The Great National Unity – Vietnamese Cultural Heritage Week opened in Hanoi on November 18th, 2017

The Great National Unity – Vietnamese Cultural Heritage Week has been held annually over the past 6 years in Hanoi’s Son Tay district with many cultural activities and festivals. At this year’s event, the culture of the Cai Rang floating market, which is part of a national intangible cultural heritage, was re-enacted. The re-enactment included performances of the art of “Don ca tai tu”or amateur music and song, named in UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity. Nguyen Thi Phuong, a Muong ethnic of Hoa Binh province, told VOV: "The event is an ideal venue for people from different ethnic groups like us to learn more about the other groups’ cultures and stay united for national development."

Activities during the week included ethnic group exchanges and a workshop on developing the Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism.

In addition to intangible cultural heritages, Vietnam has 8 cultural and natural heritages recognized by UNESCO including Ha Long Bay, Hanoi’s Temple of Literature, the Thang Long royal citadel, the Trang An complex, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, Hue’s imperial city, Hoi An ancient town, and the My Son Sanctuary. Nguyen Manh Cuong, Former Deputy Director General of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, shared his view: "Our national cultural heritages are of great importance in attracting foreign tourists. It’s necessary to accelerate investment in cultural heritage tourism, which is expected to be a great source of income for Vietnam to boost the national economy and re-invest in preserving its many cultural heritages."

Many programs on preserving and promoting national heritages are being implemented across Vietnam. Nguyen Huyen Anh, deputy head of Ha Long Bay Management Board, elaborated: "Preserving local cultural heritages is one of our most important tasks. We have set out a sustainable development plan for Ha Long Bay, which is designed to help tourists gain a better understanding of our local heritages and encompasses tours to Vong Vieng fishing village and aquaculture activities."

Vietnam is organizing many programs to encourage people, especially young ones, to do more to preserve and promote our national heritages. Le Xuan Kieu, Director of the Temple of Literature’s Center for Cultural and Scientific Activities, told VOV: "Instead of receiving knowledge in a passive way, as by listening to boring presentations about national heritages, students are encouraged to explore the heritages in a more active and personal way.  This will help them better understand our national heritages, and boost their pride and love for their home country. We’re coordinating with school teachers and experts on heritage education to devise interesting lessons on national heritages for Vietnamese students."