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| A plane of Vietnam Airlines (Source: Vietnam Airlines) |
The flight, VN513, departed the Chinese capital at 3:30pm (Beijing time) and will arrive in Hanoi at 5:55pm (Hanoi time).
Passengers were welcomed with a ceremony held by the national flag carrier of Vietnam at Beijing Capital International Airport.
Vietnam Airlines is operating three round-trip flights per week between Hanoi and Beijing, and will increase the flights from mid-2023. It is also planning to open an air route connecting with Beijing Daxing International Airport.
China is one of the biggest international markets of Vietnam Airlines, which has resumed most of its air routes to Chinese destinations, including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with Guangzhou and Shanghai, and Hanoi with Beijing.
In the coming months, the carrier will re-open four routes linking Da Nang with Guangzhou, Shanghai and Chengdu, and Hanoi with Chengdu. It will also step up the use of wide-body aircraft, Airbus A350 and Boeing 787, on the routes to China.
The resumption of air routes is expected to greatly facilitate the post-pandemic recovery of tourism, trade, and investment between Vietnam and China, and help Vietnam achieve international tourist targets this year.
Official export turnover of bird's nest to China expected to see sharp increase
China is currently the largest consumption market for bird's nests in the world, so the official import of Vietnamese bird's nest is expected to increase the export turnover of this item in the near future, reported the Voice of Vietnam according to information from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Currently, there are about 23,800 bird nest houses in the whole country. The localities with the fastest growing number of swiftlet houses are Kien Giang, Khanh Hoa and Lam Dong.
With an output of 150-200 tons per year, Vietnamese bird's nests have been exported to China over the past time, earning about US$200-300 million per year.
Do Van Hoan, deputy head of the Livestock Breeds Department, Department of Livestock Production under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that the official exports of bird nests to China must be registered with competent agencies in Vietnam and are approved by the General Administration of Customs of China.
Each bird's nest house will be given a code, and this is one of the conditions for bird’s net exports to China.
Therefore, swiftlet farming establishments and businesses need to contact relevant agencies for assistance in completing export procedures, he added.
Financial aid for ethnic minority housing and land reclamation
Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang has signed off on a decision for assistance in house building and land reclamation for residents in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, reported Vietnam News Agency.
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| The assistance in house building and land reclamation aims to help with the implementation of the national target programme on socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous area. (Photo: VNA) |
The assistance is meant to help with the implementation of the national target programme on socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas for 2021 - 2030, in the first phase from 2021 to 2025.
Accordingly, a maximum of 40 million VND (nearly 1,700 USD) from the central budget will be provided for each household to carry out site clearance, prepare housing and land infrastructure, or settlement. A maximum of 40 million VND for each household will be provided to build a solid house in line with local customs, and up to 22.5 million VND for each to conduct land reclamation for farming.
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| Farmers harvest tea buds in a mountainous area. (Photo: VNA) |
It also regulates that an average of 3 billion VND from the central budget will be given to help with the building of a concentrated water supply facility in ethnic minority and mountainous areas. The paving of roads towards communes' centre can receive support of about 1.6 billion VND for each kilometer, and the construction of a new market can receive financial aid of 4.4 billion VND, while the upgrading of an existing market will be given some 800 million VND.
Meanwhile, local budgets will supply a minimum of 4 million VND for each household to carry out site clearance, prepare housing land infrastructure, or settlement. A minimum of 4 million VND will be dedicated to building a solid house in line with local customs.
In addition to the aid from the central and local budgets, localities were also requested to mobilise capital from other legal sources for funding the works under the national target programme, according to the decision.
Two ship itineraries in Vietnam named among top 4 best Southeast Asia cruises
Small ship itineraries along the Red River and Ha Long Bay and the Lower Mekong River in Vietnam were named among the top four best Southeast Asia cruises by the US travel guidebook series Frommer’s, reported Nhan dan newspaper.
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| Ha Long Bay in Vietnam (Photo: VNA) |
The four itineraries were listed in an article published on March 11, by Heidi Sarna - the cofounder of QuirkyCruise.com, which is designed to share reviews and news about small-ship cruises around the world.
According to Heidi Sarna, during the 10-day itinerary to explore the Red River and Ha Long Bay, a small ship covers several hundred miles between Ha Long Bay and Hoa Binh province in northern Vietnam, spending a few days in the picturesque and otherworldly limestone karst–studded Ha Long Bay, which is the dramatic backdrop to films like Indochine (1992) and The Quiet American (2002).
Except for a day in frenetic and fascinating Hanoi, which is notable for its colonial architecture, war heritage, and foodie culture, the rest of this route is spent on the Red River and its tributaries, which reach into the rural landscapes and small towns of Vietnam’s heartland.
The author also revealed several rewarding ways to spend time off the ship, including village walks, kayaking in Ha Long Bay, watching a traditional water puppet show, taking tours of heritage sites, and getting a close-up look at traditional methods for making ceramics, furniture, rice wine, knives, and noodles.
Meanwhile, on the classic weeklong Mekong itinerary cruises between river points near Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and Siem Reap, Cambodia, the riverscape varies from remote and pastoral on the Cambodian side - where passengers can spot people bathing and slapping laundry against stones at the river’s edge - to the more industrial and bustling Vietnam part of the river.
On excursions, passengers can walk through villages and past picture-perfect rice fields and venture into pungent wet markets and floating fish farms./.