Ancient city opens doors for millennial celebration

The citadel became a UNESCO World Heritage Site early this month

The opening is expected to promote the relics further and attract individuals and scientists to preserve them. Numerous fragments of china and pottery have been excavated.

Local experts and scientists affiliated with UNESCO are conducting excavations around the site. A master plan for the long-term preservation of the Thang Long Royal Citadel is also in the works.

This is the central axis of the Forbidden City remains, including Ky Dai - Doan Mon - Kinh Thien - Hau Lau and Bac Mon. Not much, but that is the mark where the ancient remains of the highest concentration of power of the most feudal dynasty of Vietnam.



The citadel was constructed earliest by the Ly dynasty in 1010 and remained the seat of the Vietnamese court until 1810, when Hue became the capital city. The royal palaces and other various structures were largely destroyed by the colonial French in the late 19th century. Some structures remain such as Doan Mon gate and the Flag Tower of Hanoi, as well as the steps of Kinh Thiên Palace and the Hau Lâu (Princess' Palace).



One of the most beautiful feature contributing to the mark of this world heritage is the dome architecture. The dome has graceful bearing medium, the circular domed arch outside the door, the stone is waxy bricks, walls and flat roof bring to the dome of the Imperial City a flawless beauty. From the smallest detail to the overall is designed to be harmony with the scale of space and the work of our father left, demonstrates the great talent of ancient architecture.

The Vietnamese military command under General Vo Nguyen Giap, had its headquarters in the citadel in the building known as D67. An underground tunnel enabled the military to flee to other parts in case of a raid.

Construction work for the National Assembly building in 2003 uncovered large remains of the citadel dating back to Thang Long. Some of the remains are now exhibited in the Vietnamese History Museum. Where the planned new National Assembly building should not be located is still open.

Starting in 2000, some of the old French barracks and buildings have been destroyed to make place for a new museum within the citadel.

In 2010 the citadel was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as "The Central Sector of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long - Hanoi"

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New luxury resort in Con Dao - Six Senses Hideaway Con Dao

HCM CITY — Six Senses Con Dao, the first luxury resort on the famous Con Dao Island in the southern province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau will welcome its first guests in December.

The five-star resort boasts "ultra-contemporary architecture designed to enhance the natural beauty of the site".



All materials and resources have been locally chosen, and from sustainable sources, the resort developers say.

The resort has 50 villas, each with its own private infinity pool and unobstructed views of the East Sea with a total capacity of 200 guests. Each villa has both space and privacy along with indoor and outdoor bathrooms.

Con Dao is part of a 16-island archipelago around 200km from Vung Tau city.

The resort:

The spectacular Con Dao archipelago of islands is located to the south-east of Vietnam. The largest and most beautiful, Con Dao Island, hosts the Six Senses Hideaway Con Dao along a one-kilometre, white sand beach surrounded by dramatic mountain landscapes. The remote setting and preserved natural landscape provides an extraordinary sense of seclusion, creating an ideal place to escape, relax and live close to the natural elements



Six Senses Hideaway Con Dao presents elegantly designed modern accommodations offering generous personal space with lush tropical mangrove vegetation and breathtaking views. There are 35 villas with Private Pools plus 15 Residential Villas, each with two Private Pools. Styles range from single-level to duplexes and offer one, two and three bedrooms, many with indoor-outdoor bathrooms and several with personal spa suite salas.

How to get there:

Con Son Island, which hosts the Six Senses Hideaway, is around 230-kilometres, or 145-miles, from Ho Chi Minh City and is served by Co Ong Airport. It's a 45-minute flight from Ho Chi Minh City.

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Hanoi Royal Citadel named World Heritage Site

BRAZIL — The Hoang Thanh Thang Long ( Thang Long Royal Citadel), Viet Nam's historic capital, was recognized as a World Heritage by UNESCO at the meeting of its World Heritage Committee in Brazil yesterday.

The citadel was among the 32 sites, including 24 cultural and two natural-cultural heritage sites, newly recognized by the committee.

"This is a valuable gift and a very significant event for the Vietnamese people and the capital city of Ha Noi before its 1,000th anniversary in October," said an official from the Ha Noi People's Committee.


A group of six French specialists in history, archaeology, museum studies, urban studies and architecture had reported to the UNESCO committee: "We examined archaeological sites at No 18 Hoang Dieu Street, and we have come to the conclusion that this site represents world heritage value of the highest significance."

In identifying the values of the Ba Dinh site and of the Thang Long Royal Citadel, they said preservation of the Royal Citadel would reflect the uniqueness of this city in the Vietnamese nation and history over more than 1,000 years.

The site, they said, allowed a tangible interpretation of the continuity and peculiar features of the State organization of Viet Nam during that period and would provide original historical materials for defining the status of Ha Noi as the capital of the Dai Viet Kingdom.

Preservation of the site would also give Ha Noi a unique opportunity to ensure environmental values for its inhabitants in the future.

Archeological specialists from Japan, France, Australia, the US, South Korea, Norway and Italy were invited to visit the site and contribute their ideas.

The citadel has apparently been re-constructed many times over the course of the millennium, with each later construction grafted onto earlier ones. Archaeological artifacts have been well-preserved underground, making it the best-preserved palace sites in Asia.

"Famous ancient royal citadels such as the Fono Romano in Rome, Chang An in China and Heijokyo in Japan have been recognized as cultural heritage of mankind and inscribed on the List of World Heritage," commented a Japanese specialist.

"A site of equal or even greater significance has been revealed lying underground in Ha Noi. This shows that the area has been a political, economic and cultural centre of Viet Nam for over 1,000 years and demonstrates the level of development and strength of the Vietnamese in the past."

Viet Nam began taking measures for the preservation of the site back in 2006, said Professor Trinh Sinh from the Archaeological Institute.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism requested the Prime Minister to ratify a plan to preserve some of the excavated lots found to contain the most important, representative and original artifacts, Sinh said. These would be turned into an open museum to display artifacts and replicas.

The remaining lots would be systematically excavated, properly documented and then turned into an historical and cultural park within the complex of the historic Ba Dinh Square, he said.

Archaeological excavations were conducted on the 40,000sq.m site at No18 Hoang Dieu Street in 2002-03, revealing four distinct periods of activity: the Dai La or pre-Thang Long period from the 7th-10th centuries; the Ly-Tran period of the 11th-14th centuries, which included some vestiges of the pre Dinh-Le dynasty of the 10th century; the Le period of the 15th-18th centuries; and the Nguyen dynasty of the 19th century. The site demonstrated a continuous 1,300-year course of development of Vietnamese culture.

The site is located next to the Ha Noi Citadel built in 1805 and destroyed in 1897 and on the west of what used to be the axis of the Royal Citadel and the Forbidden City of Thang Long. — VNS

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Hyatt Regency Resort&Spa to come a new 5star accommodation in China beach

The golden sands of Vietnam’s 3,400-kilometer coastline scored its first internationally renown brand March 19 when Hyatt Hotels and Resorts broke ground on an expansive beach resort in Vietnam.

Hyatt Regency Danang Resort and Spa on China Beach joins the Park Hyatt in Ho Chi Minh City’s first district as the second Hyatt property in Vietnam. Worldwide, Hyatt operates 750 hotels. Its other beach resorts in Southeast Asia include Hyatt Regency Hua Hin in Thailand, Grand Hyatt Bali and Bali Hyatt in Indonesia, and Hyatt Regency Kuantan Resort in Malaysia.

“While some excellent beach resorts have opened in Vietnam, none possess the brand appeal of the Hyatt,” said Peter Ryder, CEO of Indochina Capital, the resort’s developer. “We expect that Hyatt’s reputation will attract legions of new travelers to Vietnam from around the world.”

Scheduled to open in early 2010, after a US $100 million investment, the resort’s 226 guest rooms will be complemented by residential developments, including 150 condominium and 30 two-storey oceanfront villas for sale. The resort is located 15 minutes by car from Danang International Airport, at the base of the Marble Mountains and near the UNESCO World Heritage Sites at Hoi An (10km), My Son (40km) and Hue (80km).

“This setting is renown throughout Asia for two reasons — China Beach and the Marble Mountains,” said Grahame Carder, vice president of marketing – Asia Pacific at Hyatt Hotels and Resorts. “We’re building on 650 meters of beachfront, and we’re at the foot of the legendary Marble Mountains. In Vietnam, we can’t think of a better combination of cultural appeal and tropical getaway.”

Four architects are combining talents to build the resort on the 20-hectare site. RMJM Singapore Pte Ltd. is the lead designer. Diana Simpson Designs, based in Australia, is working up the interior designs. Site Concepts International, based in the United States, is developing the landscape. And Studio Daminato, based in Singapore, will design the resort’s restaurant.

Silver shore luxury resort

The hotel’s 226 rooms are grouped in clusters of three-storey buildings, angled to optimize views of the ocean. A number of two-storey blocks are set amid tropical gardens. The rooms segue from indoors to outdoors over spacious outdoor decks that act as extensions of the personal space within.

“Architecturally, Vietnam — and central Vietnam in particular — is an incredible visual resource for designers,” said Karen Lim, design director at RMJM Singapore Pte Ltd. “For Hyatt Regency Danang Resort and Spa, we’ve preserved the essence and intimacy of the Vietnamese village in clusters of buildings. We’ve also integrated one of the region’s most fabled architectural attributes — the rampart’s of Hue’s Citadel — as a gateway to the property.”

RMJM has designed the Scottish Parliament Building in Edinburgh, the Oktha Tower in St. Petersburg, Russia and the Beijing Olympic Green Convention Centre in China.

Another of the resort’s distinguishing features will be a subterranean spa setting, accessed by a canyon-like gallery visible as a crack in the landscape at ground level. Each of the 30 beachfront residences feature three bedrooms, a pool and a garden, as well as views of the sea.

At the resort’s north end, the apartments will be situated in a suite of buildings, ranging in height from six to 14 storeys. Nearly every one of these units will offer a sea view.

“Indochina Capital’s vision for this project is a testament to the group’s ambition to put Vietnam on a par with the world’s most distinguished destinations for travelers,” said Carder. “We’re proud to be associated with a project of such magnitude.”

As Vietnam’s third largest city, Danang’s rising appeal as a destination has prompted the inclusion of a convention center, anchored by a 500-square-meter banquet hall.

“The wider world is just waking up to this region,” said Ryder. “The days of Good Morning, Vietnam are long over, and the Hyatt’s enthusiasm for this project attests to that.”

About Global Hyatt

Global Hyatt Corporation, one of the world’s premier hotel companies, offers today’s travellers more than 750 hotels and resorts (more than 140,000 rooms) in more than 45 countries. The company’s affiliates own, operate, manage and franchise Hyatt-branded hotels and resorts under Park Hyatt™, Grand Hyatt™, Hyatt Regency™, Hyatt Resorts™, Hyatt®, Hyatt Place™ and Hyatt Summerfield Suites® brands, as well as the company’s newest global luxury brand, Andaz™, which recently opened its first property in London. Global Hyatt Corporation is also the owner of Hyatt Vacation Ownership, Inc. operator of Hyatt Vacation Club and fractional residential properties and U.S. Franchise Systems, Inc, which franchises Hawthorn Suites and Microtel Inns and Suites.

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The Nam Hai scores “Best Destination Spa” award

The Nam Hai has brought home one of this year’s Asia Spa & Wellness Gold Awards, less than a month after the introduction of a new spa menu at the premier resort in the central province of Quang Nam.

The accolade was announced at the annual Asia Spa & Wellness Festival, the region’s premier exhibition for the spa and wellness industry in Bangkok, Thailand. The seaside resort scooped the category of “Best Destination Spa,” which was voted by a panel of judges comprising notable socialites, editors of regional spa publications, tour operators and spa enthusiasts.

“What’s noteworthy about this award is that it was earned based upon what we used to offer,” said Herbert Laubichler-Pichler, the resort’s general manager. “Since the judges’ decision, we’ve actually improved our spa with the introduction of a menu long on singular treatments.”


The new menu includes The Nam Hai Indulgent Oriental Ritual, a three-hour experience that includes an aromatherapy foot polish, a four-hands jade massage designed to dissolve muscle tension and soothe the spirit, a Traditions D’Orient organic facial, an Asian-style foot massage and a Himalayan crystal body polish.

The choice of a bath strewn with rose petals while enjoying Champagne and canapés has also been added to the list of new spa options.

Owned by Indochina Capital and managed by GHM, The Nam Hai owes its spa concept to GHM’s corporate director of spa, Brenda Ramen, who drew from her travels in Asia when conceiving rituals and selecting products.

A tranquil lotus pond surrounds The Spa which features two spacious pavilions with eight spa villas, relaxation areas, steam showers and changing rooms. This facility has been nominated as ‘One of the World’s Top New Spas’ by Conde Nast Traveler (USA) and called one of the world’s ‘Top 75 Spas’ by Conde Nast Traveller (UK).

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- Source: Vietnamnet.vn and Holiday Indochina -

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