Hanoi (VNA) - Photos depictingintangible and tangible heritages of Vietnam are on display at the Ho Guom Cultural Information Centrelocated in Hanoi’s Old Quarter, which gathers many international tourists everyday. The exhibition showcases 100photos comprising the winners of the Vietnam Heritage Photo Awards 2017. The photos are divided into five categories:Nature (landscapes, marine resources, forest resources, geological resources,plants, wildlife, the environment), Tangible heritage (architecture, sculpture,art, crafts, cultural-historical relics, antiques, and national treasures),Intangible heritage (music, dance, festival, folk games, religion), Life (dailylife scenes, customs, practices, portraits), and Markets. The organising board received nearly 3,500photos sent by 66 photographers nationwide, according to Hoang Trung Thuy,chairman of the jury board. “The participants followed the content requiredby the organising board and expressed the topics through their eye-catchingpictures,” he said. “The category that received the most entries wasLife, in which photographers portray daily life from many interesting angles." “In the category Market, the entrants broughtviewers to markets in different regions nationwide and expressed the identity,culture and customs of local people in each place.” As well as individual photos, many authors sentphoto collections to show visitors a panoramic view of Vietnamese heritage. Oneof the highlighted photo collections was taken by Nguyen Xuan Chinh, in whichhe reflected on the tu cai ritual of the ethnic Dao people inthe northern province of Lai Chau. “Tu cai  is a very importantreligious ritual for the Dao people living in northern provinces,” said Chinh. “It is the Dao counterpart to the maturityritual. Normally all Dao boys over 10 are eligible for the ritual.” The ritual is conducted by a well-respectedshaman. After that the young man is given one more name to use in the otherworld to communicate with the gods and ancestors. To the gods, ancestors andliving villagers, he is now a mature Dao man and receives respect from hiscommunity. “This is the unique culture and traditionalcustom of the Dao that should be preserved,” he said. The competition was open to both Vietnamese andforeigners with the aim of collecting beautiful photos on the natural andcultural heritage of the country and promote the values of Vietnam’s nationalheritage to the world. The contest is held annually by the VietnamAirlines inflight Heritage magazine and the Vietnam Cultural Heritage Association withexhibitions in public places, museums and universities, to celebrate the VietnamNational Heritage Day on November 23. After today, the exhibitionwill be organised on November 21-23 at the Vietnam Culture andArts Exhibition Centre, 2 Hoa Lu Street, Hanoi. Other exhibitions will be held in HCM City, Da Nangand the northern province of Hung Yen until March 30 next year.-VNA