CAN THO ANCIENT AND MODERN SIGNATURES

 

1 HISTORY

 

+ History: About 300 years ago, the Southern part of Vietnam, including the Mekong Delta once where 3 ethnic races, Kinh, Chinese, and Khmer live together, however gradually it was annexed to the territory of Vietnam. Back in 1739 during the period of Trinh - Nguyen, the area around Can Tho was officially marked on the map with the name Trấn Giang as a part of Nguyen Lords’ land. During the French colonialist time, the resistance war against America (or aka the Vietnam war) and until now, Can Tho has been always the capital of the Mekong Delta.

+ Name: There are many theories about the name of Can Tho, but more evidently, the name comes from the Khmer language as the Southern part of Vietnam is still influenced by the formerly dominant culture of Khmer before. It is believed that the original name of the city was “Kìn Tho” and that was the name of the fish that are a lot around the river here and people normally tend to name the area after the typical feature of that area. And because the name “Kìn Tho” was a Khmer word, so it was very hard for Vietnamese to call it and that the reason why Vietnamese mispronounced it into Can Tho like nowadays. The second theory was a legend about Nguyễn Ánh who was the last descendant of Nguyen Lord that survived from the chasing of the enemy and then became the 1st King of Nguyen dynasty which was the last dynasty in the history of Vietnam. When Nguyễn Ánh came to the area of Tran Giang on the boat along the river, he heard of beautiful sounds of the musical instruments and a romantic voice singing a poetic rhythm. Then, he named the river Cầm Thi which means the river of music and poem, later the name Cam Thi was mispronounced into Can Tho.

 

2. GEOGRAPHY

 

Geographical location: Geographically, located in the heart of 11 provinces in Mekong Delta, Can Tho is contiguous to An Giang province on the north, with Hau Giang province on the south, with Kien Giang province on the west and Dong Thap province on the north-east, and Vinh Long on the east. Not only known as a big ramification of the Mekong River, but the Hau River is also the position where the city of Can Tho is located along the southern bank.  Thanks to the strategic position as a gateway to Vietnam and the Mekong Delta, Can Tho play a crucial role in the traffic of sea route, overland, inland waterway to do business with other regions of Mekong Delta, Vietnam and all over the world.  

Climate: Due to its location in a tropical monsoon climate region, there are two typical seasons in the climate of Can Tho. The rainy season usually lasts from May to November and the dry season from December to the end of April next year. Can Tho city has the common climate features with the average annual humidity of 83%, rainfall 1,635 mm (64 in) and the average temperature in between 27 °C (81 °F) to 32 °C (89 °F).

 

3. ECONOMY

 

After many years of development, Can Tho holds an essential position in the economy of the Mekong Delta Region. At the statistic in 2012, Can Tho keeps the highest position among the five centrally cities in terms of the economic growth rate reached 10.3%. 

Industry: Being as one of the essential strengths of Can Tho City, the industry in this province obviously develops in the tendency to diversified industries as well as industrial products. Food processing, seafood, garment, construction materials, and mechanics are some priority industries that serve for this field in Can Tho. 

Commerce: Due to the huge economic potential by its crucial position, Can Tho also plays a key role in the trade services of the Mekong Delta Region. There gradually exist a large number of places for processing materials, transporting, exchanging the products to trade domestically and internationally. There are much key merchandise to be steadily exported such as handicrafts, shoes, seafood, garments, etc. but of which especially rice and aquatic products which account for the highest proportion of export turnover in Can Tho. Up to the present time, a series of bustling commercial centers have sprung up throughout the city which attracts a large number of valuable customer come to shopping such as Big C, Metro, Co-op Mart, Cho Lon Electrical Accessory Supermarket, Cai Khe Commercial Center, etc.

Tourism: Thanks to its ecological strengths, Can Tho concentrates on developing diverse kinds of river eco-tourism, poetic small canals, and vast orchards. Tourism in Can Tho attracts thousands of visitors by its uniqueness of nature and the urban architecture of Can Tho lies on the right bank of the Hau River. Some amazing tours explore Cai Rang floating market, Phong Dien floating market, the unique islet, fruit garden, organic cacao garden, and eco-homestays, what brings a perfect combination of traditional culture with specialties of this region as well as enjoy the hospitality of the people in this Western of the South of Vietnam. It is definitely a potential development in the field of tourism in a land that brings the typical beauty of a large metropolis once known as Tay Do. 

Agriculture: Agricultural production in Can Tho is also a field that is invested effectively to be associated with the market demand. With more than 8.5 percent of output, rice holds the topmost position of other crops and become one of the strengths of Can tho. According to the estimate in 2013, it keeps the total area of rice cultivation which was over 236,538 ha with 106 large-scale rice fields in this region. Due to the attention to contribute to the local economic development, the area of aquaculture has obtained satisfactory results with an output of 184,143 tons (2013). Moreover, it also widens the areas of cultivating, eco orchards, breeding farms, which apply measures to preserve the ecological condition and create high-quality products. 

The development strategy for the economy of Can Tho focused on the area of traditional agriculture to industry, trade, services, tourism. The city would continue developing to become the large center of industrialization and modernization for promoting the considerable growth in the whole province of the Mekong Delta.

 

4. POPULATION

 

Can Tho is the 4th largest city in Vietnam after HCMC, Ha Noi, Da Nang and Hai Phong with a population of around 1.5 million people according to the latest census in 2019.

There are various ethnic groups who settle in the area of Can Tho, including the Khmer ethnic, Chinese and almost Vietnamese people “Kinh”. Khmer ethnic people predominantly reside scattered in some key areas of Can Tho City such as Ninh Kieu district, O Mon district, and Thot Not District to interpose in Vietnamese people. Some temples around Can Tho are also their locality of residence. Simultaneously, the commonly concentrative tendency of Chinese people is in Ninh Kieu district and Phong Dien district.

 

5. ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION

 

Can Tho is divided into administrative units as follow: 9 district-level sub-divisions, including 5 urban districts of Ninh Kieu, Binh Thuy, Cai Rang, O Mon, Thot Not, 4 rural districts of Phong Dien, Co Do, Thoi Lai, and Vinh Thanh, with 5 commune-level towns, 36 communes, and 44 wards.

 

6. CULTURE

 

As the heart of the Mekong delta, Can Tho itself has an interesting culture of Vietnamese, Khmer, and Chinese. Besides the famous festivals like Chol Chnam Thmay (New Year), Sen Dolta (Ancestor Worshipping), Ok Om Bok (Moon Worshipping) of Khmer people, and Lunar New Year of Vietnamese and Chinese, there are many other occasions that are locally-known as well. Annually, there are the festivals at the local temples to pray for peace and happiness (In Vietnamese: Ky Yen festival). Moreover, with the interlacing system of rivers and canals, the life of people here is always attached with water, so every year there is a special occasion called Tong Gio, Tong On (which means get rid of bad wind and bad evils) and the occasion is organized on boats and people have fun together during this time. 

 

7.  ATTRACTIVE DESTINATIONS

 

Some typical architecture structures in harmony with modern and ancient details.

Can Tho Ancient market: Built around 1915, the Can Tho ancient market was considered as the bustling trading center for more than 100 years of history, which was contemporaneous with two famous markets in Saigon at that time, named Binh Tay and Ben Thanh. Located on Hai Ba Trung Street, next to Ninh Kieu Wharf, this market owned both ancient and modern beauty, which was famous as the most gorgeous architecture market in the Mekong Delta. In former times, this place used to be known as "six provinces market", because many merchants of six Southern provinces gather came here to trade and exchange goods, associated with the traditional custom of the people in the area of Mekong Delta.

Visitors will be attracted by the unique architectural features such as the building with fishbone ceiling, roof tile Yin-Yang, ancient space as soon as entering the market. Here, there are a great number of souvenirs that caught the visitors' attention such as conical hats, wood, hats, bags, earrings, bracelets, and other traditional handicraft products which make the special features of Southwest culture come into prominence, as well as many antique items, are displayed and served for the visitors. Coming here, visitors not only experience the unique old features but also have the opportunity to enjoy extremely attractive food with the awesome taste of Can Tho Street. Ancient architecture from the French colonial period of Can Tho ancient market, which brought the typical cultural features of the Mekong Delta, will be an appealing destination for visitors to experience the important historical meanings of this market and understand more about the good-nature and hospitable lives of Can Tho people.

Ninh Kieu quay: Ninh Kieu Quay is called the heart of Can Tho city where people gather to get together at night time. There’s a famous poetic saying about Ninh Kieu Quay like this: Cantho has Ninh Kieu quay, many romantic rivers, and lots of beautiful girls as well. The name “Ninh Kieu” comes from the victory of Le Loi against Ming’s army and now it’s a lovely name for the downtown of Can Tho. 

When you walk along the riverside of Ninh Kieu Quay, you can see there are lots of different hotels, restaurants, and cafes that make Can Tho more vibrant. Ninh Kieu Quay has a large number of features for you to enjoy, you can see a big statue of 13 m Ho Chi Minh holding a book and looking over his people. Apart from that, you can make a visit to the Ong Temple, then when you keep walking you can see the pedestrian bridge which has the nickname the love bridge and there are two lotus shaped-metal with lights in the middle of the bridge. It’s a great place to catch the breeze from the bridge. You can also help the locals by buying some snacks like lotus seeds, boiled peanuts or sugarcane juice while walking. Next, you can spend your time in the night market where locals are selling clothes and many street foods. You should buy some delicacy like grilled rice paper, durian smoothies, or mango salad, then pass by the ancient market to take a look at the souvenirs and maybe you can buy some to give your friends and family. Moreover, there is a wet market that you can walk to see the real-life of people where many local agricultural products are exhibited along the narrow street. If you have more time, in the morning you can visit Can Tho prison which is a historic relic or walk to Can Tho museum to learn about the history of Can Tho or go to Quan Khu 9 to learn about the war in the Mekong delta. These places will be definitely worth your trip.

Chau Van Liem High school: As one of the oldest schools in Can Tho, Collège de Can Tho was the precursor of today's Chau Van Liem High School. The school was built by the French in 1917 and owned the architecture which resembled the Trung Vuong School in Saigon. 
As considered as a special inheritance of the Western Capital (Tay Do), the school has originally appeared to the name of Collège de Can Tho. In 1945, it was built as Phan Thanh Gian High School, from 1985 until now it was changed the name of Chau Van Liem High School. The school applied a sophisticated and unique architecture in the style of Art Décor prevailing in France in every detail and structure. In general, the school was built in a parallel layout with a length of 75m width up to 12m. The tile roof, jalousie door, a corridor with a wide-open space of this school surrounded by shady trees were the typical characteristics of the school which create favorable conditions for teachers and students to study through generations. 

Not only praised for its ancient beauty and unique French architecture, but this school also be a place for bringing up a great number of brilliant musicians, writers, and revolutionaries of the country at that time. With 100 years of history and extraordinary beauty, the school was a witness to the heroic history of the nation in general, and Can Tho in particular which perpetually marked in the memory of the people in Tay Do Land.

Munir Ansay Pagoda: as a symbol of Khmer architecture. With the similar architecture of three treasures towers of Angkor Wat is appearing right on the top of the front gate. Munir Assay Pagoda is a beautiful and spacious pagoda that you should not miss to drop for the journey to visit the capital of the Mekong Delta. In the 1948s, Munir Ansay Pagoda began to be built only with simple bamboo materials. To achieve the appearance like today, the pagoda has undergone many renovations and reconstruction. In 1954, the gate of the pagoda was built in the model of Angkovat's tower. Until 1964, the main hall was built and was inaugurated in 1988. Currently, Munir Ansay Pagoda actually complete as visitors see for the time being. There are many Khmer's students who are studying in Can Tho and they are staying here under the kindness of great caring by all the monks who are providing free food and accommodation for them. According to the Census of Population and Housing provides in 2009, the Khmer ethnic community has 1,260,640 people, are living mainly in the Mekong Delta provinces such as Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Hau Giang, An Giang and Kien Giang, Can Tho, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau. 

Every year, there are some important festival of the Khmer community was held at Munir Ansay pagoda, including Ok-om-Bok (October of the Chinese calendar), Donta - ancestor worship festival (August of the Chinese calendar), Kathina festival, Cholchonam Thomay - Lunar new year (March, 13th - 15th of the Chinese calendar).

Ok Om Bok (or Ooc Om Bok) Festival: As the biggest festival of Khmer people, Ok Om Bok (or Ooc Om Bok) Festival is known as the traditional festival which brings meaning in the spiritual life and the cultural beauty of Khmer people in the Mekong Delta Region. Annually, Ok Om Bok Festival is held on the Full Moon day of the tenth month in the Lunar Calendar. The purpose of this festival is to show the Khmer people 's gratitude toward the moon for promoting the main harvest more abundant than usual and bringing a prosperous life next year. Sticky and sweet rice flakes (Cốm dẹp), coconuts, bananas, sweet potatoes, taro, sweeties, and other fruits and etc are prepared for the table of offerings at the night of the Full Moon day. In particular, a sparkling lanterns ceremony with the meaning of suppressing the bad luck and risk is considered as one of the highlight attraction in this festival. Tra Vinh and Soc Trang, Kien Giang are some frequent places for taking place Ok Om Bok festival in the Mekong Delta. 

Chol Chnam Thmay in Mekong Delta: Being known as the "New Year Festival", Chol Chnam Thmay is an annual traditional festival of Khmer people in Vietnam. Chol Chnam Thmay plays an essential role to bring a new year of safe, happy, and lucky as Lunar New Year of Kinh people. Another important meaning of this festival is to mark the end of the dry season and the beginning of the wet season with the hope of an abundant crop next year. Chol Chnam Thmay Festival takes place on April 14th to 16th and lasts for three days with the name of Chol Sang Kran, Thngay Vonabot, Thngay Long-sac. During these three days of the festival, Khmer people prepare some traditional cuisine and tidy up their house which is renovated, cleaned, decorated for the New Year. This is an important festival that features the traditional practiced customs and art performances of the Khmer community in Mekong Delta.

Cow Racing Festival in Mekong Delta (further information): As one of the important festivals of the Khmer community in Mekong Delta, Cow Racing Festival is an annual occasion to show the gratitude of the Khmer people to their ancestors. This festival is held on Sene Dolta day of Khmer ethnic minority at the end of the eighth lunar month and at the beginning of the ninth month (from the 9th to the 10th day in Lunar Calendar). At the festival, the pairs of cows which were carefully chosen before the race will trample on the rake of the front pair to win with a fantastic atmosphere of thunderous applause in this competition. This festival brings a great number of unforgettable memories about the unique cultural festival of the Khmer community in Mekong Delta.

Ong Pagoda: Built-in 1894 by the Chinese refugees, Ong Temple is an important religious spot for local people and an attraction to tourists. Located at Hai Ba Trung street and opposite to Ho Chi Minh statue, Ong Temple is a hidden construction with only over 532 m2, it is surrounded by the modern hotels.
Ong Temple or Quang Trieu Hoi Quan is a meeting place of Chinese originally from Quang Chau and Trieu Khanh of Quang Dong province in China. Ong Temple still remains unchanged after 115 years and it’s still a popular place to local people. Inside the temple, you will see many god and goddess from Taoism as well as the characters of Confucianism. The man who is mainly worshiped here is Quan Cong, he was a real person in the history of China and people pray him for good business, health, and good luck. Besides, on the left-wing of the temple, there is Boddhisatva who is a lady Buddha that offered salvation to unfortunate people. When coming here, you can ask the master of destiny to learn about your fate through the book and see your future. And don’t forget to observe the beautiful architecture with the skillful wooden carving and parallel sentences along the pillars. So, make sure that you can come here when walking along the riverside of Ninh Kieu Quay.

Binh Thuy Temple: About 5km from the center of Can Tho City and located in Binh Thuy Ward, Binh Thuy Dist, Binh Thuy Temple or Long Tuyen Ancient Temple is one of the most famous traditional temples in Can Tho City. Although spending a lot of time restoring, the temple still remains traditional architectural design. In 1989, this temple is recognized as a national architectural art relic. There are two main festivals that were held at Binh Thuy Temple, including Thuong Dien (Lễ Thượng Điền) and Ha Dien festival (Lễ Hạ Điền). As 2 of the biggest festivals in Mekong Delta, these festivals are considered as the highlight tourism of Binh Thuy district of Can Tho. 

Ha Dien Festival (Crop Beginning Festival) took place on full moon days from 12th, 13th, 14th of April according to the lunar calendar yearly (usually fall around the fifth month in solar calendar annually). 

Thuong Dien Festival (Crop Finishing Festival) was held on 14th, 15th of December based on the lunar calendar (frequently fall around February of the solar calendar yearly).  This is an occasion for the people to express their gratitude to the God of the earth (Thành Hoàng) who make abundant crops and pray for rain, wind, peace, and peace in their homeland. These festivals contributed to maintaining the valuable customs and traditional features of wet rice civilization in Vietnam in general and the Mekong Delta in particular.

Binh Thuy ancient house: Located at Bui Huu Nghia street of Binh Thuy ward, Binh Thuy Ancient House is a famous tourist attraction to both Vietnamese and foreign tourists for its “east meets west” architecture and also because of the story of the famous Duong family.

Built-in around 1870 by Mr. Duong Chan Ky, the house was influenced by the architecture of French style at that time. However, as the Duong family originated from China, so the house also got the style of Chinese and Vietnamese. The total area of the house was around 6.000 m2 in a great location as the family strictly followed the Feng Shui when building the house. In front of the house, there’s a river which is believed as money in Chinese culture and when you get into the yard, you can see an object called “penjing” which is considered as a shield to protect the house from bad evils. In the yard, there is a gate with the carved words on it that said “Gia toc ho Duong” which means Big family of Duong. From the outside look, you can definitely tell that the house was influenced by Western culture, but if you look up, you will see the yin yang roof tile. Next to the house, there is a giant cactus with a height of around 4 meters which is also a highlight for the outdoor look of the house. In the backyard of the house, there’s a big garden of orchids which makes the house more colorful.

The structure of the house is under the influence of Asian culture with 5 rooms (nha 5 gian) space to get the wind and sunshine to create a joyful atmosphere for the house and to get into the house, you have to go through the staircases that also follow yin yang. When getting inside the house, you will be amazed by the collection in there. There are the chandelier, sink, floor tiles and they were all imported from France, but the rest of the furniture inside is completely oriental. Right in the heart of the house is the ancestor altar made from wood and every house must have it, besides you can see the decorations in all the wooden pillars are based on the Chinese myths and legends with 4 Sacred Plants, Holy Animals and Statues of 3 Gods of Longevity, Luck and Money. In the past, there was a pair of Elephant Ivory in the house, but they were missing for so long. Moreover, if anyone pays attention, you’ll see that the floor is sinking in the middle, and this is another belief of Feng Shui as people believe that if you make the floor sinking, water can come to the house and stay there and water is believed to be money. Plus, under the floor, there is a thick layer of 10cm of salt to keep the house safe from the destruction of termite and keep the house cool all the time.

So, the house is renowned for its combination of traditional and western architecture, however, the story is famous for its background and other interesting things as well. First of all, it’s about Duong family, back in almost 2 centuries ago, Duong family was a rich and powerful family in the whole region of the Mekong delta with thousands of hectares of paddy fields and might be just after the Tran Trinh family in Bac Lieu. Duong's family were Chinese originally, and before Mr. Duong Chan Ky built the house, he asked a famous architect in the region who was also a master of Feng Shui to build the house for him and the skillful architect satisfied Duong family. Nowadays, the owner of the house is Mr. Duong Minh Hien - the 6th descendant of Duong family. Even though after the tough time of war, the house still remains unchanged and it can give you an image of a glorious time of Duong family.

Furthermore, the house is famous as a place to make many famous movies. The most famous one was L’amant (the lover) which was based on a true love story between the famous French writer and a Chinese-Vietnamese man, and that was a very sad love story with no happy ending and it broke many hearts of readers and viewers. Besides, a famous drama named “Beauty of Tay Do” was filmed in the house, and if you come there, you can see the picture of the main actress who was a symbol of the beauty of Vietnam during the 1990s. So, if you ever set foot in Can Tho, make sure that you spend your time to visit the house and see an interesting architecture with the story behind it.

SON ISLET: or common name called by local people is "Con Son". This is a small islet in the middle of the Mekong river and it’s located in the outskirt of Binh Thuy district. Con Son is a new rising spot as it still preserves its original beauty and it’s a great place to find yourself lost in the nature of the countryside.

The total area of Con Son is around 70 ha which is smaller than it was before because of the erosion (in the past, the island is around 100 ha), and there are more than 100 households living together on this tiny beautiful island. If you want to come to the islet for the Con Son Tour. You can arrange a boat from Ninh Kieu quay, but if you want to travel there by yourself, you can ride a scooter or take a bus to Co Bac ferry and from there, you will meet a lady called chi Be, she will take you to the island by her boat. Before getting into the island, chi Be will stop at the floating village where many locals are raising fish in the middle of the Mekong river, when you get there, you will see many different kinds of fish and the typical ones are tilapia and catfish. In one house of the floating village, there are over 8 tons of fish in a small area of 10 m2, and you can feed the fish by yourself. Many people from the downtown like to come to this floating village to spend their weekend and go fishing around the ponds.

After that, you will be brought to the islet where you can walk around to see the houses of locals here. You can stop in the pomelo garden to enjoy the sweet and juicy fruits or you can come to see the house of the famous “flying snakehead fish” and visit his lotus pond as well as his guava garden. Then, you can keep walking to the house of Mrs. Phuoc " Năm Phước" where you can try superb dragon fruit, pawpaw and have a wonderful lunch with all the specialties of the island like Pomelo salad, Banh Xeo - pancake, lau ga - chicken hotpot or Grilled snakehead fish. After lunch, the next place is the house of chi 7 Muon where you can learn to make some Vietnamese traditional cakes like Banh Khot, Banh la, Banh cuon and then eat them, and if you want to go to the house of Mrs. Muon "Bảy Muôn", you can try to cross the monkey bridge. A few years ago, there were no roads, no electricity and no clean water supply, so it was very hard to get access to this island. But nowadays, with financial assistance, life on the island is slowly getting better as people still prefer what they have right now. You can actually stay in the house of local people, help them to work on the farm, make dinner and have a party with them.

With all these activities, Con Son is a very promising destination that’s worth your weekend. And people on the islet is trying to create the eco-tourism with the community. Everyone on the island helps each other in daily life and when you come to the house of anyone, you can still try the foods from the rest. You will see how warm-hearted people are on the island and it makes you feel like home. So, don’t hesitate to plan a trip to come to this beautiful islet, besides, the warmest hospitality of this unique community.

Can Tho University (founded in 1966): Not only be considered as one of the top 3 multidisciplinary training universities in the South but also be classified as a key university of the country, Can Tho University is one of the significant campuses for the university and postgraduate education of the Mekong Delta. With its employment rate after graduation of about 88.6%, it is also highly appreciated as the superlative university in the Mekong Delta. According to Webometrics, Can Tho University ranked 39th among Southeast Asian universities in January 2016, reckoned in the group 251-300 to QS University Rankings Asia, 2016. Established on March 31st, 1966 with only four faculties (Sciences, Law and Social Sciences, Letters, and Education), Can Tho Institute was the precursor of Can Tho University which formerly served the knowledge for nearly 20 million people in the Mekong Delta region. At that time, together with Saigon University, Hue University, Da Lat University, and Van Hanh Buddhist University, Can Tho University was the fifth university of the Republic of Vietnam.

Nowadays, Can Tho University accommodates approximately more than 45,000 students, including full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students, part-time as well as distance-learning ones who were trained all of existing programs at the Can Tho University. Currently, Can Tho University ranked as the second-largest university in Vietnam with a total area of 4 campuses nearly 250 hectares, involving as follow:

Located in 30/4 Street, Hung Loi Ward, Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho city, campus 1 is a base for the college of Foreign Languages, Foreign Language Center, and Staff dormitories. As the largest area of the university, Campus II is located on 3/2 Street, Xuan Khanh Ward, Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho City is a campus of the faculties, classrooms, research institutes, study works, and dormitories.

Information Technology Center and the Foreign Language Center is situated in Ly Tu Trong Street, An Phu Ward, Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho City of Campus III. 
With an area of 130 hectares, Campus III is the campus of the Faculty of Rural Development and the Center of National Defense Education in Hoa An commune, Phung Hiep District, Hau Giang Province.

Truc Lam Phuong Nam Monastery: Located in My Khanh, Phong Dien, Can Tho, with a total value of 145 billion. The construction with Buddhism architecture of the Ly-Tran Dynasties, Truc Lam Phuong Nam Monastery is considered one of the most unique in this area. This monastery is welcomed over a thousand of Buddhist visitors to give offering and lighting incense sticks. What they believe after praying the best wishes will come true to protect their family. And to wish for the peace in their personal soul. There are many rooms for Buddhist visitors to stay and do the meditation, one of the best medical technics for curing damaged spirits. 

Can Tho Museum: Established in 1976 and had more than 5000 objects and historical relics, Can Tho Museum is one of the largest museums in the Mekong delta. You will have some extremely interesting experience about the geographical position, flora and fauna, land, landscape, and climate of the river and culture of 3 ethnic Kinh - Hoa - Khmer on the ground floor of this museum. The second floor of Can Tho museum makes you understand more about the arduous struggle of Can Tho people in the war. The visitor will have more knowledge of local history and an authentic overview of today’s beautiful Tay Do land. 

Imprimerie de l'ouest (Western printing House): Located at Phan Dinh Phung Street, Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho, there was a watchmaking shop that still had an ancient imprint on the land of Can Tho. It was supposed that the sign "Imprimerie de l’Ouest" (meant Western printing House) was embossed on the cement wall of the roof. Being established in 1911, it was considered as the headquarters of this Printing house. This was the earliest established in the Western Region of the South of Vietnam which founded by a French lawyer named Gallois Montbrun and a group of Vietnamese like Vo Van Thom, Tran Dat Nghia, Le Quang Chieu, and Pham Ba Dai. The main task of this printing house was to print books, papers, pamphlets, and brochures for public and private organizations in the region. In particular, this place also published a great number of extremely famous literary and artistic works at that time such as "Lỗi bước phong tình" or "Chuyện cô Ba Jeannette", "Kim Thạch kỳ duyên".

In 1911, the printing house founded a local newspaper in French called Le Courrier de l'Ouest (Western News), specializing in published ads, administrative, commercial, agricultural, technical, transport information, events in Can Tho and the region.  Le Courrier de l’Ouest was the precursor of An Ha Nhut Bao which founded in 1917 after its name was changed to An Ha Bao. During the period from 1917 to 1933, this newspaper operated extremely developed in Can Tho at that time. After 1932, the newspaper was weakened but continued to operate after the August Revolution.

Can Tho Fresco Road: Located at Tran Quoc Toan Street, Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho City, Can Tho Fresco Road is one of the destinations that attract many inhabitants and tourists come to enjoy the ancient beauty of the Western capital through the wall-paintings. This road was started construction on December 30, 2019, and inaugurated on the Lunar New Year in 2020. With the theme of Can Tho with the ancient and modern beauty, the walls on both sides of Tran Quoc Toan street (over 800 m2) are meticulously painted by the street artists into extremely unique and vivid paintings. The three-wheeled taxis, pedicabs, Can Tho ancient market, Cai Rang floating market, pedestrian bridges, and the cultural activities of Can Tho people are familiar images associated with the cultural place of the Tay Do land. In addition to the purpose of reminiscing about the ancient beauty of Can Tho, this is also considered as a special work to bring the beauty of a public place and contribute to environmental protection for Can Tho City. With an investment of more than 370 million VND (including the installation of the camera and street lights), it will surely be a great experience for visitors who want to learn about the ancient beauty of Can Tho through the wall-painting at this unique road.

Can Tho is the place for organizing many important events:

APEC Vietnam 2017 is a series of conferences within the framework of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) held from early December 2016 to November 2017 in Da Nang, Vietnam and major cities of Hanoi, Nha Trang, Vinh, Ninh Binh, Ha Long (Quang Ninh), Hue, Can Tho, Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An (Quang Nam). On August 21–25th, 2017, it was held in Can Tho with the title "High-level policy dialogue on food security and sustainable agriculture adapting to climate change and related meetings". During the APEC held in Can Tho city for the special discussion subjects are Food Security and Climate Change. Many delegates were agreed to support and help Mekong Delta of Vietnam to find the best solutions to protect the agriculture lands here is suffering from the shortage of Mekong RIver and react on the sea level is rising up what supposed to bring the huge damages to the whole ecological environment of farming, trading, and living,...

In 2018, Can Tho welcomed Mr. Joe Lewis who is a British businessman and owner of the sports teams named Tottenham Hotspur. The visit by him with the luxurious yacht for over three days, during his stay that the city was very honored to show the extremely beautiful of the authentic Cai Rang floating market on the cruise to experience the unique river life here. Besides, the Son islet with the warm hospitality welcome from the local community on the islet and invited him to enjoy the traditional cakes are cooked by nature stuff. He believes to give the confidence for Can Tho to be one of the top destinations for more and more luxurious yachts to visit this charming city and warming people. What brings the tourism industry even much potential.

Can Tho VITM Fair 2019: promoting tourism in the Mekong Delta took place from November 29-1/12/2019 at the Trade Promotion and Trade Promotion Center and Can Tho Exhibition Fair With the theme of "Traveling the Mekong Delta with the whole country". 

The 5th Vietnam Vietnam-Japan Cultural and Trade Exchange Program in Can Tho City (Vietnam - Japan Festival) took place for 4 days (from 29-11 to 2-12-2019) in Hau River Park. Vietnam - Japan Festival is an annual event co-organized by VCCI Can Tho and Can Tho city People's Committee since 2015.
 

8. TRANSPORTATION

AIRWAY:

Located in Can Tho City about 8 kilometers to the Northwest, along the Hau River, Can Tho International airport with the previous name as Tra Noc airport is considered as the largest airport in the Mekong Delta region. In earlier of 1965, in the course of construction Can Tho Airport, United States Air Force (USAF) civil engineering units were the essential force for putting this airport into operation as a military airfield during the Vietnam War. It is supposed to become the Headquarters of the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF) 4th Air Division and the US Air Force for the time before 1975. After 1975, Can Tho airport reputedly used as a local aerodrome for Can Tho city instead of the original facility under the direct administration of The Ministry of Defense. 

Nowadays, with a view to serve aeronautic travel in the region, the carrying capacity of the airport was able to attain up to 5 million passengers a year. There are some airlines and their destinations as follows:

International flights:

- AirAsia to Kuala Lumpur–International
- Thai AirAsia to Bangkok–Don Mueang
- Thai Vietjet Air (Charter: Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi)
- VietJet Air to Seoul–Incheon, Taipei–Taoyuan, 
- Vietnam Airlines to (Charter: Taipei–Taoyuan, Taichung, Kaohsiung)

Domestic flights:

- Vietnam Airlines to Da Nang, Hanoi
- Bamboo Airways to Da Nang, Hanoi
- VietJet Air to  Da Lat, Da Nang, Hai Phong, Hanoi, Nha Trang,  Thanh Hoa, Vinh
- Vietnam Airlines operated by VASCO to Con Dao, Phu Quoc

There was no denying that Can Tho keep a vital position as an international business gateway for the surrounding Mekong Delta region to boosting the economy, social, culture, defense, security, and international integration of Can Tho and neighboring provinces in the Mekong delta. For this convenience connection airway what makes your travel is easy ever as you could plan to travel down to Mekong Delta and then catch up the flight to anywhere in Vietnam or end your journey in Mekong Delta before landing to the next nation likes Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, Japan or sooner Singapore and Cambodia.

River transport system: 

Thanks to the diverse and interlace system of rivers, canals of Can Tho, it is extremely favorable conditions for expanding the waterway transport. Currently, the total length of the waterway system in Can Tho is about 1.157km. There are about 619km which has the capacity of transporting vehicles of a tonnage of 30 tons. Hau River, Can Tho river, Cai San canal, Thi Doi canal, O Mon canal, Xa No canal are some essential waterway transport routes in Can tho. It is supposed that Ho Chi Minh City - Ca Mau route (through Hau river - Can Tho river - Xa No canal) and Ho Chi Minh City - Kien Luong route (through Hau river - Rach Soi canal) as 2 crucial national waterway transport routes of this region.
Located on the Hau River which is the largest branch of the Mekong River, Can Tho Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge with South East Asia's longest main span (550 meters in length). This enormous bridge is considered as a connecting medium between two provinces of Can Tho and Vinh Long in the Mekong Delta region to supersede the ferry network along National Road 1A.

As one of the international seaport, the system of Can Tho port can accommodate many seagoing vessels with the tonnage of up to 20,000 tons at 4 wharves, including Can Tho Port (Hoang Dieu Port), which can accommodate the vessels of 10,000-20,000 DWT; Tra Noc port has 3 large warehouses with a capacity of 40,000 tons, with the number of products through the port reaching 200,000 tons/year and can accommodate ships of 2,500 DWT. With 4.2 million tons/year as the number of products through the port, Cai Cui Port was built in recent times which can accommodate ships of 10,000 - 20,000 DWT. Can Tho's port system plays an essential role to serve the region's import and export cargo activities to major national ports, Cambodia and the Mekong Delta Region.
 

9. CAN THO BRIDGE

With the total investment of 4,832 billion VND (roughly US$342.6 million) from Official Development Aid (ODA) of the Japanese Government and the counterpart capital of the Vietnamese Government (about 15%), this longest bridges in Can Tho used to be projected to inaugurate on December 14th, 2008. However, the collapse of Can Tho Bridge on September 26, 2007, brought about some unfortunate consequences which lead to the death of 80 people. This was also the reason for the time of the inauguration which was postponed until April 24th, 2010. 

The cable-stayed bridge of Can Tho owns the total length is 2.75 kilometers, including 4 lanes for traffic having 3.5m wide and two 2.75m wide walkways. With the vertical clearance of 39 meters, the bridge facilitates the large ships being able to flow through without any difficulty. As if unfurling a new stage in the development of Can Tho, the operation of Can Tho bridge definitely played an essential role to promote the engine of growth in the Mekong delta region in all of the fields. In Mekong Delta ‘s history ever, it is supposed to a symbol of connecting the riverbanks of Hau River in the conveyance and the demand of moving around between Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho promptly. 

Moreover, thanks to the appearance of Can Tho Bridge, the area of tourism in the city in particular and Mekong Delta in general, has unmistakable progress which helps to bring the position of Can Tho to be worth its potentiality and strong points. Can Tho Bridge lead international friends closer to the gorgeousness of Mekong Delta and bring a very bright future ahead for economic, social, cultural, and tourism development whole the province of Mekong Delta.

10. CAN THO STADIUM

Once known as the largest stadium in Vietnam with 45,000 seats, Can Tho Stadium is not only used for football matches but also motorcycle racing. Being built during the French colonial era (1534–1980), in the earlier 1969, the friendly football match between the Vietnam national team and French national was held at this special stadium as the means for two national’s friendship and final scores with 3-0 for Vietnam team. This stadium was originally named the May 19 Stadium because May 19, 1983, was its inauguration period. At that time, the Can Tho Stadium was considered as one of the largest capacity stadiums in Southeast Asia. After the repair time in 2019, the capacity of the stadium decreased to 30,000 seats but it still plays the station as one of the largest stadiums in Vietnam. With its modern facilities, this stadium is the venue for the motorcycle racing and international football competitions such as the U-21 Tournament (2014), the friendly match between the Vietnamese team and the Avispa Fukuoka Club (the 12/11/2016), Vietnam U19 and U19 Thailand (2014). In April 2016, the 40m high A-domed stand of Can Tho Stadium was upgraded with an amount of approximately VND 17 billion by the Cantho lottery company.

Football in Vietnam

Football in Vietnam is managed by the Vietnam Football Federation, including the Men's and Women's teams belonged to the Vietnamese national football teams. South Vietnam national football team won a gold medal with final scores with 3-1 for the Vietnam team under the guidance of German coach, named Karl-Heinz Weigang at the 1959 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games(SEA Games in later). This match was held from 13 December to 17 December 1959 in Bangkok, Thailand. This Vietnamese national football team was established to compete internationally from 1949 until 1975. Once known as one of the four strongest teams in Asia in the late 1950s, the Southern football team had gained some excellent achievements such as the 10th Merdeka Cup in Malaysia, 1966, and the semi-finals of the 1962 Asian Games. 

After 29 years, the Vietnamese team won a silver medal at the SEA Games Chiang Mai in 1995. In 2018, the Vietnam national under-23 football team achieved silver medal after losing to Uzbekistan in the final of the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship. Vietnam football team also continued to bring another noticeable achievement with the fourth place of the 2018 Asian Games. 

Vietnam created a fever in 2019 with a large number of remarkable achievement:
Vietnam reached the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup 2019
Vietnam secured the top spot of Group G in World Cup 2022 qualifiers
Vietnam has won the men’s football gold medal at SEA Games 2019
Vietnam has won the women’s football gold medal at SEA Games 2019 after defeating Thailand 1:0.