Thứ Tư, 14 tháng 7, 2010

CON PHUNG

Location: Con Phung is located in Tan Thach Village of the Chau Thanh District, near the Rach Mieu Ferry between My Tho and Ben Tre on Highway No. 60. Characteristics: It is an island emerging from the middle of the Tien River, and has an area of 28ha. Visitors can see original architectural works of the site of the holy land of the Coconut Religion. In Con Phung there is also a handicraft village producing furniture with materials taken from the coconut tree, and families raising bees for honey from the longan flower. The product is sold on the spot to visitors.
Source: Vietnam Nation Administration of Tourism






Da Lat - City of Eternal Spring

Da Lat city is probably one of Vietnam's most well known vacation destination. Since the turn of the century, Da Lat has been the vacation spot for well-to-do vietnamese and foreigners. It is the unofficial honeymoon mecca of Vietnam. Located on Lám Viên (Langbian) high lands, part of the greater Central high lands of Vietnam (Cao Nguyen Trung Phan), the city is 1500 m above sea level and is 305 km from Saigon. The name Da Lat originates from the hill tribe people in this region. It literally means Stream of the Lat people.

Coconut palms, the symbol of Ben Tre

Travelling by boats along rivers and canals intertwined under the shade of coconut trees in Ben Tre Province, you can enjoy traditional special dishes in its orchards and coconut gardens.


Coconut garden in Ben Tre
Ben Tre is a province that lies in the lowest part of the Mekong River Basin, some 85 km south of Ho Chi Minh City. Ben Tre Province is made up of three main islands wedged between the Tien Giang River to the north and to Co Chien River to the south with the Ham Luong River running straight down the centre. All are effectively offshoots of the Mekong River as it splits out into many fingers before spilling out into the South China Sea.
Verdant and flat, the province is mostly given over to rice and fruit cultivation. Traditional Mekong life is the norm here and it''s a very unadulterated scene -- wandering the market, sipping the coffee, doing a boat trip and skipping through the local museum are the main pastimes.
Coconut palms has been seen as the symbol of Ben Tre ever since the early days of land opening in the Southern part. Famous for its coconut desserts, Ben Tre is suitably covered in coconut trees. During the war, these coconut trees were used to make coconut oil which was then used as a valuable substitute for kerosene. The province now has nearly 36,000 hectares of coconut woods. Even through years of fierce wars, coconut survived and stayed as close as a dear flesh-and-blood friend of the Ben Tre people. There was a time, many people in Ben Tre felled the tree for economic reasons, but have later been back with it because they realized it was with the coconut tree that their livelihood could be sustained for quite a long time. Today, Ben Tre''s coconut area is approximately 36,000 hectares, yielding around 242 million nuts per year.
In Ben Tre, you have a chance to look at fine handicraft items made from coconut materials such as sandals, dolls, small baskets, bed lamps and vases. You can also watch how candy is made and taste it right at the workshops. If you take one of the tourist tours, you will be brought to some of the local shops. The most typical shop you will visit is coconut candy



shop, a worker will explain you the process of making this product. At the end of the presentation, you can taste and buy the coconut candy.
Besides cononuts, Ben Tre is also the royal of others special fruits. Its area of orchards is around 41,000 ha, annually yielding 375,000 tonnes of fruits. The province also has a large number of famous speciality fruit trees, such as the milk yellow-meat and no-stone durian, the green-skin pomelo, the Cai Mon mangosteen, the high-yield Four Season mango, the special orange of Mo Cay, and tens of other specialities imported from other region or abroad.
Visiting Ben Tre, you can enjoy not only coconut candy and special fruits but also traditional crafts and folk culture, which are all the region''s specific identity...
Source: VNbeauty






HO CHI MINH, who is he?

Nguyễn Sinh Cung was born in 1890 in Hoàng Trù Village, his mother's hometown. From 1895, he grew up in his paternal hometown of Kim Liên Village, Nam Đàn District, Nghệ An Province, Vietnam. He had three siblings: his sister Bạch Liên (or Nguyễn Thị Thanh), a clerk in the French Army; his brother Nguyễn Sinh Khiêm (or Nguyễn Tất Đạt), a geomancer and traditional herbalist; and another brother (Nguyễn Sinh Nhuận) who died in his infancy. As a young child, Minh studied with his father before more formal classes with a scholar named Vuong Thuc Do. Cung quickly mastered Chinese writing, a requisite for any serious study of Confucianism, while honing his coloquial Vietnamese writing.[1] In addition to his studious endeavors, he was fond of adventure, loved to fly kites and go fishing.[1] Following Confucian tradition, at the age of 10 his father gave him a new name: Nguyễn Tất Thành (Nguyễn the Accomplished).
Cung's father, Nguyễn Sinh Sắc, was a Confucian scholar, a teacher on a small scale, and later an imperial magistrate in the small remote district of Binh Khe (Qui Nhơn). He was demoted for abuse of power after an influential local figure died several days after receiving 100 strokes of the cane as punishment.[2This however was merely a pretense by the French-controlled government to get rid of Sac, whose sons had been involved in nationalist, anti-French activities at the Duc Thanh school, founded in 1907 by patriotic scholars who hoped to imitate the success of the Hanoi Free School. [citation needed] In deference to his father, Cung received a French education, attended lycée in Huế, the alma mater of his later disciples, Phạm Văn Đồng and Võ Nguyên Giáp. He later left his studies and chose to teach at Dục Thanh school in Phan Thiết.
[edit] In the USA
In 1912, working as the cook's helper on a ship, Cung traveled to the United States. From 1912 to 1913, he lived in New York (Harlem) and Boston, where he worked as a baker at the Parker House Hotel. Among a series of menial jobs, he claimed to have worked for a wealthy family in Brooklyn between 1917 and 1918; during this time he was influenced by Marcus Garvey in Harlem. It is believed that while in the United States he made contact with Korean nationalists, an experience that developed his political outlook.
[edit] In England
At various points between 1913 and 1919, Cung lived in West Ealing, west London, and later in Crouch End, Hornsey, north London. He is reported to have worked as a chef at the Drayton Court Hotel, on The Avenue, West Ealing.[4] It is claimed that Ho trained as a pastry chef under the legendary French master, Escoffier, at the Carlton Hotel in the Haymarket, Westminster, but there is no evidence to support this.[3] However, the wall of New Zealand House, home of the New Zealand High Commission, which now stands on the site of the Carlton Hotel, displays a Blue Plaque, stating that Cung worked there in 1913 as a waiter.
[edit] Political education in France
From 1919–1923, while living in France, Nguyễn Sinh Cung embraced communism, through his friend Marcel Cachin (SFIO).[citation needed] Cung claimed to have arrived in Paris from London in 1917 but French police only have documents of his arrival in June 1919.[3] Following World War I, under the name of Nguyễn Ái Quốc (Nguyen the Patriot), he petitioned for recognition of the civil rights of the Vietnamese people in French Indochina to the Western powers at the Versailles peace talks, but was ignored. Citing the language and the spirit of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, Quốc petitioned U.S. President Woodrow Wilson for help to remove the French from Vietnam and replace it with a new, nationalist government. His request was ignored.
In 1921, during the Congress of Tours, France, Nguyễn Ái Quốc became a founding member of the Parti Communiste Français (French Communist Party) and spent much of his time in Moscow afterwards, becoming the Comintern's Asia hand and the principal theorist on colonial warfare. During the Indochina War, the PCF would be involved with anti-war propaganda, sabotage and support for the revolutionary effort.
In May 1922, Quốc wrote an article for a French magazine criticizing the use of English words by French sportswriters.[5] The article implores Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré to outlaw such Franglais as le manager, le round and le knock-out.[5] While living in Paris, he had a relationship with dressmaker Marie Brière.[5]
[edit] In the Soviet Union and China
In 1923, Quốc left Paris for Moscow, where he was employed by the Comintern, and participated in the Fifth Comintern Congress in June 1924, before arriving in Canton (present day Guangzhou), China, in November 1924. In June 1925, he betrayed Phan Bội Châu, head of a rival revolutionary faction, to French police in Shanghai for 100,000 piastres.[6] Hồ later claimed that he did this because he expected Chau's trial to stir up anti-French resentment and because he needed the money to establish a communist organization.[6] Châu never denounced Quốc, so it seems there was no ill-feeling between them. During 1925-26 he organized 'Youth Education Classes' and occasionally gave lectures at the Whampoa Military Academy on the revolutionary movement in Indochina.
He married a Chinese woman, Tăng Tuyết Minh (Zeng Xueming), on 18 October 1926.[7] When his comrades objected to the match, he told them, "I will get married despite your disapproval because I need a woman to teach me the language and keep house."[7] She was 21 and he was 36.[7] They married in the same place where Zhou Enlai had married earlier and then lived together at the residence of Comintern agent Mikhail Borodin.[7] Chiang Kai-shek's anti-communist 1927 coup triggered a new round of wanderings for Hồ. He left Canton again in April 1927 and returned to Moscow, spending some of the summer of 1927 recuperating from tuberculosis in the Crimea, before returning to Paris once more in November. He then returned to Asia by way of Brussels, Berlin, Switzerland, Italy, from where he took a ship to Bangkok in Thailand, where he arrived in July 1928. "Although we have been separated for almost a year, our feelings for each other do not have to be said in order to be felt", he reassured Minh in an intercepted letter.[7]
He remained in Thailand, staying in the Thai village of Nachok[8], until late 1929 when he moved on to Hong Kong, and Shanghai. In June 1931, he was arrested in Hong Kong. To reduce French pressure for extradition, it was announced in 1932 that Quốc had died.[9] The British quietly released him in January 1933. He then made his way back to Milan, where he served in a restaurant,[10] and then to the Soviet Union, where he spent several more years recovering from tuberculosis. In 1938, he returned to China and served as an adviser with Chinese Communist armed forces, which later forced China's government to the island of Taiwan.[3] Around 1940, Nguyễn Ái Quốc began regularly using the name "Hồ Chí Minh",[3] a Vietnamese name combining a common Vietnamese surname (Hồ, ) with a given name meaning "enlightened will" (from Sino-Vietnamese ; Chí meaning 'will' (or spirit), and Minh meaning 'light'), in essence, meaning "bringer of light".
[edit] Independence movement

Hồ Chí Minh at the River Li in China, 1961.
In 1941, Hồ returned to Vietnam to lead the Việt Minh independence movement. He oversaw many successful military actions against the Vichy French and Japanese occupation of Vietnam during World War II, supported closely but clandestinely by the United States Office of Strategic Services, and also later against the French bid to reoccupy the country (1946–1954). He was also jailed in China for many months by Chiang Kai-shek's local authorities.[11] After his release in 1943, he again returned to Vietnam. He was treated for malaria and dysentery by American OSS doctors. In the highlands in 1944, he lived with Do Thi Lac, a woman of Tay ethnicity.[12] Lac had a son in 1956.[12]
After the August Revolution (1945) organized by the Việt Minh, Hồ became Chairman of the Provisional Government (Premier of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and issued a Proclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam that borrowed much from the French and American declarations.[13] Though he convinced Emperor Bảo Đại to abdicate, his government was not recognized by any country. He repeatedly petitioned American President Harry Truman for support for Vietnamese independence,[14] citing the Atlantic Charter, but Truman never responded.[15]
In 1945, in a power struggle, the Viet Minh killed members of rival groups, such as the leader of the Constitutional Party, the head of the Party for Independence, and Ngo Dinh Diem's brother, Ngo Dinh Khoi.[16] Purges and killings of Trotskyists, the rival anti-Stalinist communists, have also been documented.[17] In 1946, when Hồ traveled outside of the country, his subordinates imprisoned 25,000 non-communist nationalists and forced 6,000 others to flee.[18] Hundreds of political opponents were also killed in July that same year.[19] All rival political parties were banned and local governments purged[20] to minimise opposition later on.
[edit] Birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
On 2 September 1945, after Emperor Bảo Đại's abdication, Hồ Chí Minh read the Declaration of Independence of Vietnam,[21] under the name of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. With violence between rival Vietnamese factions and French forces increasing, the British commander, General Sir Douglas Gracey declared martial law. On 24 September, the Viet Minh leaders responded with a call for a general strike.[22]
In September 1945, a force of 200,000 Chinese Nationalists arrived in Hanoi. Hồ Chí Minh made arrangement with their general, Lu Han, to dissolve the Communist Party and to hold an election which would yield a coalition government. When Chiang Kai-Shek later traded Chinese influence in Vietnam for French concessions in Shanghai, Hồ Chí Minh had no choice but to sign an agreement with France on 6 March 1946, in which Vietnam would be recognized as an autonomous state in the Indochinese Federation and the French Union. The agreement soon broke down. The purpose of the agreement was to drive out the Chinese army from North Vietnam. Fighting broke out with the French soon after the Chinese left. Hồ Chí Minh was almost captured by a group of French soldiers led by Jean-Etienne Valluy at Việt Bắc but was able to escape.
In February 1950, Hồ met with Stalin and Mao in Moscow after the Soviet Union recognized his government. They all agreed that China would be responsible for backing the Viet Minh.[23] Mao's emissary to Moscow stated in August that China planned to train 60-70,000 Viet Minh in the near future.[24] China's support enabled Hồ to escalate the fight against France.
According to a story told by Journalist Bernard Fall, after fighting the French for several years, Hồ decided to negotiate a truce. The French negotiators arrived at the meeting site, a mud hut with a thatched roof. Inside they found a long table with chairs and were surprised to discover in one corner of the room a silver ice bucket containing ice and a bottle of good Champagne which should have indicated that Hồ expected the negotiations to succeed. One demand by the French was the return to French custody of a number of Japanese military officers (who had been helping the Vietnamese armed forces by training them in the use of weapons of Japanese origin), in order for them to stand trial for war crimes committed during World War II. Hồ replied that the Japanese officers were allies and friends whom he could not betray. Then he walked out, to seven more years of war.[25]
In 1954, after the important defeat of French Union forces at the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ, France was forced to give up its empire in Indochina.
[edit] Becoming president

Hồ Chí Minh (right) with Vo Nguyen Giap (left) in Hanoi, 1945

Hồ Chí Minh with East German Sailors in Stralsund harbour, 1957

House of Uncle Ho in Hanoi
The 1954 Geneva Accords, concluded between France, The Rose and the Vietminh, provided that communist forces regroup in the North and non-communist forces regroup in the South. Ho's Democratic Republic of Vietnam relocated to Hanoi and became the government of North Vietnam, a Communist-led single party state. The Geneva accords also provided for a national election to reunify the country in 1956, but this provision was rejected by South Vietnam's government and the United States.[26] The U.S. committed itself to oppose Communism in Asia beginning in 1950, when it funded 80 percent of the French effort. After Geneva, the U.S. replaced France as South Vietnam's chief sponsor and financial backer, but there never was a treaty between the U.S. and South Vietnam.
Main article: Operation Passage to Freedom
Following the Geneva Accords, there was to be a 300-day period in which people could freely move between the zones of the two Vietnams. Some 900,000 to 1 million Vietnamese, mostly Catholic, left for South Vietnam, while a much smaller number, mostly communists, went from South to North.[27][28] This was partly due to propaganda claims by a CIA mission led by Colonel Edward Lansdale that the Virgin Mary had moved South out of distaste for life under communism. Some Canadian observers claimed that some were forced by North Vietnamese authorities to remain against their will.[29] During this era, Hồ, following the communist doctrine initiated by Stalin and Mao, started a land reform in which hundreds of thousands of people accused of being landlords were summarily executed or tortured and starved in prison.[30] This also caused millions of people to flee to South Vietnam.
At the end of 1959, Lê Duẩn was appointed acting party boss and began sending aid to the Vietcong insurgency in South Vietnam. This represented a loss of power by Hồ, who is said to have preferred the more moderate Giáp for the position.[31] The so called Hochiminh Trail was built in 1959 to allow aid to be sent to the Vietcong through Laos and Cambodia, thus escalating the war.[32] Duẩn was named permanent party boss in 1960, leaving Hồ a figurehead president and symbol of Vietnamese Communism.
In 1963, Hồ corresponded with South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem in the hope of achieving a negotiated peace.[33] This correspondence was a factor in the U.S. decision to tacitly support a coup against Diem later that year.[33]
In late 1964, North Vietnamese combat troops were sent southwest into neutral Laos.[34] During the mid to late 1960s, Lê Duẩn permitted 320,000 Chinese volunteers into northern North Vietnam to help build infrastructure for the country, thereby freeing a similar number of North Vietnamese forces to go south.[35]
By early 1965, U.S. combat troops began arriving in South Vietnam to counter the threat imposed by both the local Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese troops in the border areas. As the fighting escalated, widespread bombing of North Vietnam by the U.S. Air Force and Navy escalated as Operation Rolling Thunder. Hồ remained in Hanoi for most of the duration of his final years, stubbornly refusing to negotiate with the Americans and demanded nothing but an unconditional withdrawal of all foreign troops in South Vietnam. By July, 1967, Hồ and most of the Politburo of North Vietnam met in a high-level conference where they concluded that the war was not going well for them since the American military blunted every attempt by the Peoples Army of Vietnam to make gains, and inflicted heavy casualties. But Hồ and the rest his government knew that there were two weaknesses: there was still no disguising the continuing ineffectiveness of large portion of the South Vietnamese army, shielded by U.S. firepower, and that American public opinion was not wholeheartedly in favor of the war. With Hồ's permission, the North Vietnamese army and politicians planned to execute the Tet Offensive as a gamble to take the South by force and defeat the U.S. military.
Although the offensive was a huge tactical failure which resulted in the decimation of whole units of Viet Cong, the end result was a moral victory for it broke the U.S. will to fight the war and public opinion in the U.S. turned against the government which resulted in the bombing of North Vietnam halted, and negotiations with U.S. officials opening as to how to end the war.
By 1969, with negotiations still dragging on, Hồ's health began to deteriorate from multiple health problems, including diabetes among other ailments, which prevented him from participating in further active politics. However, he insisted that his forces in South Vietnam continue fighting until all of Vietnam was reunited under his government, regardless of the length of time that it might take, believing that time and politics were on his side.
[edit] Death

Hồ Chí Minh mausoleum, Hanoi

Hồ Chí Minh statue
With the outcome of the Vietnam War still in question, Hồ Chí Minh died on the morning of 2 September 1969, at his home in Hanoi at age 79 from heart failure.
News of his death was withheld from the North Vietnamese public for nearly 48 hours due to not wanting to announce his death on the anniversary of the founding of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. He was not initially replaced as president, but a "collective leadership" forming up of several ministers and military leaders took control of North Vietnam to continue his goal of conquering South Vietnam to unite it under Hồ's founding government.
Six years after his death, when the communists were successful in conquering South Vietnam, several North Vietnamese tanks in Saigon displayed a poster with the following quote, "You are always marching with us, Uncle Hồ".
[edit] Legacy
The former capital of South Vietnam, Saigon, was officially renamed Hồ Chí Minh City on 1 May 1975 shortly after its capture which officially ended the war.
Hồ Chí Minh's embalmed body is on display in a granite mausoleum modeled after Lenin's Tomb in Moscow. This is similar to other Communist leaders who have been but the "honor" violated Hồ's last wishes (as well as those of the three leaders mentioned above). Several months before his death, he wished to be cremated and his ashes buried in three urns on three different hilltops of Vietnam (the North, Central and South areas).[citation needed] He wrote, "Not only is cremation good from the point of view of hygiene but also it saves farmland."
The Hồ Chí Minh Museum in Hanoi is dedicated to his life and work.
[edit] Personality cult
In Vietnam today, he is regarded by the Communist government with almost god-like status in a nationwide personality cult, even though the government has abandoned most of his economic policies since the mid-1980s. He is still referred to as "Uncle Hồ" or just "Uncle" (Bác) in Vietnam. Hồ's image appears on the front of every Vietnamese currency note, and Hồ's portrait and bust is featured prominently in many of Vietnam's public buildings, classrooms and even temples. In 1987, UNESCO officially recommended to Member States that they "join in the commemoration of the centenary of the birth of President Hồ Chí Minh by organizing various events as a tribute to his memory", considering "the important and many-sided contribution of President Ho Chi Minh in the fields of culture, education and the arts" and that Hồ Chí Minh "devoted his whole life to the national liberation of the Vietnamese people, contributing to the common struggle of peoples for peace, national independence, democracy and social progress."[36]
In contrast, some Vietnamese who lived through the war accuse Hồ Chí Minh of bringing chaos to the country. Some Vietnamese people living outside of Vietnam, commonly known as Overseas Vietnamese who fled communist rule after 1975, and some political dissidents have more hostile opinions of Hồ Chí Minh. Some even view Hồ as a murderer by persecuting tens of thousands during the land reform.[37]
[edit] References
^ a b Dukier, William J. Ho Chi Minh. New York: Hyperion, 2000. Print.
^ Duiker p. 41
^ a b c d e Sophie Quinn-Judge, Hồ Chí Minh: The Missing Years, University of California Press, 2002 ISBN 0-520-23533-9
^ "The Drayton Court Hotel". Ealing.gov.uk. http://www.ealing.gov.uk/services/leisure/local_history/historic_buildings/drayton_court_hotel.html. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
^ a b c Brocheux Pierre (2007). Ho Chi Minh: A Biography, pp. 21, Cambridge University Press.
^ a b Davidson, Phillip B., Vietnam at War: The History: 1946-1975 (1991), p. 4.Hoang Van Chi, From Colonialism to Communism (1964), p. 18.
^ a b c d e Brocheux, Pierre (2007). Ho Chi Minh: A Biography, pp. 39-40, Cambridge University Press.Duiker, William J., (2000). Ho Chi Minh: A Life, p. 143, Hyperion.
^ Brocheux, Pierre (2007). Ho Chi Minh: a biography, pages 44 and xiii.
^ Brocheux Pierre (2007). Ho Chi Minh: A Biography, pp. 57-58, Cambridge University Press.
^ [1], [2]
^ Brocheux, Pierre (2007). Ho Chi Minh: a biography, page 198.
^ a b Brocheux, Pierre (2007). Ho Chi Minh: A Biography, pp. 39-40, Cambridge University Press.
^ Zinn, Howard (1995). A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present. New York: Harper Perennial. p. 460. ISBN 0060926430.
^ "Collection of Letters by Ho Chi Minh". Rationalrevolution.net. http://rationalrevolution.net/war/collection_of_letters_by_ho_chi_.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
^ Zinn, Howard (1995). A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present. New York: Harper Perennial. p. 461. ISBN 0060926430.
^ Joseph Buttinnger, Vietnam: A Dragon Embattled, vol. 1. (New York: Praeger, 1967)
^ See: The Black Book of Communism
^ Cecil B. Currey, Victory At Any Cost (Washington: Brassey's, 1997), p. 126
^ Spencer Tucker, Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: a political, social, and military history (vol. 2), 1998
^ John Colvin, Giap: the Volcano under the Snow (New York: Soho Press, 1996), p.51
^ "Vietnam Declaration of Independence". Coombs.anu.edu.au. 1945-09-02. http://coombs.anu.edu.au/%7Evern/van_kien/declar.html. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
^ Stanley Karnow, Vietnam a History
^ Luo Guibo, pp. 233-6
^ Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, "Chronology", p. 45.
^ Fall, Bernard, Last reflections on a War, p. 88. New York:Doubleday, 1967.
^ Marcus Raskin & Bernard Fall, The Viet-Nam Reader, p. 89; William Duiker, U. S. Containment Policy and the Conflict in Indochina, p. 212; Huế-Tam Ho Tai, The Country of Memory: Remaking the Past in Late Socialist Vietnam (2001) p. x notes that "totalitarian governments could not promise a democratic future."
^ Pentagon Papers: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pentagon/pent11.htm
^ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, State of the World's Refugees, Chapter 4, "Flight from Indochina".
^ Thakur, p. 204
^ Communist Party of Vietnam, Kinh nghiệm giải quyết vấn đề ruộng đất trong cách mạng Việt Nam (Experience in land reform in the Vietnamese Revolution), available online: http://dangcongsan.vn/details.asp?topic=2&subtopic=5&leader_topic=79&id=BT1060374012
^ Cheng Guan Ang, Ann Cheng Guan, The Vietnam War from the Other Side, p. 21. (2002).
^ Lind, 1999
^ a b Brocheux, Pierre, Claire Duiker Ho Chi Minh: A Biography, p. 174 ISBN 0521850622.
^ Davidson, Vietnam at War: the history, 1946–1975, 1988
^ Chen Jian, "China's Involvement in the Vietnam Conflict, 1964-69", China Quarterly, No. 142 (June 1995), pp. 366–69.
^ "UNESCO. General Conference; 24th; Records of the General Conference, 24th session, Paris, 20 October to 20 November 1987, v. 1: Resolutions; 1988" (PDF). http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0007/000769/076995E.pdf. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
^ "Hồ Chí Minh poster angers Vietnamese Americans", CNN

Cai Mon Fruit Tree Garden

Cai Mon is located on the bank of the Tien River in the village of Vinh Thanh Communes, Cho Lach District. It is considered the cradle of fruit trees in South Vietnam, with fruit ready for visitors in any season.
Cai Mon’s professional village annually supplies millions of products, such as durians, mangosteens, mangoes and longans.
In the fruit gardens of Cai Mon, visitors may enjoy the good taste of fresh fruits hand-picked from the low branches while experiencing the curiousness of exploring the gardens. The fruits are sold by kilogram or by “belly”, a way of popular food selling in the Mekong Delta region, in which you may eat some kind of fruit or foodstuff to your fill but you just have to pay one price for each time you eat. Recently, as the form of eco-tourist excursions in fruit gardens is booming, drawing more and more visitors, fruit garden owners in Cho Lach and Tan Phu (Chau Thanh District) add specialty food services to their catering program. Some of Ben Tre’s specialty dishes such as home-grown chiken rice gruel, with the chicken raised and let walking freely in the home garden so that it retains natural quality of meat; mussel rice gruel, rice pancake with mussel ingredient in Phu Da Islet (Cho Lach District). Visitors must not omit these stuffs on their tour to Ben Tre.

SAIGON & MEKONG DELTA

The far south of Vietnam is one of the two main rice bowls of the country. Dominated by the Mekong Delta, the surrounding lands are comprised of low lying rice paddies and the rivers are bordered by dense mangroves and palms. The tributaries of the hectic Mekong River highway provide a comprehensive network of canals and channels. The rivers are the best methods to explore the region at a leisurely pace and offer an opportunity to experience the truly unique Mekong River lifestyle.
What follows is an itinerary for exploring the Delta in a clockwise direction, beginning south of Ho Chi Minh City at Mytho. The areas listed below are very popular with travelers and even non-travelers. Cruising up rivers sitting on the roof of a boat laden with all manner of fish produce while gazing at a beautiful sunset over the distant palm tress, is a truly unforgettable experience.
My Tho
Rach Gia
Ben Tre Phu Quoc Island
Vinh Long
Hon Chong
Can Tho
Ha Tien
Soc Trang
Chau Doc
Ca Mau

MY THO CITY


Mytho is a delightful town, situated about two hours by bus south west of Ho Chi Minh city. Sitting on the bank of The Mekong River, Mytho is divided into two parts by a tributary of the river. From here you can take a number of short boat trips to various islands and floating markets within the surrounding area. It is also a good place to catch the overnight long boats to a variety of locations including Chau Doc and Long Xuyen. A quiet evening in Mytho can be spent on your veranda watching the sun set and the fishing fleet unload after dark. During the day you can spend hours in a nearby café simply watching life go by, or on the river, cruising the day away. The Mytho experience is enhanced by the fact that the streets are generally extremely quiet. In Mytho, you will not have to worry about the challenges of bikes for there are not many. It is very relaxing.
Along 30 thang 4 street is an amazing demonstration of the bizarre Vietnamese taste for really tacky photos. Rather than have their photo taken with the background of the flowing Mekong River, photographers have erected all manner of cardboard backings with snow scenes, stuffed deer and to add that final touch of authenticity, their assistants are dressed as pandas. Just a bit further down the street from the strange photographic practices, there is a quiet little park where you can savour a baguette and watch the sun set.
Con Phung island
This island is also known as the Island of the Coconut Monk named after a monk, Ong Dao Dua, who meditated on the island for three years during which time he ate nothing but coconuts. An active supporter of the reunification of Vietnam, he strongly believed that reunification could be achieved by peaceful means. In the early 1960s, he founded a community in support of this ideal, and as a result was imprisoned by President Diem on a number occasions. At his time, the island became a sanctuary for those who were attempting to escape the ravages of war. Ong Dao Dua also headed his own sect, which was a bizarre mix of Christianity and Buddhism. The large cross that you may stumble upon in his sanctuary is not a swastika, but actually a sign of his victory over a communist community which he dissolved. You can reach Con Phung island by boat from Mytho in about 30 minutes.
Snake farm
If you enjoy having enormous pythons wrapped around you, this is the place for you as snakes are bred at the Snake Farm for anti-venom and medicinal purposes. If snakes do not turn you on, then maybe the turtles will. The Snake Farm is home to two yellow turtles, the only two living of their species known to the human race. They live up to 1,000 years and as these two turtles are only 200 years old, they have another 800 years to look forward to. The Thai government offered $ 250,000 US for the turtles, but the Vietnamese authorities declined the 'generous' offer.


BEN TRE


Ben Tre is composed of seven districts with Chau Thanh being the main city, surrounded by many islands that are covered with coconut trees. Ben Tre is known throughout Vietnam for its masses of coconut palms, and during the war the coconut oil was used as a valuable substitute for kerosene. This area is relatively untouched by tourism and this is even more evident by the fact that NOBODY speaks English in Ben Tre. . Even the tourist office has trouble communicating in English. Communication problems aside, you will find the people of Ben Tre to be exceedingly friendly and the countryside is beautiful. There is also a daily fresh produce market that is extremely colorful and worth visiting. Due to the limited exposure to tourism, Ben Tre can leave you with a purely cultural experience.

VINH LONG




The town of Vinh Long is set on the edge of its principal attraction, the Mekong River. It is from here that you can set out to visit the many beautiful surrounding islands. Vinh Long is uncharacteristically large town as compared to other communities on the Mekong Delta. It has an abundance of tall buildings and Karaoke bars to tempt your vocal chords. At one stage in Vietnam's history, Vinh Long was at the center of a Christian stronghold. Although Christians no longer dominate in the area, there is still a cathedral that is worth visiting.
Most people that visit Vinh Long use it as a base to explore the islands which are home to people that grow local exotic produce. One of the more popular islands to visit has several rambutan and bonzai tree gardens with many different fruits and flowers

CAN THO





Can Tho is a thriving metropolis with huge streets, little action and loads of mosquitoes. Although Can Tho has its own market by the riverside where you can buy some excellent ice-cream, the principal attraction would have to be the nearby floating markets. Being rather industrious, the centre of Can Tho is quite busy and noisy with motorized cyclos roaring up and down the streets combined with throngs of people going about their lives. The riverside can have its quiet moments, but Can Tho is also a burgeoning town and there are a number of pagodas worth visiting. For the trivia fans, you should know that Can Tho is the home to much of Vietnam's fish sauce.
Markets
Cai Rang Market is situated about 8 km from Can Tho by road or 20 km by boat as the river loops its way towards it.. This market is quite nice and a variety of fruit and vegetables are available. It is open from 5 am to 11 am. You will find it better for shopping the earlier you can get there. A cyclo from Can Tho to the Cai Rang Market will take about 15 minutes.
Another market, Phung Hiep market, is 31 km from Can Tho. This is the snake market, selling a plethora of living, wriggling and often poisonous snakes. Pythons and Cobras are sold here by people from the countryside who have caught them by hand. People come to this market to purchase snakes for restaurants, medicinal reasons or personal consumption. This market is open from 5 am to 5 pm. If traveling to Phung Hiep market by boat, you can add a dimension to your day by stopping and visiting some of the fruit gardens, where you can purchase many types of fruit including sell pineapple, rambutan and papaya.














Ben Tre famous for orchards and coconut gardens

Travelling by boats along rivers and canals intertwined under the shade of coconut trees in southern Ben Tre province, visitors can enjoy traditional special dishes in its orchards and coconut gardens.
In Ben Tre, tourists have a chance to look at fine handicraft items made from coconut materials such as sandals, dolls, small baskets, bed lamps and vases. They can also watch how coconut candy is made and taste it right at the workshops. The province is also well known for other candies making villages, ornamental trees and ancient houses.
The province chose tourism for economic development in parallel with orchards economy and fisheries with many tours to traditional craft villages and orchards. Deputy Director of Ben Tre's Commerce and Tourism Service Nguyen Duy Phuong said that his province has encouraged local people to join the tourism industry while the State being responsible for infrastructure.
Famous names like Con Phung tourist resort in Chau Thanh district, famous ornamental flower farms in Cho Lach district and the Church of Cai Mon have become familiar with tourists.
Ben Tre is a leading Mekong Delta province in terms of orchard tours with 29 destinations. Furthermore, local people also introduce their guests to traditional crafts and folk culture.
Let's take Vo Van Phuc's family in An Khanh commune, Chau Thanh district as an example. Visiting his garden where he raises bees for honey, tourists can enjoy not only honey products but also "don ca tai tu" (amateur music playing) which is the region's specific identity.
The provincial tourism revenues in 2005 reached VND 83 billion, sharply up from VND 45.5 billion in 2002. Almost 151,000 foreign tourists visited Ben Tre in 2005, up from 110,000 in 2002.
Since early 2006, more than 20 tourist agencies from many parts of the country have organised tours to Ben Tre's tourist sites. The province welcomed more than 26,000 foreign tourists and 53,000 Vietnamese visitors in the first three months of the year.
In 2006, the province is now calling for investments in 5 tourism projects worth tens of millions of US dollars. They are the Con Phung tourist resort (in Chau Thanh district), the eco-tourist resort of Vam Ho Bird Colony (Ba Tri), the My Thanh An eco-tourist and entertainment complex (in Ben Tre town), the Con Oc eco-tourist resort (Giong Trom) and the Con Noi eco-tourist resort (Mo Cay).
(Source: VNA)