Millennial anniversary raises Hanoi’s prestige

The successful organization of the millennial anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi has contributed to raising the capital city’s position and prestige for the whole country’s people as well as among international friends.

The remarks were made at a meeting to review the millennial celebrations held in Hanoi on Nov. 9 by the municipal Party Committee, People’s Committee, People’s Council and Fatherland Front.

Addressing the meeting, Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Pham Quang Nghi said the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi was successfully organized.

The traditional values of the capital city over the past 1,000 years of development were honoured, with UNESCO’s resolution on celebration of the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi and the recognition of 82 doctoral steles in the Temple of Literature as a world literary heritage, the People’s Committee said, adding that UNESCO Director General attended the opening ceremony of the millennium anniversary and handed over a certificate to recognise the Thang Long-Hanoi ancient citadel’s central area as a world cultural heritage site.

Hanoi has set up friendly and cooperative ties with more than 60 cities of about 50 nations and territories around the world. It was recognised as the city of peace.

The patriotism, national pride, the trust in the Party and regime in all walks of life were shown in the participation of over three million people in the Thang Long-Hanoi contest, 700 works of more than 100 press agencies in the millennial anniversary press prize as well as 400 cultural and art works on the celebrations.

During the 10-day festival, thousands of people nationwide and Overseas Vietnamese flocked to the city for celebrations, including Party and State leaders, representatives from ministries, departments, organisations and 62 provinces and cities, 1,000 Vietnamese heroic mothers and heroes, 31 delegations from 30 foreign cities and 22 international delegations, 91 ambassadors and chief representatives from diplomatic missions and international organisations in Hanoi.

More than 1,200 local and foreign reporters were in Hanoi to cover the anniversary.

Besides, hundreds of precious gifts were presented to the capital city, hundreds of projects were inaugurated, and a series of festivals, contests, cultural and art performances was also held in Hanoi and other provinces to celebrate the anniversary./.

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Biggest-ever parade marks Hanoi’s millennium

A grand meeting and biggest-ever parade was held at Ba Dinh Square on October 10 to celebrate the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

The meeting was attended by Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh, State President Nguyen Minh Triet, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong, Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Huynh Dam, and Secretary of the Hanoi municipal Party Committee Pham Quang Nghi along with former senior State and Party leaders.

Ambassadors, representatives from international organisations in Vietnam, centrally-run ministries, sectors and media agencies plus heroic mothers, revolutionary veterans, armed forces and labour heroes, and almost 40,000 people and soldiers representing millions of others in and outside the country also joined the event.

The celebration honoured the armed forces and highlighted the tremendous achievements Hanoi and the country have recorded during 1,000 years of history, national construction and development, and during the Doi Moi (Renewal) process in which Hanoi has been honoured as a capital city of peace and friendship.

To begin the celebration, a torch was lit at Hanoi’s Millennial Anniversary cauldron. The torch symbolises eternal vitality of the Vietnamese nation and the flame of Ho Chi Minh’s thoughts which has lit the revolutionary path towards the goal of a prosperous people living in a powerful country with a just, democratic and civilised society.

Party and State leaders, along with the delegates, saluted the national flag while the military band played the national anthem and 21 canons fired a salvo.

In his speech, President Triet extended his best wishes and sincere thanks to people across the country, overseas Vietnamese and international friends for their special sentiments towards Hanoi on its 1000th grand anniversary.

1,000 years ago, in the autumn of 1010, King Ly Thai To issued the royal edict to transfer the capital from Hoa Lu to Thang Long, opening up a glorious period of development for the capital.

From that historic milestone to the Ho Chi Minh era, over 1,000 years of ups and downs, Thang Long-Hanoi has maintained its assured posture and indomitable spirit, deserving to be the heart of the whole country, he said.

“The 1000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi gave us a chance to highlight the noble traditional values and priceless heritage of our ancestors and express our deep gratitude to those who founded the country as well as President Ho Chi Minh, revolutionary veterans, and heroic martyrs who laid down their lives for national independence and freedom,” Triet said.

“We are responsible for preserving and upholding the ancestors’ traditions and raising them to a new level in the Ho Chi Minh era,” he further said.

President Triet called on the whole population to unite and use energy, brain power and talent to build Hanoi into a civilised, modern and beautiful capital capable of keeping pace with other cities in the world.

Following President Triet’s speech, there was a grand parade with ten helicopters flying above carrying the Party and National flags and banners saying “The 1000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi”.

The parade, the biggest of its kind, attracted the participation of representatives from different groups, including the army, war veterans, the youth, workers, farmers, intellectuals, State employees, entrepreneurs, religions, women and overseas Vietnamese.

The celebration concluded with art performance by 2,000 artists and actresses and with release of balloons and doves into the sky above historic Ba Dinh square./.

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Netherlands presents new tulip species to Hanoi

Netherlands Prime Minister Peter Balkenende (R) presents the tulips to Vietnamese PM Nguyen Tan Dung on the sidelines of ASEAM 8 meeting in Brussels on October 4, 2010

Photo: VNA

The Netherlands Government on Tuesday presented the capital city of Hanoi with a new species of tulip named after Thang Long-Hanoi, as a special gift to mark the city’s 1,000th anniversary.

At the presentation ceremony, Netherlands Ambassador to Vietnam Joop Scheffers said the new tulip strain was created by Dutch biologists.

The tulip has tone values of red and yellow, the two colors of Vietnam’s national flag.

The ambassador said the gift was a symbol of the fine traditional relations between the Netherlands and Vietnam and the Netherlands would soon transfer the technology to grow this tulip species to Hanoi.

On behalf of Hanoi authorities and people, vice chairwoman of the Municipal People’s Committee Ngo Thi Thanh Hang affirmed that the gift was significant and precious.

She said together with the fine cooperation between the countries, the two capital cities – Hanoi and Amsterdam – also enjoyed effective cooperation and exchanges during past years.

She took this occasion to present the Dutch Ambassador with two of the latest pictorial books on Thang Long-Hanoi.

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Netherlands presents new tulip to Hanoi

The Netherlands Government on Oct. 5 presented the capital city of Hanoi with a new species of tulip named after Thang Long-Hanoi, as a special gift to mark the city’s 1,000th anniversary.

At the presentation ceremony, Netherlands Ambassador to Vietnam Joop Scheffers said the new tulip strain was created by Dutch biologists.

The tulip has tone values of red and yellow, the two colours of Vietnam’s national flag.

The ambassador said the gift was a symbol of the fine traditional relations between the Netherlands and Vietnam and the Netherlands would soon transfer the technology to grow this tulip species to Hanoi .

On behalf of Hanoi authorities and people, Vice Chairperson of the Municipal People’s Committee Ngo Thi Thanh Hang affirmed that the gift was significant and precious.

She said together with the fine cooperation between the countries, the two capital cities – Hanoi and Amsterdam – also enjoyed effective cooperation and exchanges during past years.

She took this occasion to present the Dutch Ambassador with two of the latest pictorial books on Thang Long-Hanoi./.

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Press works about millennial Thang Long-Hanoi awarded

Outstanding press works about the millennial history and development of Thang Long-Hanoi were rewarded at a ceremony held in Hanoi on Oct. 4.

Organisers presented six A prizes, 20 B prizes, 33 C prizes and 33 consolation prizes for the best entries of the contest, which was launched in June last year as one of a series of event to mark the 1,000th birthday of the capital city.

The entries were selected from some 700 entries by journalists and freelance nationwide.

To Huy Rua, Party Politburo member, Party Central Committee’s Secretary and Head of the Party Central Committee’s Information and Education Commission, praised the active participation of pressmen.

He said the contest, with its entries published and broadcast on the media over the past year, has helped increase the public’s attention to the Thang Long-Hanoi millennial anniversary.

The contest was co-organised by the Party Central Committee’s Information and Education Commission, the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Hanoi People’s Committee and the Vietnam Journalists’ Association./.

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Palace inauguration marks Hanoi’s birthday

Photo: VNA

Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Pham Quang Nghi unveiled a plate entitled “Project in celebration of Thang Long-Hanoi millennium anniversary” on the wall of the intellectuals’ palace in Hanoi on Monday.

Located on an area of 6,668 square meters in Cau Giay district, the palace includes two buildings, one of three stories and one of 15 stories.

Inaugurating the palace contributes to solving a shortage of headquarters for research institutes and associations and facilitates intellectuals and artists to make more contributions to the capital city’s development, said Phi Thai Binh, Deputy Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee.

Also, as part of celebrations of the Thang Long-Hanoi millennium, an exhibition of more than 250 calligraphic paintings opened at the Temple of Literature, honoring the long-lasting culture and talent of Thang Long-Hanoi people.

Nearly 50 nationwide calligraphers aging from 25-90 showed their works in various ways and on different materials such as paper, wood, bronze, ceramics and even flowers.

The works focus on Thang Long-Hanoi, education and landscapes of Thang Long-Hanoi.

Along with the exhibition, a calligraphy festival presents visitors with calligraphy writing performances and extracts of historians’ stories.

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Palace inauguration marks city’s birthday

Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Pham Quang Nghi unveiled a plate entitled, “Project in celebration of Thang Long-Hanoi millennium anniversary” on the wall of the intellectuals’ palace in Hanoi on October 4.

Located on an area of 6,668 sq.m. in Cau Giay district, the palace includes two buildings, one of three stories and one of 15 stories.

Inaugurating the palace contributes to solving a shortage of headquarters for research institutes and associations and facilitates intellectuals and artists to make more contributions to the capital city’s development, said Phi Thai Binh, Deputy Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee.

Also, as part of celebrations of the Thang Long-Hanoi millennium, an exhibition of more than 250 calligraphic paintings opened at the Temple of Literature , honouring the long-lasting culture and talent of Thang Long-Hanoi people.

Nearly 50 nationwide calligraphers aging from 25-90 showed their works in various ways and on different materials such as paper, wood, bronze, ceramics and even flowers.

The works focus on Thang Long-Hanoi, education and landscapes of Thang Long-Hanoi.

Along with the exhibition, a calligraphy festival presents visitors with calligraphy writing performances and extracts of historians’ stories./.

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Photo exhibition shows highlights of Hanoi, Hue

One hundred colour and black and white photos of the central province of Thua Thien-Hue and Hanoi taken by Vietnam News Agency (VNA) press photographers are on display at an exhibition in Hue city which opened on October 4.

The event is part of activities during the celebration of the 1,000 th anniversary of the capital city of Thang Long-Hanoi as well as to mark the traditional close relations between Hanoi , Hue and HCM City .

With 70 photos of Thang Long-Hanoi and 30 others of Thua Thien-Hue province taken by generations of VNA photojournalists, the exhibition covers a wide range of topics from the past until the present, including images of Hanoi during the August Revolution in 1945, struggles against the French colonialists and the US imperialists, as well as the current cause of national construction.

The display also depicts the relations between leaders of the Party and State with the two localities, along with architectural works, relic sites and people’s daily lives, especially activities in Hue festivals.

The exhibition will last until October 15./.

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Thang Long-Hanoi’s millennium celebration opens

A solemn ceremony was held at the Ly Thai To Flower Garden in the morning of October 1 to kick off 10 days of celebrations for the Millennium of Thang Long-Hanoi.

Opening the ceremony, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong, together with Party, State and Hanoi municipal leaders offered incense before the Statue of King Ly Thai To, who had a strategic and sound decision to remove the country’s capital city from Hoa Lu in the northern province of Ninh Binh to Dai La (now Hanoi), opening up a long-term development direction for following generations.

Addressing the event, Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Pham Quang Nghi stressed that the historical transfer of the capital from Hoa Lu surrounded by one mountain after another to the centre of the Red River Delta formed an extraordinary step forward for the nation, reaffirming the will to build the national independence and unification and ushering in a new era for the Dai Viet. Thang Long-Hanoi’s thousand-year history has been constantly cultivated by heroic exploits.

“Generations of Vietnamese living in the Ho Chi Minh era, owners of our majestic land and an independent and free country, will surely advance without any misgivings to the future, a future of more beautiful Vietnam so much desired by President Ho Chi Minh,” he said.

At the ceremony, General Director of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Irina Bokova presented a certificate recognising the Thang Long Royal Citadel as a World Cultural Heritage to the Hanoi leaders.

While showing her admiration at Vietnam , one of the few countries in the world that still preserves lively memories of the capital transfer 1,000 years ago, Irina Bokova also recommended that Vietnam should take responsibility for the humankind through promoting the heritage to future generations.

The jubilant atmosphere of the grand celebrations has been seen in each street, each lane and each face of the capital. All roads leading to the Ly Thai To Flower Garden, where the opening ceremony took place, are decorated by flags, banners and flowers. Hanoi is putting on itself a new colourful dress to celebrate its 1,000 th birthday.

Jeanne Huynh, an overseas Vietnamese in France , couldn’t hide her feeling when returning to the homeland to attend the great event of the capital and the country. She said she was proud of being a Vietnamese.

Vietnam’s successful hosting of many international events and the recognition of the Thang Long Royal Citadel as a World Culture Heritage have proven the country’s increasingly improved position, she said.

Jeanne Huynh also expressed her belief that in the next 10-15 years, Vietnam can stand on a par with developed countries in the world.

For the UK Ambassador to Vietnam , Mark Kent, the 1,000 th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi is an event of special significance for him as he is going to end his three-year term of office in Hanoi .

Mark Kent said he was honoured to live and work in the 1,000-year-old city of Hanoi . He added that he will join a number of activities during the anniversary, including a race for peace around Hoan Kiem Lake on October 3.

The millennium celebrations of Thang Long-Hanoi will be held within ten days with numerous artistic and cultural activities throughout the capital city.

Highlights of the celebrations will be a meeting and a parade at the Ba Dinh Square as well as a cultural and art gala night at the My Dinh National Stadium on October 10./.

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Hanoi ready for millennium anniversary in October

A series of important works to dress up and decorate Hanoi is basically complete with just 30 days left until the millennium anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi takes place.

The capital city has to date completed 33 major projects, making Hanoi greener, cleaner and more beautiful, according to Ngo Thi Thanh Hang, Vice Chairwoman of the Hanoi Municipal People’s Committee and deputy head of the National Steering Committee on the anniversary.

Prominent among the completed works are the Hanoi Museum, the Saint Giong statue, the Presidents Ho Chi Minh and Ton Duc Thang statues, the Hoa Binh (Peace) park, the Hanoi-Amsterdam Gifted High School , Beltway 3, Thang Long boulevard, the giant embroidered picture entitled “Coi Xua” (Old Origins) and the ceramic road along the Red River.

Besides, following the UNESCO’s recognition of the 82 doctor laureate steles under the Le-Mac dynasties in Van Mieu ( Temple of Literature), the Thang Long Imperial Citadel has been recently recognised as a world cultural heritage by the UNESCO, she said.

"They are invaluable presents on the threshold of the millennium anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi," said Hang.

The 10-day festival will bring together many politicians, cultural activists and scientists around the world as well as foreign visitors and overseas Vietnamese.

A solemn ceremony will open the festival in the morning of October 1 at the Ly Thai To Garden. The festival will include a meeting and a march and parade on October 10 at the Ba Dinh Square .

As many as 38 foreign and 20 local art troupes have to date registered to perform during the festival, Hang said.

Thousands of antiques have been selected for exhibition, helping visitors understand the world cultural heritages in Hanoi, she added.

The city has almost completed works on decorating and lighting streets as well as attractive lighting systems around lakes and stadiums and on bridges spanning the Red River./.

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Buddhism, literature with Hanoi’s millennial growth

A recent symposium has provided an insight into Buddhism and literature’s immense contributions and their connection with the capital city of Hanoi over its 1,000-year development course.

The symposium “Literature and Buddhism with the 1,000 th founding anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi” took place in the southern province of Binh Duong last weekend. It brought together 300 religious and non-religious researchers of Buddhism and literature, and Buddhist dignitaries in Ho Chi Minh City and southern localities.

Close to 100 presentations focused on Buddhism’s role in the founding and development of the former Thang Long capital city and Dai Viet under the Ly dynasties (1009-1226) and the Tran dynasty (1226-1400), Buddhist literature, literature under the Ly and Tran dynasties and the later dynasties, and contemporary literature and southern literature as seen in relation with 1,000 years of Thang Long-Hanoi.

They helped highlight lessons on national development and defence, international diplomacy, religious tolerance, democracy, politics and Buddhism’s company with the nation, said Most Venerable Thich Giac Toan, Vice President of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha’s Executive Council, who is also head of the symposium organising board./.

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