Published:  00:45 Friday - January 11, 2013

The Vietnam Book of Records (VietKings) in Ho Chi Minh City on January 9 announced its top ten events during 2012.

The events are as followed:

1. Ten Vietnamese dishes won Asian Record’s Organisation (ARO)’s recognition in August 2012 for their gastronomic importance to the region. 

The dishes include Pho (noodle served with beef and chicken), Bun cha (rice noodle served with grilled pork), Bun thang (rice vermicelli served with chicken, fried egg strands, lean meat pie strands and mushroom), Banh da cua(scrab noodles), Com chay (rice crackers), Mien luon (eel vermicelli), Goi cuon (fresh spring roll) and Com tam(broken rice).

Beef noddle

Pho kho (dry noodles) originating from the Central Highland province of Gia Lai, and Banh khot (coconut-turmeric shrimp pancakes) of Vung Tau city in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau are also among the recognised dishes.

2. Four spiritual places in Vietnam received ARO’s acknowledgement

One pillar pagoda

The destinations are the One Pillar Pagoda (recognised as the most unique architecture on the continent), a bronze pagoda on the top of Yen Tu mountain in Quang Ninh province (the biggest of its kind in Asia), Bai Dinh pagoda in Ninh Binh province (boasting the longest lobby with 500 Arhat statues and the 100 tonne bronze gold-inlaid statute of Sakyamuni), and the biggest Jesus Christ statute on the top of Tao Phung mountain in Vung Tau city.

3. Viet Kings’ lists of Vietnam’s top specialties in various categories ranging from fruits, food, cakes, jams, soup, spice and wine.

4. The itinerary seeking Vietnamese Buddhist Records

The itinerary was launched in November 2004, by the VietKings and Giac Ngo (Enlightenment) newspaper in Ho Chi Minh City, promoting the country’s Buddhist cultural beauty to tourists and pilgrims. As of November 2012, 214 records have been established.

5. The launching of a programme to find founders of human art forms and inventors of scientific achievements.

6. The voting of top tourist destinations in Vietnam to advertise the land and people throughout the country to international friends and boost the development of tourism sector.

7. Vietkings’ contribution to the establishment of the Lao Record Book Centre (Laokings).

The Vietkings and the Laos State Publishing and Book Distribution House signed a memorandum of understanding in March 2012 to establish Lao's Records Book Centre (Laokings).

Laokings, based in Vientiane, will find and recognise national records in different fields including culture, science, society and economy.

8. Mosaic of national flag unveiled in Truong Sa Island district in the central province of Khanh Hoa

The nation’s flag is made up of 310,000 ceramic pieces was recognised as the largest of its kind in the country by the Vietnamese Guinness Book of Records.

The mosaic, placed on the roof of the island’s conference hall, is 25 metres long, 12.4 metres wide and weighs 3.5 tonnes.

It was designed by artist Nguyen Thu Thuy and made by craftsmen in Bat Trang pottery village in Hanoi.

9. Top nine records in Vietnam’s sea and islands made public in June 2012

The nine records were given for Tra Co beach and Ha Long Bay (Quang Ninh province), Tam Giang lagoon (Thua Thien – Hue province), Cat Ba archipelago (Hai Phong city), Hon Khoai island (Ca Mau province), Phu Quoc island (Kien Giang province), Truong Sa archipelago ad Nam Yet Marine Conservation Area (Khanh Hoa province) and Ly Son island district (Quang Ngai province).

10. Seven prominent environmental records unveiled

The records were granted for the Endangered Primate Rescue Center in Cuc Phuong National Park (as the home to largest numbers of primates in Vietnam with most favourable conditions), the Ba Be lake in Bac Kan province (the most unique natural freshwater lake in the limestone mountain), the Institute of Oceanography in Nha Trang city (the museum of largest marine samples), the project of a new rubbish treatment plant in central Da Nang City (the first plant in Vietnam to turn waste plastic into diesel), the solar power system invested by the Intel Products Vietnam Ltd. Co. in Ho Chi Minh city (the biggest of its kind in Vietnam), Thac Ba lake in Yen Bai province (the largest artificial lake in Vietnam) and the wind farm in Tuy Phong district, Binh Thuan province (the first of its kind to be constructed in Vietnam).

Source:Baomoi