During a two-day visit to Thanh Hoa, the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese (SCOV), under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, collaborated with Thanh Hoa’s Department of Foreign Affairs and the Youth Union to organize a trip for overseas Vietnamese. The visit included stops at the Special National Site in Lam Kinh (Tho Xuan), World Cultural Heritage – Ho Dynasty Citadel (Vinh Loc), Thanh Hoa SOS Children’s Village, Thanh Hoa Museum, and Sam Son Beach. There were also cultural exchanges and campfires with Thanh Hoa’s Youth Union.
Impressed with heritage and historical relics
On the morning of July 23, the delegates of the Vietnam Summer Camp 2023 paid their respects at the Special National Sites in Lam Kinh, honoring King Le Thai To and the heroes of the Lam Son who played a significant role in protecting the country’s peace and independence. They were particularly intrigued by the “smiling” guava tree, one of 18 trees in the Lam Kinh site.
Later that day, they visited the Ho Dynasty Citadel, a World Cultural Heritage site. The delegates were amazed by the solid and intact citadel gate, which was constructed 600 years ago using large rocks that were finely hewn, square, and stacked tightly without the use of glue or cement.
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| Young Viet expats visit the Thanh Hoa Museum. |
On the morning of July 24, the delegates visited the Thanh Hoa Museum and expressed their enthusiasm for the historical relics, especially the unique and rare bronze items made and used by ancient Vietnamese people, including the Dong Son bronze drum collection.
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| Overseas Vietnamese gave a donation of VND 20 million in cash and VND 1.25 million in kind to children at Thanh Hoa SOS Children’s Village. |
Immersed in volunteering activities and fun folk games
Also on the morning of July 24, the delegation donated VND 20 million in cash and VND 1.25 million in kind to children at Thanh Hoa SOS Children’s Village. The delegates themselves raised the funds. Additionally, young delegates from Poland, on behalf of the Vietnamese community in Poland, donated USD 900 and EUR 5 to the children in the village.
At Thanh Hoa SOS Children’s Village, the young expats had heartwarming moments while talking to disadvantaged children and enjoyed watching the kids’ art performances. The delegation also participated in traditional folk games such as using rice and corn mills, walking on stilts, walking on a monkey bridge, and blind man’s bluff. In the afternoon and evening of July 24, they visited Sam Son beach and engaged in a campfire and cultural exchange activity with members of the Tsinghua Youth Union.
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| Young delegates play folk games. |
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Held annually by the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, the Vietnam Summer Camp brings young Vietnamese expats to their homeland to learn about the political and social situations, cultural, historical, and natural values of Vietnam. It also provides an opportunity to interact with the young generation living in the country and contribute to the implementation of the Party and State guidelines and policies regarding overseas Vietnamese. The Vietnam Summer Camp 2023 started on July 19 and includes the participation of 120 delegates from 20 countries worldwide. The camp lasts for two weeks and takes the delegates to 10 provinces and cities in Vietnam. |
Sam Son sea festival slated for April 21
The 2018 sea festival of Sam Son city of the north central coastal province of Thanh Hoa will take place on April 21, heard a press conference held in the city on April 12.
Mysteries of the Ho Dynasty’s Stone Citadel
In my childhood memory, the ancient citadel built on the rolling hills in Vinh Loc District (in Vietnam’s central Thanh Hoa province) concealed a lot of mysteries through stories told to me by my grandmother. The huge magnificent stone citadel has been recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage, and evaluated by CNN as one of the world’s 21 most outstanding and greatest heritages. It also continues to be a mystery to scientists.
Lam Kinh, a historical site of legends
The Lam Kinh area in Tho Xuan district, Thanh Hoa, is a special national relic that has kept mysterious tales about the most flourishing feudal reign in Vietnam’s history.
“Homeland Season 8 to Launch in Spring of 2014”
Annually, the “Homeland Spring” programme is held during the “Ong Cong – Ong Tao” (Land Genie and Kitchen Gods) worshipping ceremony on December 23 of the lunar calendar to welcome overseas Vietnamese from 103 countries and territories in the world who return to Vietnam to enjoy Tet, a traditional festival of the nation.
New tours linking Thanh Hoa and Laos’s Houaphanh launched
NDO/VNA – Authorities in the central province of Thanh Hoa launched several new tours linking the province and neighbouring Houaphanh province in Laos on March 15.
