Thanh Tien paper flowers have long been considered sacred objects for Tet. They are changed once a year and are revered as unfading flowers.

Vietnam is now taking part in the International Book Fair Cuba 2010 with many books published in Spanish by the The Gioi (World) Publishing House, particularly the Prison Diary poems by Late President Ho Chi Minh.

A German couple, 27-year-old Nicole Franke and 29-year-old Tobias Pieper, have arrived in Hanoi after 10 months of pedaling.

We are now already in the February of the solar year of 2010, but just at the beginning of the lunar year. Let’s hear the new year resolutions of some famous Vietnamese artists.

Ho Chi Minh City on February 12 held a ceremony in the City’s Historical-Cultural Park to offer cylindrical glutinous rice cakes to the memory of the Hung Kings.

An exhibition opened in Hanoi on February 11 to display 100 antiques with some dating back to the first century.

A Vietnamese culture week opened in Cairo, Egypt on February 9, drawing international guests, ambassadors, Egyptian people, Vietnamese students in Egypt and international reporters.

A project to excavate the central remains of the former Vietnamese capital of Hoa Lu, in the northern province of Ninh Binh, has started in an effort to estimate and preserve the historical value of a site that was host to the capital of the Dinh, Le and Ly dynasties for 42 years ending in 1010.

Vietnam will participate in the sponsoring committee for the “2,500 years of Asia-Europe exchange” exhibition in Belgium to promote its image internationally.

A two-week Spring Flower Fair, the first cultural event of the Tet festival, opened in Ho Chi Minh City on February 8.

A book featuring 200 Hanoi’s authentic dishes will be published on the occasion of the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology will organise a series of activities to celebrate the lunar New Year Festival (Tet) from February 19-21, combining traditional images, sounds and foods of Vietnam’s diverse areas.

The tenth Saigon charity cyclo race will take place at Dai Bac school in District 7, HCM City, on March 13 with many other associated activities.

Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Cuong declared the start of the 2010 Vietnam Year in Germany and celebrations for the traditional lunar New Year festival in Berlin on February 5.

The made-in-Vietnam film entitled Manh Ghep Cuoc Doi (Porcelain) is being shown at the Netherlands’s Zeeuws Musuem.

Tata Young, a Thai pop star, will perform her hits, Ready for Love and My Bloody Valentine, in Ho Chi Minh City on February 26. The pop star became the most beloved

A film on the history of Hanoi will start shooting on March 15 and will be shown on the 1,000th anniversary of the capital city in October, said the film director Luu Trong Ninh.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is finalising a project to commemorate the death anniversary of the Hung Kings and celebrate the 2010 Hung Temple Festival.

The Ba Ria-Vung Tau-based private charitable fund Le An has sent VND100 million as donations to people in Haiti which was recently devastated by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake.

The Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism on February 4 launched a video clip contest on the subject of Thang Long-Hanoi to celebrate the upcoming millennium anniversary. 

A hip-hop contest entitled ‘Urban Kingz 2’ will be held in two days, starting this Saturday at Celadon Hotel in Hue city.

Well-known singer Tata Young, who won the Thailand MTV Asia Awards 2009, will perform in Vietnam on February 16.

Vietnam’s top model and 2006 Miss Earth’s Miss Talent runner-up Vu Nguyen Ha Anh will travel to Hangzhou, China to compete in the Fashion Asia 2010 pageant on February 6.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan was elected Chairman of Vietnam-Germany University (VGU)’s Council with Germany’s Hessen State Minister of Science and the Arts, Eva Kuhne-Hormann, as his deputy in Ho Chi Minh City on February 2.

Three art troupes from Belgium will take part in the 2010 Hue Festival in the central province of Thua Thien Hue from June 5-13.

Around 2,000 people are expected to join in drawing the “Tale of carp turning into dragon” at the Tet Viet 2010 Fair due to open at My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi on February 5. 

An exhibition of mementos of Vietnam’s recent resistance wars started in Hanoi on February 2, displaying 550 significant items selected from 10,000 keepsakes that were collected during a campaign launched by the General Political Department of the Vietnam People’s Army.

Hanoi’s Spring Fair will take place from February 2-12 at the Vietnam Exhibition and Fair Centre.

A set of 20 photos highlighting environmental issues has earned Hoang Quoc Tuan the title of master photographer from the Federation of International Artistic Photography (FIAP).

Mrs. Doan Thi Kim Hong will be a member of the judging panel for the Mrs. World 2010 contest, said Mrs. World President David Z. Marmel.