingerie fitting "angel" Lee Haneul

Lee Haneul recently visited Hoi An Ancient Town in Vietnam that had attracted the local media attention. Haneul along with her group took advantage of a stay at this town, exploring its beauty of the architectural building that combines features of China, Japan, and Vietnam, its authentic cuisine as well as posing for photographs to post on her social media.

Haneul is well-noted as a lingerie fitting model after grabbing the international and national attention due to the lingerie commercial. With her innocent face and graceful body that is fit to woman's underwear, nightwear apparel, and bikini, she becomes more popular in this industry. In fact, her shoot after shoot has gone viral on her Website that has hooked more fans than ever.

The photograph courtesy of VN Express Online

Savour Vietnam

This photograph is one of thousand entries for the competition "Savour Vie3tnam", which is organised by Tuoi Tre Newspaper and Saigon Tourist, Ho Chi Minh-based tourist company. This contest launched in 2017 and has lasted till 2018 that has drawn the attention of thousands of professionals and enthusiasts inbound and outbound. The total value of these awards USD 30,100.

This event inspires authors to promote to international visitors cultural identities, landscapes, and people, including more than 8,100 photos, nearly 900 articles, and at least 180 video clips that laud the culture, history, cuisine, and traditional heritage.

The photo collection of Ban Gioc Waterfall by Le Duc Thanh won the first prize, the second prize was the piece of art "Cat Ba from atop" by Le Ngoc Binh, and the third prize was "Northwestern Region in May" by Nguyen Anh Tuan.

Photograph courtesy of Tuoi Tre Online

A tour to a countryside in VIetnam

The Vietnamese in the countryside live on farming, a characteristic of an agrarian society. If you make a tour of the countryside, you would see uninterrupted green paddy fields, hear cries of farmers to call their neighbours to go to work. The iconic image of a Vietnamese farmer is a man with a conic hat following a water buffalo on rice fields. All contribute to a living picture of a rural area.

For those getting tired of hustling and bustling as in a big city, wanting to avoid skyscrapers, crowded restaurants, and air pollution, the countryside is one of their best choices. They would enjoy a life to the fullest and be surrounded by hospitable people who always give a hand to others.

Different areas have their identities in the style of life and human characteristics. For those living in the lowlands, their livelihood is to grow rice, raise livestock, and make traditional crafts. Thanks to favorable weather condition, they often have good harvest crops that help them earn much more. Thus, their lives is easy, in other words, they don't need to work hard. For those living in Central Vietnam, they suffer from a lot of natural disasters annually that makes their lives harsher. This may be a good thing that makes them diligent, hard-working. Their lives are full of difficulties in livelihood. 

The photograph courtesy of Thanh Nien Online

Sarah Tran

Sarah Tran is Vietnamese Australian has earned millions of dollars thanks to ads on Instagram. On this handle, she shares the know-how of make-up that hooks thousands of people. In addition to posts about beauty, Sarah uploads photos about travel she has made in different countries in Europe and Asia.

Recently, she and her boyfriend travelled to Vietnam, particularly in Hoi An Town, where she shared her feelings about her meeting and talking to peddlers who have lived from the old town being stricken by poverty (luckily, not destroyed by the war) to the town developed by tourism. This trip may be considered a root-finding one as her mother is Vietnamese. She also visited Tra Vinh Province in Southern Vietnam where she sailed on small channels meandering along two sides of coconut trees which brings a cool shade.  

In a post on Instagram, she wrote her feeling about Hoi An Ancient Town in terms of scenery and gastronomy. A moment of sipping Vietnamese coffee (called iced coffee in Vietnam), she felt she was dying or living her life to the fullest. This city is the most picture perfect place that she encourages everyone to come early if they want to avoid the crowd.  

The photograph courtesy of Tuoi Tre Online

Gia Rai Province

Gia Rai is one of the provinces in Middle Vietnam which is home to Jarai People. They live in slash-and-burn cultivation, that is, they cut off trees for land to grow. In their community, the village chiefs and the oldest take roles of running their community. They make a decision in any issues arisen in their village.

There is a community house called Rong where all traditional activities are organized to retain the long-standing rituals that they want to transmit to their following generations. In the matriarchy system, a girl decides to get married to a man she falls in love with. The man follows his wife to live with his wife's family and has no rights to inheritance. The wife is the main bread maker in a family.

In their custom, if the husband dies, his wife has a right to get the brother-in-law and vice versus. All dead relatives are buried in the same place. They think died people turn into the ghost. Thus, there is a grave-leaving ceremony in which they sing and dance to invite the dead to move to a new house.

The photograph courtesy of VN Express Online

Bao Loc Town

Da Lat City is known by over the world due to the mild climate and beauty of nature. Not far from this city, Bao Loc Town has also attracted tourists with its own charm. Recently, more people have come to Bao Loc Town as it hosts cool climate, endless green tea plantations, and romantic waterfalls.

Tourism has developed in this town that leads the rapid growth of homestay. Many farmers have built homestays around lakes or tree houses that hook the interest of young couples or families wanting to live near nature.

An activity that may draw the attention of tourists is to ride a bicycle around green tea fields or along waterfalls on the off-beaten track.

The photograph courtesy of Tuoi Tre Online

Rice Field

This is one of the selection of 107 pieces of art in the photography contest that was organised in 2018 by the Magazine Vietnam Heritage. The exhibition took place from November 2nd to 11in Hanoi. 

These photos describe the beauty of nature and rural life in far remote regions in Vietnam, which promote tourism. 

The image above depicts the scene of working in a rice field in the morning of the ethnic minority people who live on farming. Since the development of tourism in their area, some of their children who can speak English work as tourist guides that bring to them a considerable livelihood.    

The photograph courtesy of Tuoi Tre Online

Prenn Waterfall

Prenn Waterfall is one of the must-visit lists in a tour to Dalat City that sits at the gateway of this city. Once there was an upstream village that bears the name of Prenn. It is why this fall takes after Prenn. From a height of 9 meters, water falls down into a stream, creating a white curtain of a fairy. In 1960, there was a small-scaled zoo that included elephants, bears, pythons, monkeys, tigers, bears, deer, and etc...

The area of Prenn Waterfall used to cover pine forest and primitive trees that account for 90% of this region. Since the development of tourism, the local people have deployed it by building cable car service, suspension bridge, stilt houses and lots of means of entertainment. It is why Prenn Waterfall has now lost its beauty of nature.

However, the positive point is to bring many kinds of activities such as riding ostriches or elephants who take you through creeks, lakes or forests. For those who want to discover the history, it is an opportunity to explore a complex of temples whose kings used to rule Vietnam. 

The photograph courtesy of VN Express Online

Cathedral in Kon Tum City

The cathedral in Kon Tum City is one of the long-standing religious constructions in Middle Vietnam that is combined Roman architecture style with identified local construction, the stilt house. The church includes four rows of pillars: two rows in the room and two near walls. All are made of precious wood like rosewood and ironwood.

The interior decoration is skillfully created by local talented artists, combining the European style that has spellbound inland and outbound tourists. In an overall view, the church generates an impression of a giant cross.

The establishment of this church started from the evangelization of missionaries in this region. The first thing they did was to build this church with trees and leaves. The preaching from scratch was full difficulties as they could speak in the local language. However, with perseverance and patience, they overcame problems to introduce Christianity to local tribes who are now very pious believers.   

The photograph courtesy of VN Express Online

Fishing in the sunrise

Vietnam is gifted with numerous mountains, diversity of waterways that provide a livelihood for locals and fishing pleasure to locals and tourists. Another kind of a job that helps locals earn some more money is to pose for fishing photographing. The photo above is one of the illustrations for this kind of business.

The photograph courtesy of Thanh Nien Online

Fishing on the sunset

This photo is one of the collections of young photographers who catch scenes in their pleasure time. They spend tons of time perfecting their artwork. Unfortunately, some take photos of what they create for a purpose of exhibition or sales, they don't judge pieces, leading to their artwork is overlooked that makes an unsuccessful pitfall in their career. In other words, a perfect shooting would bring a chance of getting into the attraction of the audience or increasing the opportunity of selling it.

Firstly, although how perfect of your camera you've had, you should pay attention to some tricks like uneven lighting, incorrect colours, and undesired shadow.

Secondly, people often take photos leaned up against walls and shoot from downward corners. You should find the neutral coloured wall (that is white, grey, and black that will do a good job) and hang your artwork at the height where the very centre of it is parallel to the position of your camera. 

The photograph courtesy of Tuoi Tre Online

Pollution in Hoi An Ancient Town

Hoi An Ancient Town reflects a blend of cultural melting-pot where you discover the construction style of China, Japan and Europe. Dating back from 15th to 19th century, Hoi An used to be a small scale trading port, a connection with Southeast Asia, East Asia and the rest of the world. Thanks to the fusion of many cultures, Hoi An still retains its original universal values that have attracted the attention of local and international tourists.

A problem that has arisen at present is pollution that is reviewed in some tourist sites such as well-known TripAdvisor, for instance, a reviewer commented that according to some locals, the quality of water is still very bad due to the waste sewage of nearby plants. They warned tourists from swimming

According to Numbeo, the world's largest database of user contributed data about cities worldwide, the air pollution reaches the index of 82.25, dissatisfaction with garbage and disposal 93.75, and drinking water pollution and inaccessibility 81.25.

The photograph about features a long-standing pagoda in Hoi An where newly-married couples who take photos as their souvenirs can't standing the stink rising from the polluted channel.     

The photograph courtesy of VN Express Online

Experiences in Ha Giang Province

Ha Giang, one of the northernmost provinces of Vietnam, is gifted with magnificent mountains and endless rice paddle terrace fields. You can travel in Ha Giang all year around, however, the best time to go is the blooming seasons when you are surrounded with many colours of flowers such as purple colour of buckwheat flowers, pink colour of cherry blossom, and white colour of plum and pearl flowers. It is also known for trekking on passes and slopes where you stop on top of them to contemplate the natural beauty that seems to be a reward for you.

Another interesting thing you would enjoy is to stay at villagers' houses for the rest during a journey. You would be received with the hospitality and friendship of the minor ethnic people. In addition, Ha Giang features primitive caves as many places here have not been developed in terms of tourism. Thus, the discovery would bring unexpected things and adventures to tourists.   

The photograph courtesy of VN Express Online