The Millennial Anniversary of Hanoi was celebrated from October 1 to October 10, 2010, the 1,000th anniversary

Anniversary

An anniversary is a day that commemorates or celebrates a past event that occurred on the same day of the year as the initial event. For example, the first event is the initial occurrence or, if planned, the inaugural of the event. One year later would be the first anniversary of that event...

 of the foundation of the capital Thăng Long

Thang Long

Thang Long can be:*Former name of Hanoi*Thang Long Imperial City...

 by the emperor Lý Thái Tổ. There are many events that have been held in 2009 and 2010 to commemorate the Millennial Anniversary including cultural and traditional festivals, inaugurations of major projects of Hanoi among others.

History

According to Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư, Lý Thái Tổ, the first emperor of the Lý Dynasty

Lý Dynasty

The Lý Dynasty , sometimes known as the Later Lý Dynasty , was a Vietnamese dynasty that began in 1009 when Lý Thái Tổ overthrew the Prior Lê Dynasty and ended in 1225 when the queen Lý Chiêu Hoàng was forced to abdicate the throne in favor of her husband, Trần Cảnh. They ruled Vietnam for a...

, decided to moved the capital of the country from Hoa Lư

Hoa Lu

Hoa Lư is a district of Ninh Binh province in the Red River Delta region of Vietnam. Before 1010, Hoa Lu served as the capital of Dai Co Viet. Hoa Lu Ancient Capital is located in Truong Yen Commune of this district. It comprises 10 communes and one township: Trường Yên, Ninh Hòa, Ninh Giang, Ninh...

 to Đại La in the seventh month of the Lunar calendar

Lunar calendar

A lunar calendar is a calendar that is based on cycles of the lunar phase. A common purely lunar calendar is the Islamic calendar or Hijri calendar. A feature of the Islamic calendar is that a year is always 12 months, so the months are not linked with the seasons and drift each solar year by 11 to...

, 1010. When the convoy of Lý Thái Tổ arrived in Đại La, a golden dragon rose beside the emperor's boat, hence Lý Thái Tổ changed the name of the new capital from Đại La to Thăng Long (昇龍, literally The Rising Dragon).

Commemorative projects

There are many major projects of the city of Hanoi that were constructed and inaugurated in commemorating the Millennial Anniversary. Amongs them several construction works would have their inauguration days from October 1 to October 10, 2010:

Project	Vietnamese name	Area
Hanoi Museum Hanoi Museum The Museum of Hanoi is located in Hanoi, Vietnam. It showcases the history of Hanoi and Vietnam.The museum was opened in 2010 for the Millennial Anniversary of Hanoi.The building represents an overall design of a reversed Pyramid....	Bảo tàng Hà Nội	Phạm Hùng road, Từ Liêm district
Hòa Bình Park	Công viên Hòa Bình	Từ Liêm district
Workers' Theatre	Rạp Công nhân	Tràng Tiền street, Hoàn Kiếm district
Thanh Trì Bridge	Cầu Thanh Trì	Across the Red River
Vĩnh Tuy Bridge	Cầu Vĩnh Tuy	Across the Red River
Láng - Hòa Lạc Highway	Đường cao tốc Láng - Hòa Lạc

In February 2010, a project was announced in which 1,000 objects will be buried with a message for the future generations in 1,000 years. They are 63 representative items for 63 provinces of Vietnam and another 937 items from ordinary life suggested by people of Hanoi. All objects will be kept in a container of 1,000 liters which symbolizes 1,000 years of Thăng Long - Hanoi and would be buried in the site of the Hanoi Museum

Hanoi Museum

The Museum of Hanoi is located in Hanoi, Vietnam. It showcases the history of Hanoi and Vietnam.The museum was opened in 2010 for the Millennial Anniversary of Hanoi.The building represents an overall design of a reversed Pyramid....

.

Events

The Millennial Anniversary of Hanoi will be officially celebrated from October 1 to October 10, 2010, with the great celebration (Đại lễ kỉ niệm) held on Sunday, October 10, 2010, which is also the Liberation Day of Hanoi (1954). The ceremony is considered one of the most important events of Vietnam in the year 2010 after the official instruction No. 32-CT/TU of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam

Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam

The Politburo of the Central Committee Communist Party of Vietnam , formerly the Standing Committee of the Central Committee, includes the top leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam...

, to organize the Millennial Anniversary, a committee was established with members from the Politburo, the Government of Vietnam and the City of Hanoi. The main purpose of the ceremony is expressing gratefulness to generations of Vietnamese in the past who contributed to the defence and development of the country, and passing this tradition on to the future generations. Exactly 1,000 days before the official ceremony, a count-down clock of 17 m high and 8m wide was inaugurated at the Bà Kiệu Temple, in front of the Hoan Kiem Lake, on January 13, 2008.

Surrounding events

Commemorative events are not only organized in Hanoi but also in other provinces of Vietnam from Phú Thọ

Phú Thọ

Phú Thọ is an urban district and town in Phu Tho province, Vietnam. As of 2003 the district had a population of 63,333. The district covers an area of 64 km²....

 to Huế

Hue

Hue is one of the main properties of a color, defined technically , as "the degree to which a stimulus can be describedas similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, green, blue, and yellow,"...

 and Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City , formerly named Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam...

. For example, in Bắc Ninh

Bac Ninh

Bắc Ninh is a city in Vietnam and capital of the Bac Ninh province. The city is the cultural, administrative, and commercial center of the province. The city area is 80.82 square km, with a population of 150,331 . In January, 2006, the town of Bac Ninh was upgraded to city...

, the native land of Lý Thái Tổ, an incense offering ceremony at the Lý Bát Đế Shrine and other festivals will be held during the ten days from October 1 to October 10, 2010 while the Ho Chi Minh City will organize its own festival named "Thang Long – Hanoi: 1000 Years of History".

Main events

On June 10, 2009, the Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Vietnam

-Office:The Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is the head of the executive branch of the Vietnamese government. The Prime Minister presides over the Vietnamese cabinet, and is responsible for appointing and supervising ministers...

 Nguyễn Tấn Dũng issued a decision approving the detailed scheme of the Millennial Anniversary of Hanoi as following:

Day	Events
October 1 (Opening Day)	Opening ceremony at the Lý Thái Tổ statue near Hoàn Kiếm Lake. Exhibition of economic and social achievements of Vietnam and Hanoi at Giảng Võ Exhibition Centre, other exhibitions and cultural performances.
October 2–9	Film festival about Hanoi, art show at the Hanoi Opera House Hanoi Opera House The Hanoi Opera House is an opera house in central Hanoi, Vietnam. It was erected by the French colonial administration between 1901 and 1911. It was modeled on the Palais Garnier, the older of Paris's two opera houses, and is considered to be one of the architectural landmarks of Hanoi.The Hanoi... , street festivals. Final matches of the Thăng Long - Hanoi Football Cup, the Marathon of the Hà Nội Mới newspaper, the cycling tournament from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi. Tourism Festival of Hanoi, Festival for Craft Villages of Hanoi and various exhibitions, festivals. Awards ceremony of the "Hanoi - Your Rendezvous", an international competition on knowledge about Thăng Long - Hanoi.
October 10	Great Ceremony of the Millennial Anniversary

External links

Official website of the Millennial Anniversary of Hanoi