US magazine contest finalists feature Vietnam charms

Three pictures from Vietnam, featuring drying fish, playing gongs and dyed silk hung for drying, are finalists of the US magazine Smithsonian's 19th annual photo contest.

The trio are among 60 finalists out of 44,000 entries from over 140 countries and territories. Smithsonian, published by the US-based Smithsonian Institution, covers history, science, nature, culture and travel.

"Drying fish", taken by Nguyen Tan Tuan, was shortlisted for the Travel category. It captures the drying process of fish species such as flounder and scad in Long Hai fishing village, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, southern Vietnam.

Long Hai is about 7 km from Ba Ria town and a two-hour motorbike ride from Ho Chi Minh City. The village is known for beautiful, unspoiled beaches and the vitality of its sea-related activities in early morning.

The "Pleiku gongs" of Nguyen Van Hop entered the final of the People category. The Central Highlands gongs’ cultural space was recognised by UNESCO as an Oral Masterpiece and Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2005.

Gongs are closely associated with the Central Highlands people's culture and festivities.

"B'lao Golden Silk", which shot a silk drying process after dyeing, was a People category finalist. Dang Hong Long took it at Bao Loc town, so-called "silk capital" in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, home to well-known Da Lat resort town.

With a year-round cool climate and favorable soil conditions, Bao Loc has long been famous for mulberry cultivation, silkworm breeding and silk weaving.

In Bao Loc, there are 23 silk-weaving businesses, including seven mechanical silk-incubators, eight automatic silk-incubators, and eight silk-weaving enterprises.

The Smithsonian magazine’s annual photo contest announced 60 finalists in six categories, namely Natural World, People, Travel, American Experience, Edited Photos, and Cell Phone Photos.

The overall winner, each topic and photo voted by viewers, will be announced at the end of March. The grand prize winner will receive $2,500.