B: S.B Sharma, President of the SBS World Listeners’ Club of India, listened to the program on November 27 about tours of the Cuc Phuong forest, which covers an area of 22,000 ha between 300 and 650 m above sea level. It’s a place of great natural beauty and a great place to visit. Mr. Sharma said: “I will try to visit Vietnam one day”.

Cuc Phuong’s Endangered Primate Rescue Center (EPRC) was established in 1993 and is a project of Frankfurt Zoological Society.

A: Vietnam has lots of interesting places to explore besides Cuc Phuong National Park. The road to Cuc Phuong National Park is very good. The old-growth forest’s tropical ecosystem diversity is protected. It’s also near other attractions such as Tam Coc (the Three Caves), the ancient Vietnamese capital of Hoa Lu, and Sam Son beach. The park’s entrance fee is 1.5 USD for adults and 50 cents for children. Tourists are allowed to take photos.

Wild deers in Cuc Phuong national park

B: From Cuc Phuong we suggest you take a side trip to Tam Coc, or to Ngoc Son and Pu Luong Nature Reserve, or to Van Long swamp, where you can see some Delacour's langurs, a critically endangered species native to Vietnam, in the wild. All are within easy access.

A: Recently we’ve received many letters from Japanese listeners. Satoshi Nishimoto is a regular listener from Musashi-dai, Fuchu-city, Tokyo. He listened to VOV on November 25^th on the frequency of 12020 khz. He wrote: “I listen to the Japanese broadcast every day. Now I also regularly listen to the English broadcast. It’s quite interesting to Japanese people. I’m sending this reception report for the English program I listened to in the morning. I also go to your website to read the news and current affairs.”

B: Another Japanese listener, Yamanouchi Yuki, wrote: “The reception was good in Kagoshima. This is my first reception report to VOV. I’m 17 years old and a high school student. I’m not good at English, but I enjoyed your program. I think the Senkaku island dispute is important for Japanese people and we have to resolve it. I also enjoy the Letter Box. I’m happy to find that VOV has many listeners all over the world. Maintaining a shortwave station is costly but I hope you continue to broadcast on shortwave. I’ll keep on listening to VOV and send reports.”

Tourists take boats to visit Tam Coc, Three Caves, in Ninh Binh

 A: Thank you very much Yamanouchi for tuning in to VOV and for your interest in shortwave. It’s great to have a correspondence with young listeners like you and to hear your views on current events. We’ll send you a QSL card along with our program schedule and frequency list.

B: As a new listener, Yamanouchi asked us to say something about VOV. VOV’s English section has about 1,000 listeners in 50 countries. Our youngest listener might be 13-year-old John Langley of England. His latest letter arrived last year. Many school pupils and university students listen to shortwave broadcasts as part of extra-curricular programs at their school.

A: It’s really hard to say how old our oldest listener is. We have several listeners over 70, but we don’t ask listeners to reveal their age. Maybe after this Letter Box edition our listeners will tell us more about themselves. We already know about 90% of our listeners are males, studying or working in various sectors or retired.

B: We currently have 4 different QSL designs featuring some of Vietnam’s scenic spots. One shows terraced rice fields in Ha Giang province. Vietnam has recognized terraced rice fields as a national heritage to honor the farming methods and skills of ethnic people living in mountainous terrain. One QSL card has a black and white portrait of an elderly Mong woman. The photo shows her face and her traditional Mong attire which includes headscarf, earrings, bracelets, and necklace.

A: One QSL card shows Halong Bay, recognized by UNESCO as a world natural heritage. We regularly create new QSL card designs, but one QSL card we have used for years is a map of Vietnam showing its land and water territory. Once again thank you Yamanouchi for your second email on December 1. We hope you will keep listening to VOV and collect all our QSL cards.

B: Christmas is coming and our listeners want to know about Christmas celebrations in Vietnam. Muhammad Shamim of India asked what is the biggest Christmas market in Vietnam?  

Shops sell Christmas decorations in Hang Ma street

A: Christmas is not an official holiday in Vietnam, but it has become a popular festival for many people, not just Christians. Christmas trees, Santa Clauses, reindeers, and sleights are displayed in front of many hotels and shops. Churches recreate the stable where Jesus was born. Twinkling lights illuminate major streets and Christmas carols echo here and there.

B: In Hanoi, the main Christmas market centers on Hang Dao, Hang Ma, and Luong Van Can street and Dong Xuan market in the Old Quarter. In Ho Chi Minh city, Christmas decorations are available at shops in Hai Ba Trung street in districts 1 and 3. Kim Biên market and surrounding streets in district 5 also sell Christmas items at reasonable prices.

St. Joseph's Cathedral in Hanoi on Christmas season

A: Supermarkets also sell such items as Santa Claus figurines, Christmas balls, garlands, and ribbons. Christmas in Vietnam has become a community cultural event for both religious and non-religious people. Non-Christian families also decorate their houses for Christmas and New Year. Young people give gifts to each other. Santa Claus handing out gifts to children has become a popular event in the biggest cities.  

A: Last but not least in this week’s edition of the Letter Box, we acknowledge letters from Andrew Kuznetsov of Latvia, and Enzo Pistone from Italy, Pak Ning Tjang of Indonesia. Thank you for listening and sending us your reports. We’ll send out QSL cards to verify them.

B: That’s it on VOV’s Letter Box. If you want to hear this program again, please go to our website at www.vovworld.vn. Goodbye. We’ll see you next Wednesday.