Good as gold: The golden apricot is a valuable, rare flower on Yên Tử Mountain in Uông Bí City. - Photo infonet.vn

HÀ NỘI—The golden apricot flowers in Yên Tử mountain will be displayed for the first time at the 2016 Hạ Long cherry blossom festival, which will take place in Ha Long City in the northern province of Quảng Ninh from March 18 to 21.

With the special appearance of this kind of flower, the organisers changed the festival’s name to the Hạ Long Cherry Blossom - Yên Tử Golden Apricot Festival 2016 with the theme of Integration, Co-operation and Development.

Hạ Long City and Quảng Ninh Province have only about one week to prepare for this change.

Hạ Long City has four years of experience organising the cherry blossom festival and Uông Bí City has held the Yên Tử festival, as well, so combining them should go smoothly, said Vũ Hồng Sơn, Vice Chairman of the Ha Long City People’s Committee.

This is the fourth annual festival organised by the People’s Committee of Quảng Ninh Province and the Wanokai International Culture Association (WICA) from Japan.

Festival activities include the opening ceremony, performance and art programmes by Vietnamese and Japanese artists; Japanese culture; and an exhibition of cherry blossoms and apricot flowers.

At the opening ceremony, despite the unexpected change, the cultural performances of Japanese artists will still account for 50 per cent of the time.

The golden apricot is a valuable, rare flower on Yên Tử Mountain in Uông Bí City. This year, the flowers have bloomed beautifully and are scheduled to have about 80 trees on display.

In addition to 60 cherry blossom trees from Japan and some from northern mountainous provinces in Việt Nam, there will be 160 stalls introducing tourism, culture and foods from Việt Nam and Japan.

The annual festival aims to strengthen cultural relations between Quảng Ninh and Japan, which has brought in many businesses and encouraged co-operation between local people and tourists in Việt Nam and Japan. It will also introduce Japanese culture and flowers to Viet Nam and promote the development of tourism in Việt Nam.—VNS