The expo, the largest of its kind in Vietnam , aims to highlight the three countries’ landscapes, cultural heritages and tourism potentials.

The three-day event attracts the participation of Vietnamese tourist companies and their counterparts from many countries.

Addressing the ceremony, the Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, Nguyen Thi Hong, said that the exposition does not only aim to improve the Indochinese countries’ friendship but also to promote their cooperation in tourism development.

Seminars on developing the community tourism in the three countries, tourism investment and promotion will be held during the event.

According to Saigontourist, which provides services for Costa Classica cruiser, this is the ship’s trial voyage to Vietnam to prepare for its following trips.

As scheduled, Costa Classica’s passengers will tour HCMC on April 2 and 3 before leaving for Nha Trang Port where they will spend only one day on April 4.

The cruiser passengers will visit Danang on April 5 and then go north to Quang Ninh Province, where they will visit Halong Bay and take part in other activities organised by Saigontourist on April 6 and 7.

Costa Classica belongs to the Costa Crociere S.p.A – the Europe’s largest cruiser group and member of the Carnival Group. Its sister cruisers, Costa Allegra and Costa Marina, often transport tourists to Vietnam via Saigontourist.

So far this year, Saigontourist has catered for 27,000 cruiser visitors.

The roads of Nguyen Hue, Le Loi and Dong Khoi have been decorated with special lights from January 18 until February 14. Colorful lights were bunched on various themes to convey the warm and jubilant messages of the Tet Festival 2009.

An 8m-high, 3m-diameter lotus-shaped lamp was built on the roundabout of Nguyen Hue – Le Loi Road. A 0.8×1m yellow-apricot blossom gate stood on Le Loi Road. Dong Khoi Road was illuminated by a system of LED lamps.

The organizing board campaigned offices and people who own houses on these roads to self decorate the front of their houses and offices with lamps.

On January 23, the Nguyen Hue flower street will open. The Banh Tet (cylindrical glutinous rice cake) Festival will be kicked off on January 25. The Door Shows will start on January 31. On the lunar New Year’s Eve, firework shows will be organized at several places in the city.

A special art show will run from 10:00pm to 12:00am of the lunar New Year’s Eve at an outdoor stage on Le Duan Road, in front of the Thong Nhat Palace.

The event attracted more than 300 artists of all ages, from youngsters to octogenarians, from all areas of the capital city.

Seven of the nine performances at the event were being unveiled for the first time, and some could be traced back almost 2,000 years to the historic uprising led by national heroines Trung Trac and Trung Nhi.

One of the festival’s undoubted highlights was a performance of “the fairy dance”, handed down by 85 year old Hoang Ky to the Dong Au Lo Khe club. This dance has not been performed in public for over 60 years, making this performance all the more poignant as it can now be passed on to future generations, ensuring the preservation of this cultural treasure.

The event organisers acknowledged the contributions of Buddhist monks and followers from the Dong Lim Pagoda in Long Bien precinct and Dao Xuyen Pagoda in Gia Lam District, who performed two ritual dances that, until now, could only be seen during religious ceremonies.

The capital city is eagerly preparing for its millennial anniversary in 2010 and the breathing of new life into its fading folklore is a key part of its celebration programme.