• “Xoan Singing” introduced to foreign diplomats

• Hat Xoan on UNESCO’s waiting list for recognition as world cultural heritage

The approval was made at 11.30am (Vietnam time) on November 24, according to the Cultural Heritage Department under the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.

UNESCO previously considered Vietnam’s dossier seeking its recognition of this type of singing as one of the best dossiers submitted.

Hat xoan or Xoan singing is done to worship a village’s tutelary god in the midland province of Phu Tho in northern Vietnam.

The hat xoan clubs often mark each new spring in a temple or communal house. Singing takes place at the door of the communal house.

The vice director of the Cultural Heritage Department, Nguyen Huu Toan, said that the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism will formulate long-term, specific programs to protect and promote hat xoan heritage.