Accordingly, related agencies will set up content and regulations about stopping smoking in public place and in offices and educate the public about the harmfulness of smoking.

The US’s Campaign for Tobacco - Free Kids Organization chose Halong to undertake the plan. It was capitalized at USD284,500 by the Vietnam Union of Science & Technology Associations (VUSTA) from 2009 to 2011.

The World Trade Organization (WHO) assessed that establishing Halong as a non-smoking city is a practical action to comply with the framework convention of the WHO about smoking control as Vietnam is among 164 countries which approved the convention.

Thanh Giong Festival is annually held from the 6th day to the 12th day of the 4th lunar month in Hanoi’s outlying districts such as Gia Lam, Soc Son, Tu Liem and Thuong Tin.

Thanh Giong Festival commemorates a legendary character that ancient Vietnamese people turned into an object of worship and raised to the status of immortal saint, according to Dr. Nguyen Chi Ben, director of the Vietnam Culture and Art Institute.

If the proposal is approved, the Vietnam Culture and Art Institute will start to build up a profile in August.

The association includes producers, traders and those who want to preserve and promote the cultural value and image of Hue Non La (palm leaf conical hat) as well as the beauty of the Ao Dai (Vietnamese traditional dress) to both local and foreign visitors.

The provincial People’s Committee is coordinating with the Department of Commerce and Industry on a project to develop and restore traditional craft villages in rural areas in 2006-2010 including the development of Hue Non La making village.

The project aims to attract more tourists, preserve the cultural value of the traditional craft industry and generate jobs for farmers.

The books, encompassing four volumes with more than 10,000 pages and 5,000 color and black-and-white pictures, maps and paintings, portray the changes across all areas of Hanoi since its founding in 1010 toward 2010.

Professor Vu Khieu, President of the Compilation Council, said the books aim to sketch a panorama picture of the thousand-year culture of Thang Long-Hanoi and serve as encyclopedic ones for references.

Secretary of Hanoi’s Party Committee Pham Quang Nghi appreciated the Compilation Council and more than 1,200 scientists for their contributions to the books, praising “those books as priceless cultural works to herald the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.”

According to the secretary of the book compilation council, Nguyen Hoang Diep, council members, co-authors and scientists have made about 200 fact-finding trips to ensure the scientific, historical and cultural accuracy of the books.