The national flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines launched its new direct flight route from Hanoi to Kansai in Japan on January 13.

The airline plans to operate five flights a week on an Airbus A321 with 168 economy-class seats and 16 business-class berths.

The new route will be serviced by flight No VN944, taking off from Hanoi at 00:10 daily, excluding Tuesdays .and Fridays. Flight No VN945 will depart from Kansai on the same days at 11 am and arrive at 14:45 at Noi Bai International Airport.

The carrier decided to bring the route into operation to meet the demand of customers as Japan Airlines stopped its Kansai-Hanoi route.

According to Vietnam Airlines (VNA), it is an important step to expand its market in Japan.

Director of the airline's representative office in Japan, Nguyen Quoc Tuan, said Vietnam Airlines was determined to open the route with a desire to enhance commercial, investment and tourism activities between the two countries and Hanoi-Kansai in particular, despite the difficulties of global aviation.

The route should encourage tourists to visit Hanoi and other famous destinations including Ha Long Bay, central Danang Province and Nha Trang in the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa; especially the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

He said with an extensive flight network. Hanoi hoped to become a hub for visitors heading to Cambodia and Laos.

With this launch, the total number of flights per week operated by the airline to Japan will increase to 31.

The flights will operate out of Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat airports to the Japanese cities of Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka, as well as Kansai.

Statistics released from the carrier showed that it accounted for half of the total direct flights between Vietnam and Japan in the first nine months of last year.

Mu Cang Chai, lying at the foot of the Hoang Lien Son Mountain Range in Yen Bai Province about 350 kilometers from Hanoi and 1,000 meters above sea level, is one of the poorest mountainous regions in Vietnam and is home to many terraced fields which have been recognized as a national heritage and as Asia’s most beautiful terraced fields. The wonderful landscape is made of endless terraced fields lying together in the valleys of La Pan Tan, Che Cu Nha and Ze Xu Phinh and stretching to the horizon.

Dawn is a busy time, especially in the market. Under the sun, the green and the gold of the fields create attractive curving lines that dazzle the eye. Clinging to the mountainsides, the fields mingle with the white and blue of the clouds and sky. This is a place to breathe slowly and deeply to embrace the scents of the rice and the fertile earth and the clean air, driving away the smell of calculation so common in big cities.The honest and innocent faces of the farmers who work the land here in their colorful costumes reveal a sense of simple happiness.

People often visit Mu Cang Chai in the post-harvest time and are sometimes asked by locals, “Why you come here at this time, nothing nice to take photos?”

However, Mu Cang Chai’s terraced fields after the harvest are not sad or deserted. They remain charming as each stalk, now yellow, is piled up nicely. Somewhere in the distance a house is visible against the yellow and green.

So peaceful! But people who nourish a dream of preserving nature worry that one day modern civilization will devour the land and replace the primitive beauty with company headquarters, factories and resorts. Spending the night in this remote area where the Mong ethnic tribe lives is an experience worth the effort.

(Source: SGT)

Almost 3 million locals and foreigners flocked to Hoan Kiem Lake to join a flower festival, the 2nd of its kind in Hanoi, which was held from December 30 to January 3.

The festival isn’t only an event to welcome the New Year but also one of 80 events to be organised by the Culture, Sports and Tourism Department to celebrate the millennium anniversary of Hanoi in 2010.

The festival ended on the evening of January 3, with a tea offering ceremony in front of the statue of King Ly Thai To. Artisans presented know-how to embalm tea with lotus fragrance, infuse and enjoy tea of different kinds.

The closing ceremony was of more significance as visitors had a chance to enjoy traditional folk songs from Kinh Bac (now Bac Ninh Province) – the native land of King Ly Thai To who founded the capital city of Thang Long a thousand years ago.

Organisers said three new Vietnam Guinness Records, which were put on show at the festival, were recognised.

The records were granted for the longest train on an ao dai (traditional dress), the biggest rattan vase of lotus flowers and the biggest shell-inlaid wooden block presenting a royal proclamation by King Ly Thai To.

While flower designer Nguyen Manh Hung used up to 1,000 flowers to form the 10m-long train on the traditional dress, artisan Nguyen Phuong Quang from Hanoi’s Chuong My District spent more than two years on the 6.5m-high rattan vase.

The 1.9m high and 1.3m-wide royal proclamation was completed by veteran artisan Tran Ba Nam from Hanoi’s Phu Xuyen Village, who spent three years on the work.

The royal proclamation made by King Ly Thai To in 1010 states that the country’s capital will be relocated from Hoa Lu (in Ninh Binh Province) to Thang Long (the former name of Hanoi).

During the five-day event, visitors were enabled to see some of Hanoi’s typical images, including the Temple of Literature and Long Bien Bridge. Replicas of these works were created from flowers and displayed at the festival.

At the festival, visitors saw a 6m-high tower with nine dragons curving around and up, created from flowers and fruits, which represents 215 years of power of the Ly Dynasty.

A tulip carpet, created from 22,000 tulips donated by the Dutch Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, Gerda Verburg, attracted many visitors.

A flower show, entitled One Thousand Years of Thang Long – One Thousand Flowers Bloom took place on December 31 at the festival. The contest gathered competitors from 29 districts in the city.

(Source: VNA)