Vietnam Breaking News

Domestic tourism sees low sales

Domestic tourism sees low sales
<p>Domestic tourism sees low sales</p>
<p>By Dao Loan – The Saigon Times Daily</p>
<p>HCMC – Some 30 HCMC-based travel firms that participated in a promotion program recorded lower-than-expected sales despite big promotions to boost domestic tourism had been launched two months ago.</p>
<p>The domestic tourism stimulus program was initiated by the HCMC Tourism Association (HTA) and Vietnam Airlines. Vietjet Air later joined the program and offered a 40-49% discount on airfares so that tour operators can arrange domestic tours 30% cheaper than regular levels.</p>
<p>Although the number of tour operators joining the program surged to 29 from the initial 19, the number of tour packages sold so far stayed low, at 1,200 during two months.</p>
<p>“Air carriers can provide more tickets. However, travel agencies witness low sales as tourists bemoan tour prices remain high despite promotions and they prefer outbound tours,” said Nguyen Thi Khanh, vice chairwoman of the tourism association.</p>
<p>Despite the promotions, it still remains hard for domestic tours to compete with overseas tours to neighboring countries.</p>
<p>For instance, a participant sells a three-day tour to Phu Quoc Island at VND5.89 million, down from VND6.50 million owing to the promotion, while a four-day tour to Cambodia is sold at over VND3 million only. This makes the latter more attractive to travelers.</p>
<p>HTA in coordination with HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism will call for service providers to slash their charges further in a bid to offer lower tour prices. “We hope sales performance will improve in the peak-season month of July and we will continue to cut prices to woo more clients,” said Khanh.</p>
<p>There has been a decline in bookings for domestic tours, especially those traveling by air while several tour operators witness outbound tour sales reach last year’s level or even higher. In particular, tours to Cambodia saw a robust growth thanks to their appealing marketing campaign.</p>
<p>“Given high rates, domestic tours traveling by air are proved fairly hard to sell while overseas tours sell well. Particularly, we arrange 2-3 tours to Cambodia every week,” said Hoang Anh, representative of Viet Media Travel.</p>
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Domestic tourism sees low sales Related image(s)<br />
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Domestic tourism sees low sales

Domestic tourism sees low sales Domestic tourism sees low sales By Dao Loan – The Saigon Times Daily HCMC – Some 30 HCMC-based travel firm...

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Vietnam ranks 11th among most popular destination for expatriates

Vietnam ranks 11th among most popular destination for expatriates
<p>This is big progress for Vietnam as the country only ranked 35th in last year’s survey.</p>
<p>In 2016, the top ten were Chinese Taipei, Malta, Ecuador, Mexico, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Australia, Austria, Luxembourg, and the Czech Republic.</p>
<p>Chinese Taipei tops the list this year, beating last year’s favourites Malta, Ecuador and Mexico. In addition to the best overall rating, the East Asian island also holds first place for personal finance and quality of life, and second place for its working conditions.</p>
<p>An impressive 85% of expats are satisfied with their financial situation, compared to a global average of 64% saying the same. An ever higher percentage of expats in Chinese Taipei praise the quality and affordability of the local healthcare system, at 94 and 95% respectively.</p>
<p>Malta, ranking second this year, has jumped from 42nd to 6th position for personal finances, the country’s first position worldwide for climate and weather, as well as the highly rated availability of leisure options; expats can find a wide range of diversions right at their doorstep.</p>
<p>After ranking first for two years, Ecuador has been dethroned by career boosters Taiwan and Malta. The country has dropped from a strong 7th rank to a mediocre 30th position in the Working Abroad Index, mainly due to heavy losses in the Job Security subcategory, where it comes in 50th place.</p>
<p>For its annual Expat Insider survey, InterNations asked about 14,300 expatriates representing 174 nationalities and living in 191 countries or territories to rate and provide information on various aspects of expat life, as well as their gender, age, and nationality.</p>
<p>Participants were asked to rate 43 different aspects of life abroad on a scale of one to seven. The rating process emphasised the respondents’ personal satisfaction with these aspects and considered both emotional topics as well as more factual aspects with equal weight.</p>
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Vietnam ranks 11th among most popular destination for expatriates Related image(s)<br />
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Vietnam ranks 11th among most popular destination for expatriates

Vietnam ranks 11th among most popular destination for expatriates This is big progress for Vietnam as the country only ranked 35th in last y...

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Foreign arrivals to Vietnam jump to highest in 2016

Foreign arrivals to Vietnam jump to highest in 2016
<p>The number of foreign arrivals saw a rise of 6.3% compared to July and a year-on-year increase of 34.4%.</p>
<p>The inflow of visitors from the Asian market recorded highest surge, with a 39.6% increase compared to the same period last year, followed by Europe with 24.7%, America with 13.8% and Africa with 12.4%.</p>
<p>The GSO reported that more than 6.4 million international tourists visited Vietnam in the first eight months, up 25.4% over the same period in 2015. Of the total, over 5.4 million came by air (up 28.5%) while nearly 99,000 arrived by sea and 914,000 arrived over land.</p>
<p>During the period, visitors from Asian countries totaled more than 4.6 million, a year-on-year increase of 30.8%. China and the Republic of Korea were Vietnam’s biggest market with a surge of nearly 58%, and over 37% against the same period last year, respectively.</p>
<p>The policy of visa exemptions for visitors of five western European countries – Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Italy – has contributed to increasing the number of tourists from the Europe to Vietnam. In the first eight months, the country received more than one million European visitors, up 15.5% over the same period of 2015.</p>
<p>Also during the period, the number of arrivals from America reached over 503,000, a year-on-year increase of 13%, of which 386,800 were from the United States (up 14.8%).</p>
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Foreign arrivals to Vietnam jump to highest in 2016 Related image(s)<br />
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Foreign arrivals to Vietnam jump to highest in 2016

Foreign arrivals to Vietnam jump to highest in 2016 The number of foreign arrivals saw a rise of 6.3% compared to July and a year-on-year in...

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360 visitors register to conquer Son Doong cave in 2017

360 visitors register to conquer Son Doong cave in 2017
<p>Son Doong Cave, the largest natural cave in the world, is located in the heart of the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in the central coastal province of Quang Binh.</p>
<p>The tour offers a five-day and four-night service at the cost of US$3,000 per person. It involves a 50-kilometre trek in the jungle and mountain, river crossings and a 80-metre descent with rope and harness. With such challenges, it is considered the most adventurous tour for visitors to Quang Binh so far.</p>
<p>Under the approval of Quang Binh provincial authorities, Oxalis Adventure Tours is the sole tour operator to arrange tours in Son Doong Cave. Each tour comprises around 10 tourists, who are accompanied by a supporting team including 22 porters, two cooks, a tour guide, five assistants, one cave experts and two park rangers.</p>
<p>First discovered by a local resident in 1991, Son Doong Cave is more than 200 metres wide, 150 metres high, and approximately 9 kilometres long. In 2009, scientists from the British Cave Research Association prepared the cave for limited public access after surveying the area.</p>
<p>Son Doong has been listed as one of 10 best once-in-a-lifetime tourist attractions by many prestigious travel newspapers and magazines.</p>
<p>Three years since the tour to the cave was first launched, the cave has welcomed approximately 1,300 visitors. The cave is expected to receive 600 tourists in 2017.</p>
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360 visitors register to conquer Son Doong cave in 2017 Related image(s)<br />
<img height="200" src="http://ift.tt/1eWmqbm" width="200" /><br />

360 visitors register to conquer Son Doong cave in 2017

360 visitors register to conquer Son Doong cave in 2017 Son Doong Cave, the largest natural cave in the world, is located in the heart of th...

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400-year-old bridge divides restoration experts in Vietnam’s ancient town

400-year-old bridge divides restoration experts in Vietnam’s ancient town
<p>Some say the Chua Cau Bridge simply won’t be the same if it is dismantled for restoration work.</p>
<p>International and Vietnamese experts are debating over restoration work on the 400-year-old Chua Cau Bridge in the central ancient town of Hoi An.</p>
<p>In order to restore the bridge properly, most experts at a recent conference think it should be dismantled, said Nguyen Chi Trung, a senior conservation official in Hoi An.</p>
<p>The solution has received mixed reactions. Historian Vo Ha has warned that dismantling the bridge will make people feel “it’s not the same”, while architect Le Thanh Vinh said it should be implemented only as a last resort with careful planning by conservation experts.</p>
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="400-year-old-bridge-divides-restoration-experts-in-vietnams-ancient-town" src="http://bit.ly/2c7qz1t" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">The iconic image of Hoi An’s Ancient Town, Chua Cau literally means ‘bridge pagoda’. Built by Japanese merchants in the 17th century, it’s also known as the Japanese Bridge.</p>
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<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="400-year-old-bridge-divides-restoration-experts-in-vietnams-ancient-town-1" src="http://bit.ly/2bZnbbJ" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">The pagoda part was added to the bridge in 1653. Over half a century later, in 1719, Lord Nguyen Phuc Chu of the Nguyen Dynasty visited Hoi An and named the bridge ‘Lai Vien Kieu’, meaning ‘Welcome Bridge for Faraway Visitors’. Hoi An, at the time, was in fact a major trading port in the area, welcoming Chinese, Portugese, Dutch, Japanese and Indian merchants.</p>
</div>
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="400-year-old-bridge-divides-restoration-experts-in-vietnams-ancient-town-2" src="http://bit.ly/2c7qLxL" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">Today, during the peak season, the bridge welcomes as many as 7,000 visitors each day from all over the world.</p>
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<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="400-year-old-bridge-divides-restoration-experts-in-vietnams-ancient-town-3" src="http://bit.ly/2bZmX4u" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">The wooden bridge painted in red lacquer was built based on the ‘thuong gia ha kieu’ concept, meaning a house above a bridge.</p>
</div>
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="400-year-old-bridge-divides-restoration-experts-in-vietnams-ancient-town-4" src="http://bit.ly/2c7pFSG" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">The pagoda is a place to worship the God of Weather who is believed to have the power to control natural calamities and bring happiness and wealth to locals.</p>
</div>
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="400-year-old-bridge-divides-restoration-experts-in-vietnams-ancient-town-5" src="http://bit.ly/2bZmY8B" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">Chua Cau has undergone multiple restoration efforts and it has kept its current form since the 18th-19th centuries.</p>
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<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="400-year-old-bridge-divides-restoration-experts-in-vietnams-ancient-town-6" src="http://bit.ly/2c7q8UM" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">The pillars of the bridge.</p>
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<p>“I think Chua Cau Bridge is still in good condition. It will last well for the next 10 years without any repairs. I have no idea what is in the minds of local authorities. From my point of view, it is not necessary to dismantle the bridge for full restoration,” said Nguyen Van Tien, who has been the bridge’s porter for 20 years.</p>
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<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="Related news:" src="http://bit.ly/2c7qESJ" title="Related news:" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">Related news:</p>
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<p>> <a href="http://bit.ly/2bZm1gs">Natural ‘check-in’ spots around Hoi An</a></p>
<p>> <a href="http://bit.ly/2c7pNlf">Hoi An’s beach lands in TripAdvisor’s top 25</a></p>
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400-year-old bridge divides restoration experts in Vietnam’s ancient town Related image(s)<br />
<img height="200" src="http://bit.ly/2c7qz1t" width="200" /><br />

400-year-old bridge divides restoration experts in Vietnam’s ancient town

400-year-old bridge divides restoration experts in Vietnam’s ancient town Some say the Chua Cau Bridge simply won’t be the same if it is dis...

+ Read more »

400-year-old bridge divides restoration experts in Hoi An

400-year-old bridge divides restoration experts in Hoi An
<p>Some say the Chua Cau Bridge simply won’t be the same if it is dismantled for restoration work.</p>
<p>International and Vietnamese experts met on August 16 to discuss restoration work on the 400-year-old Chua Cau Bridge in the ancient town of Hoi An.</p>
<p>In order to restore the bridge properly, most experts at the meeting think it should be dismantled, said Nguyen Chi Trung, a senior conservation official in Hoi An.</p>
<p>The solution has received mixed reactions. Historian Vo Ha has warned that dismantling the bridge will make people feel “it’s not the same”, while architect Le Thanh Vinh said it should be implemented only as a last resort with careful planning by conservation experts.</p>
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="400-year-old-bridge-divides-restoration-experts-in-hoi-an" src="http://bit.ly/2c7qz1t" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">The iconic image of Hoi An’s Ancient Town, Chua Cau literally means ‘bridge pagoda’. Built by Japanese merchants in the 17th century, it’s also known as the Japanese Bridge.</p>
</div>
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="400-year-old-bridge-divides-restoration-experts-in-hoi-an-1" src="http://bit.ly/2bZnbbJ" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">The pagoda part was added to the bridge in 1653. Over half a century later, in 1719, Lord Nguyen Phuc Chu of the Nguyen Dynasty visited Hoi An and named the bridge ‘Lai Vien Kieu’, meaning ‘Welcome Bridge for Faraway Visitors’. Hoi An, at the time, was in fact a major trading port in the area, welcoming Chinese, Portugese, Dutch, Japanese and Indian merchants.</p>
</div>
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="400-year-old-bridge-divides-restoration-experts-in-hoi-an-2" src="http://bit.ly/2c7qLxL" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">Today, during the peak season, the bridge welcomes as many as 7,000 visitors each day from all over the world.</p>
</div>
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="400-year-old-bridge-divides-restoration-experts-in-hoi-an-3" src="http://bit.ly/2bZmX4u" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">The wooden bridge painted in red lacquer was built based on the ‘thuong gia ha kieu’ concept, meaning a house above a bridge.</p>
</div>
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="400-year-old-bridge-divides-restoration-experts-in-hoi-an-4" src="http://bit.ly/2c7pFSG" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">The pagoda is a place to worship the God of Weather who is believed to have the power to control natural calamities and bring happiness and wealth to locals.</p>
</div>
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="400-year-old-bridge-divides-restoration-experts-in-hoi-an-5" src="http://bit.ly/2bZmY8B" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">Chua Cau has undergone multiple restoration efforts and it has kept it’s current form since the 18th-19th centuries.</p>
</div>
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="400-year-old-bridge-divides-restoration-experts-in-hoi-an-6" src="http://bit.ly/2c7q8UM" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">The pillars of the bridge.</p>
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<td><img alt="400-year-old-bridge-divides-restoration-experts-in-hoi-an-7" src="http://bit.ly/2bZnseW" width="500" /></td>
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<p>“I think Chua Cau Bridge is still in good condition. It will last well for the next 10 years without any repairs. I have no idea what is in the minds of local authorities. From my point of view, it is not necessary to dismantle the bridge for full restoration,” said Nguyen Van Tien, who has been the bridge’s porter for 20 years.</p>
</td>
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</tbody>
</table>
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="More on Hoi An:" src="http://bit.ly/2c7qESJ" title="More on Hoi An:" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">More on Hoi An:</p>
</div>
<p>> <a href="http://bit.ly/2bZm1gs">Natural ‘check-in’ spots around Hoi An</a></p>
<p>> <a href="http://bit.ly/2c7pNlf">Hoi An’s beach lands in TripAdvisor’s top 25</a></p>
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400-year-old bridge divides restoration experts in Hoi An Related image(s)<br />
<img height="200" src="http://bit.ly/2c7qz1t" width="200" /><br />

400-year-old bridge divides restoration experts in Hoi An

400-year-old bridge divides restoration experts in Hoi An Some say the Chua Cau Bridge simply won’t be the same if it is dismantled for rest...

+ Read more »

2016 International Travel Expo to open next week

2016 International Travel Expo to open next week
<p><strong>The 2016 International Travel Expo- ITE HCMC will be held at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center in District 7 in Ho Chi Minh City from September 8-10.<br /></strong></p>
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<p>The expo attracts 280 display booths of hundreds of local and foreign companies from 20 countries and territories worldwide.</p>
<p>The tourism show is expected to draw more than 30,000 visitors.</p>
<p>Started in 2005, the ITE has become one of the leading travel events in Vietnam and the region with expanded scale and diversified activities, such as exhibition, meeting between Buyer and Seller and others.</p>
<p>Its theme ““Five Nations – One Destination,” aiming at promoting potentials, key tourism products and strengthening co-operations among countries in the Mekong River region has become a brand name of five countries, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand.</p>
<p>The annual expo is jointly held by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the People’s Committee of HCMC.</p>
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2016 International Travel Expo to open next week Related image(s)<br />
<img height="200" src="http://bit.ly/2bFtNIz" width="200" /><br />

2016 International Travel Expo to open next week

2016 International Travel Expo to open next week The 2016 International Travel Expo- ITE HCMC will be held at the Saigon Exhibition and Conv...

+ Read more »

Plan to dismantle ancient bridge meets with criticism in Hoi An

Plan to dismantle ancient bridge meets with criticism in Hoi An
<p>Some experts say the Chua Cau Bridge simply won’t be the same if it is taken apart for restoration work.</p>
<p>International and Vietnamese experts met on August 16 to discuss restoration work on the 400-year-old Chua Cau Bridge in the ancient town of Hoi An.</p>
<p>In order to restore the bridge properly, it should be dismantled, said Nguyen Chi Trung, a senior conservation official in Hoi An.</p>
<p>The solution has received mixed reactions. Historian Vo Ha has warned that dismantling the bridge will make people feel “it’s not the same”, while architect Le Thanh Vinh said it should implemented only as a last resort with careful planning by conservation experts.</p>
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="plan-to-dismantle-ancient-bridge-meets-with-criticism-in-hoi-an" src="http://bit.ly/2c7qz1t" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">The iconic image of Hoi An’s Ancient Town, Chua Cau literally means ‘bridge pagoda’. Built by Japanese merchants in the 17th century, it’s also known as the Japanese Bridge.</p>
</div>
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="plan-to-dismantle-ancient-bridge-meets-with-criticism-in-hoi-an-1" src="http://bit.ly/2bZnbbJ" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">The pagoda part was added to the bridge in 1653. Over half a century later, in 1719, Lord Nguyen Phuc Chu of the Nguyen Dynasty visited Hoi An and named the bridge ‘Lai Vien Kieu’, meaning ‘Welcome Bridge for Faraway Visitors’. Hoi An, at the time, was in fact a major trading port in the area, welcoming Chinese, Portugese, Dutch, Japanese and Indian merchants.</p>
</div>
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="plan-to-dismantle-ancient-bridge-meets-with-criticism-in-hoi-an-2" src="http://bit.ly/2c7qLxL" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">Today, during the peak season, the bridge welcomes as many as 7,000 visitors each day from all over the world.</p>
</div>
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="plan-to-dismantle-ancient-bridge-meets-with-criticism-in-hoi-an-3" src="http://bit.ly/2bZmX4u" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">The wooden bridge painted in red lacquer was built based on the ‘thuong gia ha kieu’ concept, meaning a house above a bridge.</p>
</div>
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="plan-to-dismantle-ancient-bridge-meets-with-criticism-in-hoi-an-4" src="http://bit.ly/2c7pFSG" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">The pagoda is a place to worship the God of Weather who is believed to have the power to control natural calamities and bring happiness and wealth to locals.</p>
</div>
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="plan-to-dismantle-ancient-bridge-meets-with-criticism-in-hoi-an-5" src="http://bit.ly/2bZmY8B" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">Chua Cau has undergone multiple restoration efforts and it has kept it’s current form since the 18th-19th centuries.</p>
</div>
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="plan-to-dismantle-ancient-bridge-meets-with-criticism-in-hoi-an-6" src="http://bit.ly/2c7q8UM" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">The pillars of the bridge.</p>
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<td><img alt="plan-to-dismantle-ancient-bridge-meets-with-criticism-in-hoi-an-7" src="http://bit.ly/2bZnseW" width="500" /></td>
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<p>“I think Chua Cau Bridge is still in good condition. It will last well for the next 10 years without any repairs. I have no idea what is in the minds of local authorities. From my point of view, it is not necessary to dismantle the bridge for full restoration,” said Nguyen Van Tien, who has been the bridge’s porter for 20 years.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="More on Hoi An:" src="http://bit.ly/2c7qESJ" title="More on Hoi An:" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">More on Hoi An:</p>
</div>
<p>> <a href="http://bit.ly/2bZm1gs">Natural ‘check-in’ spots around Hoi An</a></p>
<p>> <a href="http://bit.ly/2c7pNlf">Hoi An’s beach lands in TripAdvisor’s top 25</a></p>
<br />
Plan to dismantle ancient bridge meets with criticism in Hoi An Related image(s)<br />
<img height="200" src="http://bit.ly/2c7qz1t" width="200" /><br />

Plan to dismantle ancient bridge meets with criticism in Hoi An

Plan to dismantle ancient bridge meets with criticism in Hoi An Some experts say the Chua Cau Bridge simply won’t be the same if it is taken...

+ Read more »

International Travel Expo to open in Ho Chi Minh City

International Travel Expo to open in Ho Chi Minh City
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="" src="http://bit.ly/2bAU3a0" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">At an ITE (Source: wanderlusttips)</p>
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<strong>HCM City (VNA)</strong> – Numerous activities will be organised during the 12th International Travel Expo (ITE), set to take place at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre in Ho Chi Minh City from September 8-10.
<p>The event is expected to see the participation of 280 international and domestic enterprises from 20 nations and territories, and 32 provinces and cities across the nation, the organising board said at a press briefing in HCM City on August 30.</p>
<p>Hundreds of travel agencies will attend the event.</p>
<p>Other prominent attendees at the expo include Tourist Ministers from the member nations of the “Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) a nd ASEAN, officials from cities in the lower Mekong basin and other localities.</p>
<p>Tourism bloggers from Denmark, Finland, France, Norway and the UK are invited to the event to promote Vietnam’s tourism abroad.</p>
<p>Forums and workshops will also be held to boost cooperation among regional countries.</p>
<p>A Tourism Consumer Day, art performances and a fashion show will also be conducted during the event.</p>
<p>It is expected to lure over 30,000 visitors, up about 20-30 percent from the 2015 version.-VNA</p>
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International Travel Expo to open in Ho Chi Minh City Related image(s)<br />
<img height="200" src="http://bit.ly/2bAU3a0" width="200" /><br />

International Travel Expo to open in Ho Chi Minh City

International Travel Expo to open in Ho Chi Minh City At an ITE (Source: wanderlusttips) HCM City (VNA) – Numerous activities will be o...

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Locals haunted by ghosts of Saigon cemetery

Locals haunted by ghosts of Saigon cemetery
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="Locals haunted by ghosts of Saigon cemetery" src="http://bit.ly/2bzFOos" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">The Massiges Cemetery taken in 1970. Photo by Frederick P Fellers (Indianapolis, USA)</p>
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<p>A simple walk in the park begs the question: What lies beneath?</p>
<p>Cleared in 1983 to make way for Le Van Tam Park, the former Massiges or European Cemetery (Cimetière Européen) was the most famous French cemetery in Saigon. To coincide with the release of hitherto unseen pictures of the cemetery taken in 1970 by Frederick P Fellers (Indianapolis, U.S.), Tim Doling takes a look at the history of this old Saigon institution.</p>
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="walking-with-the-ghosts-in-saigon-park" src="http://bit.ly/2bUqrnD" width="500" />
<p class="wp-caption-text">A view of Rue Legrand de la Liraye (now Dien Bien Phu Street) with the main gate of the European Cemetery on the right</p>
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<p>Saigon’s European Cemetery, later known as the Massiges Cemetery, was established in 1859 on the east side of Rue Nationale (modern-day Hai Ba Trưng Street), north of the city center, initially to provide a final resting place for the French soldiers and sailors who had died during the conquest of Saigon.</p>
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<p class="wp-caption-text">The European Cemetery (1859) and its later neighbor the Annamite [Vietnamese] Cemetery (c 1870) are both visible at the top of this 1871 map of Saigon</p>
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<p>At the outset, it was administered by the French Navy as a military cemetery. Some of its earliest occupants included French marine infantry soldiers Captain Nicolas Barbé (beheaded at the Khai Tuong Temple on December 7, 1860), Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Ernest Marchaisse (killed at Tay-Ninh on June 14, 1866) and Captain Savin de Larclauze (also killed at Tay Ninh on June 7, 1868); and Mekong River explorers Captain L Doudart de Lagree (died March 12, 1868 while leading a geographic survey and exploration of the Mekong River into Laos and China) and Lieutenant Francis Garnier (killed December 21, 1873 in Hanoi). By 1895, the cemetery was home to 239 military graves.</p>
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<p class="wp-caption-text">A 1970 photograph of a French military memorial in the former Massiges Cemetery, now Le Van Tam Park. Photo by Frederick P Fellers (Indianapolis, USA)</p>
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<p class="wp-caption-text">A 1928 photograph of the combined tomb of Mekong River explorers Doudart de Lagree and Francis Garnier (killed 21 December, 1873 in Hanoi).</p>
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<p>During the 1870s, the European Cemetery acquired the popular name “Jardin du Père d’Ormoy” (Father d’Ormoy’s Garden), apparently because of the practice of the Navy’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Lachuzeaux d’Ormoy (1863-1874) of sending his most unruly patients to tend its lawns and flowerbeds.</p>
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<p class="wp-caption-text">The main entrance to the European Cemetery</p>
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<p>However, by the late 1860s, civilians were also being buried in the European Cemetery, a trend undoubtedly reinforced during the early years of the colony by the high mortality rate from serious endemic diseases such as cholera, malaria, intestinal parasites and dysentery. A report from 1889 noted that “although there exist in our colony none of the terrible epidemics that all too often afflict our possessions across the seas, a visit to the European Cemetery in Saigon may painfully reveal the truth about the victims of the climate.”</p>
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<p class="wp-caption-text">A military memorial in the European Cemetery</p>
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<p>Intriguingly, the European Cemetery contained a relatively large number of tombstones with Germanic names, reflecting the preponderance of German merchant trading houses in Saigon, particularly before 1870.</p>
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<p class="wp-caption-text">A corner of the European Cemetery</p>
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<p>In one corner of the compound there was also a group of tombs belonging to a band of injured Russian seamen who had fled to Cam Ranh Bay in 1894 following their defeat at the Battle of Tsushima and later died in the military hospital in Saigon.</p>
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<p class="wp-caption-text">A 1967 photograph of a Vietnamese tomb in the cemetery</p>
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<p class="wp-caption-text">The Massiges Cemetery taken in 1970. Photo by Frederick P Fellers (Indianapolis, U.S.)</p>
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<p>In around 1870, a smaller Vietnamese Cemetery (Cimetière Annamite or Cimetière Indigène) was opened immediately north of the European Cemetery. The street dividing the two compounds – modern-day Vo Thi Sau Street – was briefly named Rue des Deux Cimetières (Two Cemeteries Street) before it became Rue Mayer in the late 1880s.</p>
<p>From the end of the 19th century, as standards of hygiene improved and the colony prospered, the European Cemetery became the last resting place of choice for Saigon’s colonial politicians and administrators, among whose number were architect <a href="http://bit.ly/2bzEYrX">Marie-Alfred Foulhoux</a> (1840-1892) and city mayor Paul Blanchy (1837-1901).</p>
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<p class="wp-caption-text">The Massiges Cemetery taken in 1970. Photo by Frederick P Fellers (Indianapolis, U.S.)</p>
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<p>On December 14, 1912, this transformation of the European Cemetery into a burial place for the colonial elite prompted a critical report by the Courrier Saigonnais newspaper. It pointed out that while the cemetery contained an ever-increasing number of grandiose and well-maintained tombs belonging to high-ranking functionaries, many of the original soldiers’ and sailors’ tombs had been left abandoned and overgrown. It also singled out for criticism the “sacrilegious” practice of exhuming poor people’s graves within seven or eight years and relocating them elsewhere, presumably to make way for those of the rich and famous.</p>
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<p class="wp-caption-text">A Life magazine photograph taken in Mac Dinh Chi Cemetery in 1961.</p>
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<p>By the early 20th century, the interior of the cemetery was criss-crossed by pathways and planted with trees and shrubs by the staff of the Saigon Botanical and Zoological Gardens. It was surrounded by 2.5m high whitewashed walls, with its main gate in the southern wall of the compound on Rue Legrand de la Liraye. This main gate was located directly opposite the northern end of Rue de Bangkok, and after 1920, when Rue de Bangkok was renamed Rue de Massiges, the cemetery became known by the new name Cimetière de la Rue de Massiges.</p>
<p>Transferred by the French Navy to the care of the municipal authorities in the 1880s, the cemetery was administered thereafter by the Bureau du Conservateur des Cimetière, part of the Bureau du Service Régional d’Hygiène de Saigon, which had an office at 67 Rue de Massiges (modern-day Mac Dinh Chi Street).</p>
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<p class="wp-caption-text">The Massiges Cemetery taken in 1970. Photo by Frederick P Fellers (Indianapolis, U.S.)</p>
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<p>Many well-known figures of the later colonial era were buried here, including French naval officer Alain Penfentenyo de Kervéréguin (died February 12, 1946), missionary Grace Cadman (died April 24, 1946) and journalist and politician Henri Chavigny de Lachevrotière (died January 12, 1951). By all accounts, however, the most impressive tomb of that period was the grand mausoleum of Nguyen Van Thinh (died November 10, 1946), first President of the short-lived Autonomous Republic of Cochinchina (République Autonome de Cochinchine, June 1, 1946 – October 8, 1947).</p>
<p>In March 1955, Rue de Massiges was renamed Mac Dinh Chi Street after the renowned Vietnamese scholar and diplomat Mac Dinh Chi (1280-1350), and henceforward the cemetery also became known as the Mac Dinh Chi Cemetery.</p>
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<p class="wp-caption-text">The Massiges Cemetery taken in 1970. Photo by Frederick P Fellers (Indianapolis, U.S.)</p>
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<p>Over the subsequent two decades, a further generation of high-ranking politicians, military leaders and other prominent members of South Vietnamese society were buried within its walls, along with a small number of foreigners such as Time and Newsweek correspondent François Sully (died in February 1971). However, perhaps its most famous occupants of this period were South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother and chief political adviser Ngo Dinh Nhu, who were assassinated on November 2, 1963.</p>
<p>In 1971, according to Arthur J Dommen (The Indochinese Experience of the French and the Americans: Nationalism and Communism in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, 2001), President Nguyen Van Thieu had a section of the cemetery’s west wall demolished, apparently because a Cao Dai clairvoyant had relayed to him a message from Diem’s ghost that since Thieu was responsible for his death, the least he could do was to release his spirit from the cemetery!</p>
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<p class="wp-caption-text">The Massiges Cemetery taken in 1970. Photo by Frederick P Fellers (Indianapolis, U.S.)</p>
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<p class="wp-caption-text">The Massiges Cemetery taken in 1970. Photo by Frederick P Fellers (Indianapolis, U.S.)</p>
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<p class="wp-caption-text">Photo of the combined tomb of Mekong River explorers Doudart de Lagree and Lieutenant Francis Garnier taken in 1970. Photo by Frederick P Fellers (Indianapolis, U.S.).</p>
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<p class="wp-caption-text">The Massiges Cemetery taken in 1970. Photo by Frederick P Fellers (Indianapolis, U.S.)</p>
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<p class="wp-caption-text">The Massiges Cemetery taken in 1970. Photo by Frederick P Fellers (Indianapolis, U.S.)</p>
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<p class="wp-caption-text">The Massiges Cemetery taken in 1970. Photo by Frederick P Fellers (Indianapolis, U.S.)</p>
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<p>However, ghost stories about the cemetery only began to circulate widely after 1983, when the Vietnamese government decommissioned the Mac Dinh Chi Cemetery and transformed it into Le Van Tam Park.</p>
<p>The destruction of the old Mac Dinh Chi Cemetery was part of a wider project which also included the clearance of the French military cemetery at the Bay Hien intersection and the Pigneau de Béhaine Mausoleum near Tan Son Nhat Airport, as well as the old French cemetery in Vung Tau. Those with family members buried in these cemeteries were instructed to make arrangements for their reburial within two months. Unclaimed remains were cremated and relocated. French military remains were repatriated to France for final burial in Fréjus, where a memorial was raised in their honor.</p>
<p>While Le Van Tam Park has since become a popular place for recreational activities, there are still many superstitious locals who prefer not to go there because of its history.</p>
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<p class="wp-caption-text">Le Van Tam Park today. Photo by Panoramio/Vu Ha Duy</p>
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<p>Today, the park is dominated by a Socialist Realist sculpture of the eponymous Le Van Tam, a young Vietnamese revolutionary martyr of the First Indochina War who is said to have destroyed a French fuel store at Thi Nghe in January 1946 by deliberately soaking himself with petrol and then turning himself into a “human torch” before jumping into the nearest petrol storage container. After 1975, many schools, parks, cinemas and streets were named after Le Van Tam, but in 2005, leading historian Professor Phan Huy Le of the Hanoi National University showed that while revolutionary forces did destroy the Thi Nghe fuel store in January 1946, the story about Le Van Tam was a fictional one written by then Propaganda Minister Tran Huy Lieu.</p>
<p>In August 2010, ground was broken on a new project to build an underground car park beneath Le Van Tam Park, with space for 2,000 motorbikes, 1,250 cars and 28 buses and trucks. However, it was recently <a href="http://bit.ly/2bzFDcJ">reported</a> that due to formalities relating to the issuance of a land-use certificate and exemption of land use fee, as well as a change to the project’s technical planning, no progress on this project has yet been made.</p>
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<p class="wp-caption-text">An artist’s impression of Le Van Tam Park after completion of the planned underground car par project</p>
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<p><em>Tim Doling is the author of the walking tours guidebook Exploring Ho Chi Minh City (The Gioi Publishing House, Hanoi, 2014). For more articles about Vietnam’s history, visit his website, <a href="http://bit.ly/2bzFQwA">http://bit.ly/2bzFQwA</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>Join the Facebook group pages <a href="http://bit.ly/2bzF0jE">Saigon-Chợ Lớn Then & Now</a> to see historic photographs juxtaposed with new ones taken in the same locations, and Dai Quan sat Di san Sai Gon – Saigon Heritage Observatory for up-to-date information on conservation issues in Saigon and Cho Lon.</em></p>
<p><em>Related news:</em></p>
<p>> <a href="http://bit.ly/2bUrmEx">Then and now: A touch of French class down Saigon street</a></p>
<p>> <a href="http://bit.ly/2bzFpT1">Saigon of the 1960s: The tale of Lambros</a></p>
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Locals haunted by ghosts of Saigon cemetery Related image(s)<br />
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Locals haunted by ghosts of Saigon cemetery

Locals haunted by ghosts of Saigon cemetery The Massiges Cemetery taken in 1970. Photo by Frederick P Fellers (Indianapolis, USA) A simpl...

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