HCM CITY — Tận Hưởng Bản Sắc Việt (Savour Việt Nam), a photobook highlighting the beauty of the country and the people, has been released in HCM City.

The 200-page book includes 200 photos and essays featuring landscapes, the daily life of the people, and cultural festivals.

These photos and essays were selected from more than 8,190 photos and 849 essays submitted to the contest of the same name in three categories: photography, writing and video making, organised from August 2017 to March 2018.

The contest, jointly organised by Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) Newspaper and Saigontourist, attracted 198 videos from participants in Việt Nam and abroad.

At the awards ceremony on Tuesday, the organisers gave first prize in the category for collections to Thác Bản Giốc (Bản Giốc Waterfall) by Lê Thức Thành.

The first prize in the writing category went to Phạm Thị Minh Thư with the essay Làng Vũ Đại Ngày Nay (Vũ Đại Village in Today) featuring Vũ Đại village in Hà Nam Province, an area famous for an age-old braised fish specialty in earthenware pots. 

The winner of the video category was Nguyễn Minh Tân with a short documentary Biển Việt Nam (Việt Nam Seas).

Lê Thế Chữ, editor in chief of Tuổi Trẻ Newspaper, said the contest inspired both Vietnamese people and foreigners to discover, experiment and create beautiful artworks about people, life and landscape of Việt Nam.

“The contest has contributed to promoting Vietnamese tourism to the region and the world,” he said, adding that the organisers gifted the book Tận Hưởng Bản Sắc Việt to city leaders with the hope that the publication would be a meaningful present from the city to its visitors.

HCM City Party Committee Secretary Nguyễn Thiện Nhân, who wrote the introduction to the book, noted that it would help promote Vietnamese tourism to the world.

Tận Hưởng Bản Sắc Việt is published in Vietnamese and English. — VNS