Saigon people happily enjoy Tet

The third annual book street festival themed “books and 54 ethnic groups” began on February 7 and ended Feb 13 in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 streets of Mac Thi Buoi, Nguyen Hue, and Ngo Duc Ke . Twelve prestigious publishers from all over the country are represented at the festival.

Its displays include 223 books on the culture, clothes, and historical sites of Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups.

The festival also showcases 207 books on Vietnam’s borders, seas, and islands

In addition, in  entertainment and tourist spots in the city were also very crowded.. Suoi Tien spring Cultural Tourist Area director said, Suoi Tien has attracted hundreds of thousands of people in Ho Chi Minh City and the neighboring provinces.

The number of tourists increased by more than 10 times higher than normal days.

The number of travelers touring the beautiful historic relic sites of central provinces and cities has increased remarkably during the first days of the Lunar New Year (Tet) Festival.

On Feb 12, cruise ship Volendam (of Dutch nationality) docked in the port of Nha Trang, carrying 2,300 tourists and crew members.

At Nha Trang, visitors enjoyed some of the famous tourist attractions such as Tower Ponagar, Long Son Pagoda, walking alongside  Nha Trang beach and enjoy seafood specialties here.

The ancient city of Hoi An has welcomed about 4,000 domestic and foreign visitors since the beginning of the festival. The majority originate from Australia, China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, and European countries.

They have participated in various activities, including a lantern contest, performances of bai choi (the local 1,000 year-old folk music), and a fish worshipping festival.

Danang City’s Spring Flower Festival managed to attract 80,000 attendees.

The festival offered the chance to learn more about the traditional Tet through the model of a archetypal Vietnamese village complete with gates, bamboo trees, well, and communal house’s yard.

Tourists also took part in many folk games, enjoyed water puppet theatre performances, and received gifts from Phuc Loc Tho (the Three Lucky Gods of Happiness, Wealth, and Longevity).

About 4,000–5,000 visitors came to admire the Hue Imperial City’s ancient relics on each of the first few days of Tet

On Tet holidays, VietJetAir will officially inaugurate its Ho Chi Minh City-Bangkok air route on February 10.

It is the carrier’s tenth air route and its first international opened by a private Vietnamese airline.

The company said the daily flight between HCM City and Bangkok will be serviced by Airbus A320s.

The flight will depart from HCM City at 11.45am and arrive in Bangkok at 1.15pm.

Another flight will take off from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport at 2.30pm and land in HCM City at 4pm.

VietJetAir Business Development Manager Desmond Lin believes 2013 will be an eventful year for the carrier.

VietJetAir plans to expand into more domestic and international air routes, contributing to the development of Vietnam’s tourism industry and the promotion of its image overseas, he noted.

VietJetAir currently operates over 300 flights per week linking Vietnam’s major cities.

The number of travelers touring the beautiful historic relic sites of central provinces and cities has increased remarkably during the first days of the Lunar New Year (Tet) Festival.