Hoi An - The International Choir Competition is coming back

This June in Hoi An, the 3rd Vietnam International Choir Competition is going to take place in two consecutive days 20 and 21, with the attendance of more than 500 artists from 11 troupes coming from Indonesia, Australia, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and indispensably, Vietnam.

Contributing the most enthusiastically in this year contest are seven Indonesian troupes, which send 200 instrumentalists, followed by the Australia’s Voice Weavers, South Korea’s Choir of Korean Choral Society and Taiwan’s Panan Choir all promise to bring the most stunning performance to get the top prize.

Taking part in the contest, Vietnam registered four troupes: Hue City’s Academy of Musis, the Catholic Church Choir of Hoi an, the cultures centres of Quang Nam Province, and the Hoi An troupe.

The opening ceremony of the contest is going to occur at the Agribank Resort at 8:30pm on June 20.

Besides, all the troupes would also corporate with each other to perform a street choir named International Melody in the old quarter on the night of June 21.

The International Choir Tournament is part of the 5th Quang Nam Heritage Journeys Festival in Hoi An, My Son Sanctuary, Tam Ky City and Cham Island from June 21 to 26, 2013.

Bưởi - Pomelo. Fruits of Viet Nam

Pomelo (or Chinese grapefruit) is a member of the citrus family and is a native to Southeast Asia. The largest known citrus fruit, it appears like a big grapefruit but has a sweeter taste to it and is much less bitter. To eat the pomelo, a knife is needed to carve the green skin off, while the spongy part of the skin could be removed by hand. Once all the covering is taken off, the pulps holding a pleasantly refreshing liquid are revealed.

There are several tasty varieties of pomelo in Vietnam, often named after the location where it grows. In the North, there is the Doan Hung pomelo (which grows in Phu Tho Province), in the Central there is the Phuc Trach pomelo (from Ha Tinh Province), and in the South there is the Tan Trieu pomelo (Bien Hoa Province). Each variety has unique qualities. The Phuc Trach pomelo has a distinct sweet flavor of the glucose that is fresh to the taste known to quench the thirst and leave the body cool and the mind relaxed. Another variety, the Thanh Tra pomelo, is mildly sweet and somewhat acidic at the same time while the Buoi Duong (or sugar pomelo) is much sweeter.