Art & Entertainment News 10/7 Int'l publisher displays 3,000 English-language books in City HCM City-based Book Distribution JSC (Fahasa) yesterday opened a week-long exhibition of English-language books published by the US-headquartered Hachette Book Group at the bookstore's building at 40 Nguyen Hue Street in District 1. On display are over 10,000 copies of 3,000 books, many of which are for children. They include story books and skills-training books, and books to develop children's thinking ability. In addition to children's books, the exhibit also displays books by popular authors such as The Last Song, Dear John, The Best of Me and The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks, and The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (the pen name of J. K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books). Hachette Book Group (HBG) is a publishing company owned by Hachette Livre, the largest publishing company in France, and the third largest trade and educational publisher in the world. Each year, HBG publishes around 800 adult books, 200 young adult and children's books, and 300 audiobooks. Workers Cultural House hosts calligraphy exhibition The HCM City Workers Cultural House is hosting a calligraphy exhibition that showcases works from its Chu Viet (Vietnamese Words) Calligraphy Club. The event displays more than 100 works, including watercolour paintings and calligraphy created on different kinds of materials like Vietnamese do (poonah) paper, xuyen chi paper (used for calligraphy) and canvas. All exhibits reflect the artists' love for the country and the family. They also feature Vietnamese sayings and poems about human behaviour by famous poets. The club, formed 10 years ago, now has more than 50 members. It has been the organiser of the annual calligraphy market in the front of the Cultural House before Tet holiday since 2008. The exhibition is at 55B Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street in District 1. It will close on Sunday. New street named after late composer A 900m street in Ha Noi's Tay Ho District, which links Lac Long Quan and Au Co streets, has been named after composer Trinh Cong Son (1939-2001), his family said. There are already streets named after the composer in the central cities of Hue, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City. It's summer festival time in the Ba Na Mountains A collection of summer festivals, titled Colour of Summer, has opened at Ba Na Hills Mountain resort in the Ba Na Mountains, 30km west of the central city of Da Nang. It will run until August 31. Organisers said tourists could join in the D'Amour Flower Festival at the resort's flower garden. It will run from July 16-23 and include displays of calligraphy and portrait painting. A Vine Festival will be held at Debay wine cellar, which is also part of the resort built 100 years ago. It will run until tomorrow. Tourists can taste wine and enjoy jazz-funk dances on the first floor of the cellar. A street music performance will be held at the resort on Saturday evenings until August 15. A band music contest will be held from August 9-10 at the resort. Quy Nhon starts horse-drawn carriage tours Authorities in Quy Nhon on the central coast have begun to offer a city sightseeing tour by horse-drawn carriage. Tourists can choose to go along the beach on Xuan Dieu Street or opt for the city's most beautiful and green street – An Duong Vuong. Each coach has 12 seats, tickets for which cost VND20,000 (nearly US$1). Tourists who prefer going around the city by bicycle can hire one at the Central Square on Nguyen Tat Thanh Street for VND30,000 an hour. There are bicycles that one, two, or three people can ride. VN sites make list of 20 Gorgeous Natural Wonders US-based Business Insider has announced a list of "20 Gorgeous Natural Wonders" around the world with two Vietnamese sites finding a place in it, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park and Ha Long Bay. The news site said the park, located in Quang Binh Province, is home to the oldest karst formations in Asia. Ha Long Bay, in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of northern Viet Nam, is made up of about 1,600 islands and islets of limestone pillars. According to UNESCO, a majority of the islands are uninhabited by people due to their extremely steep nature. Other gorgeous natural wonders include the Namib Sand Sea in Namibia; Hierapolis-Pamukkale in the province of Denizli, Turkey; Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe; Los Glaciares National Park in Argentina; Tongariro National Park in New Zealand; Giant's Causeway in Britain; Gunung Mulu National Park in Malaysia; and the Lakes of Ounianga in Chad. Hue Tourism Day 2015 opens The 2015 Hue Tourism Day was kicked off in Hue city of the central province of Thua Thien Hue on July 9, marking the 55th anniversary of Viet Nam tourism industry (July 9, 1960- 2015) and the 40th anniversary of the provincial tourism. The 2015 Hue Tourism Day is scheduled to take place on July 9- 10, with many activities such as Hue cuisine, tourism exhibition... Besides, the organization board launched a singing contest for its tourism sector, ethnic group’s folk games and talkshow with the best bartenders. More than 300 participants including staffs, officials and workers from travel agencies in the province joined in a bicycle parade along the main road in Hue city. The activity aims to call people to protect the environment. Christian Bourgoignie awarded medal for culture & tourism cause The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) awarded the Medal “For a Cause of Culture, Sports and Tourism” for Christian Bourgoignie, Head of the Wallonie Bruxelles delegation in Vietnam at a ceremony in Hanoi on July 9. Addressing the event, MCST Deputy Minister Le Khanh Hai highly appreciated Christian Bourgoignie for his contribution to strengthening friendship and cooperation relations between Vietnam and the Wallonie Bruxelles in fields of cinematography, fine arts, museum, music, contemporary dance, sculpture and literature. Christian has helped promote Vietnam’s cinematography to European people in general and Belgian people in particular. He has invited world leading experts to assist Vietnam to restore and preserve a large number of valuable historical documentaries. Art contest for traffic safety invites entries A poster-drawing competition on road safety was launched in Hanoi on July 9. Submissions should focus on traffic law conformity, including wearing helmets, refusing to drive drunk and avoiding overloaded transportation. Vietnamese citizens over the age of eighteen can register for the contest and submit entries that have not been in other competitions through August 30. There will be a total of 21 prizes, including one first, two second and three third prizes. Outstanding posters will be on display. According to Head of the organising board - Information and Communications Minister Truong Minh Tuan, traffic safety is currently at the centre of attention and communication campaigns are key to effectively deter violations through the improvement of public attitude and behaviour. The competition is organised by the Ministry of Information and Communications and the National Traffic Safety Committee.- Photo exhibit on Vietnam-United Nations relationship opens in New York A photo exhibition titled “Vietnam-United Nations: Partnership for a sustainable future” opened at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, the United States. The event was held by the Vietnamese delegation at the UN in collaboration with UN organisations in Vietnam. It was intended to celebrate cooperation between Vietnam and the UN over the past nearly four decades, from the early days of humanitarian aid, reconstruction and reform to millennium development goals and the current sustainable development goals. Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Jan Eliasson congratulated Vietnam on its achievements in country-building and appreciated Vietnam’s contributions to implementing UN common goals. VNS/SGGP/ND/SGT