During the event, which took place at the Tokyo Arts Space, there were three programmes every night and the most outstanding became part of the collaborated programme which included the Thang Long Theatre’s water puppet performance staged by Japanese artist Madoka Okada, a play in English by Korean director Kim Suk Man and a modern dancing performance by famous Japanese choreographer Mikuni Yanaihar.

The APAF is an annual joint event under the Asian Network of Major Cities 21 which aims to boost mutual understanding and cultural exchange among Asian citizens as well as promoting interaction between Asian artists.

The first APAF was held in Tokyo in 2002. It was then organised in six other Asian cities before coming back to Tokyo again this year.

At Ly Thai To Park, near Hoan Kiem lake, in central Hanoi , over 550 ornamental trees of various species and nearly 100 works of art made of stone are on display.

Many of them have been kept and cared for by their families over many generations.

The exhibition at Ly Thai To Park will run until September 20 and the one in Indira Gandhi Park will close on October 30.

According to Luu Minh Tri, President of the Thang Long Art Ornamental Plant Association, a larger exhibition will be held at the Hanoi Museum from September 25-October 30.

Twelve groups of puppeteers from overseas will join five Vietnamese groups to take part in the second International Puppetry Festival in Hanoi from September 4-9.

Of the 12 foreign groups, the puppeteers from Egypt , Israel and Cuba are visiting Vietnam for the first time.

The festival’s opening ceremony will be held at the Hanoi Opera House and the winner of the gold cup will also receive an award of 1,000 USD.

Later, from October 6-11, the Ha Thanh Culinary Festival will be held at Ho Tay ( West Lake ) Park as one of the major activities to mark the city’s birthday.

The festival will attract tourist and travel agencies from all 63 cities and provinces across the country as well as foreign embassies and enterprises in Vietnam.

The festival will take place on a 8ha site with separate areas for cuisine, Hanoian culture and folk games.

There will be 130 stalls selling special dishes from every part of Vietnam , with a special focus on traditional Hanoian dishes.

The article opened with Hanoi ’s history 1,000 years ago when King Ly Thai To moved the capital from the mountainous Ninh Binh area to the Red River Delta and decided to renamed it Thang Long (Ascending Dragon).

Vietnam has selected October 10, the day when Hanoi was liberated from French colonialists’ rule in 1954, for its grand millennium celebration, the article wrote.

In these autumn days, Hanoi ’s streets become brilliant and splendid with multi-coloured lights, especially when night falls.

The author, who recently visited Vietnam , wrote that Hanoi no longer has dug-outs on the sidewalks which sheltered people from US bomb attacks but they are now replaced by new bridges and spacious urban areas.

Dozens of important socio-economic works have been commissioned to celebrate the 1,000 th birthday of the capital city, she noted.

Visitors to modern Hanoi will be pleasantly surprised to see a colourful, 6-km long ceramic mosaic mural along the Red River which has been created by Vietnamese and foreign artists during recent years.

Marta Roja, a close friend of the Vietnamese people, affirmed that Hanoi , with its legend of Sword Lake and resilient struggles against foreign invaders, will be remembered forever.

Vu The Binh, Director of the Travel Department of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, said that activities were being taken to improve services and tour guides quality, and to address undercutting among local tour operators. Cooperation with tourism agencies of Thailand and Laos is also being bolstered to increase the number of visitors from the region, he said.

“We need to address unfairly competition between travel companies first, and to improve the quality of tour guides and make attractive tours for Thai and travelers from ASEAN,” he said.

Binh said the tourism agency and relevant authorities have agreed to join hands to arrange activities to welcome overland travelers via border gates in the central region.

Under the support of the tourism agency, 22 travel firms, mostly in the region, have established a club to improve services instead of undercutting one another.

Binh said VNAT and the Tourism Authority of Thailand early this month had inked an agreement on tourism cooperation for the central region. The agency will meet with the national tourism agency of Laos for similar cooperation.

Thai travelers are the target guests for the program, he said.

“We want to develop the region as an attractive destination for Thai and travelers from ASEAN,” Binh said.

Thai tourists usually travel to the region via the border gates in the central region, such as Cau Treo, Cha Lo, Lao Bao and Nam Can. The tourism agency expects more than 100,000 Thai visitors to come to the region this year.

Binh said because of a lack of tour guides for Thai visitors, the tourism agency is going to help travel firms there to train quality tour guides.