Artists perform at Princess Huyen Tran's festival held on January 29-30 in Hue city (Photo: VNA)It is one of the ancient citadel's Spring Festival activities, not only towelcome the new season but also the new year. It's also an activity to paytribute to Vietnamese people’s ancestors, who expanded the countrysouthward, with the historic marriage of Princess Huyen Tran to the then Kingof Champa.
Phan Thanh Hai, Director of Thua Thien-Hue province’s Department of Culture andSports, said that Princess Huyen Tran, along with the then King Tran Nhan Tongwere the essential driving force to the establishment of the long stretch ofland of Thuan Hoa - Phu Xuan - Thua Thien-Hue.
She was revered by people, having fulfilled both her duties to the countryand being kind to the common people.
Princess Huyen Tran put her country first, and her love second. She obeyedher father King Tran Nhan Tong, and his elder brother Tran Anh Tong to wed theKing of Champa, so as to establish peaceful ties with the southern neighbourback in the 14th century. The King of Champa offered the then Dao Viet O and Lycounties as a wedding gift, a thousand-mile stretch of land that embraced today'sHue. She has been worshipped by many generations until today.
In other activities, hundreds of thousands of visitors flocked to centralprovinces during the first days of the Lunar New Year, marking a boom intourism during the Tet Festival.
Almost 140,000 tourists landed in the south central coastal province of BinhThuan in the first week of the lunar year, an increase of 64.7% comparedto the same period last year, contributing revenue of 310 billion VND (13.2 millionUSD).
According to the province, the number of customers increased day by day, withthe highest number touring Phan Thiet city's Ham Tien-Mui Ne, Tien Thanh-HamThuan Nam and La Gi areas on January 23.
Many of them enjoyed different activities such as driving quad bikes onBau Trang's sand dunes; sand surfing at Mui Ne and swimming at Hon RomBeach. Others visited Po Sah Inu Towers for Cham ethnic minority people'sculture and took photos at Ong Dia Reef while others enjoyed localdelicacies at many seafood restaurants along the beautiful beaches.
During Tet, hotels and resorts alsoorganised their own activities for tourists such as wrapping and cooking bánhchưng (square sticky rice cake), writing calligraphy, folk games andoutdoor BBQ parties.
The provincial tourism department expected that in 2023 when Binh Thuan hoststhe National Tourim Year, about 6.5 million visitors, up to 10% of themforeigners, will come to their land.
At the same time, Binh Dinh also welcomed thousands of tourists tothe province's best-known sites such as Ky Co Beach, Eo Gio Straitand Quang Trung Museum.
According to Tran Van Thanh, director of Binh Dinh Tourism Department,visitors were mainly from Central Highlands provinces, Binh Duong, HCM City, Hanoiand some northern provinces.
The number of visitors was around 150,000 on January 20-26, an increaseof 12% over the same period in 2022, bringing in revenue of 122billion VND (4.8 million USD).
During Tet, Binh Dinh hosted anumber of festive events such as music and dance performances, spring fairs andfireworks and the 234th anniversary of the Ngoc Hoi-Dong Da Victory tocelebrate the new year holiday./.
VNA
