A festival featuring Japanese cultural activities is taking place in Da Lat – the famous resort town in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong – until Saturday.

The festival, called “Japanese Cultural Days in Da Lat,” boasts exhibitions of photos on world heritages and Japanese dolls, according to Vietnamplus – an affiliate of the Vietnam News Agency.

Other highlights include demonstrations of and brief training in “Ikebana” – the traditional Japanese art of flower arrangement – as well as screenings of several popular Japanese films.

The festival is part of a week-long tourism program which closes the 2014 National Tourism Year in the Central Highlands and Da Lat.

According to Vietnamplus, Japan is one of Vietnam’s key business partners and the country’s biggest official development assistance (ODA) provider. Japanese assistance is manifested in environmental protection and hi-tech agriculture fields in Lam Dong Province.

Meanwhile, the Da Lat Wintry Festival, having “Sac Mau Mua Dong” (Hues of Winter) as its theme – another event of the week-long tourism program – is also running in several venues in Da Lat and the province’s Bao Loc City until Saturday.  

The wintry festival boasts sections featuring Da Lat’s gorgeous flowers, traditional craft villages, as well as vegetables and flower market sessions.

Visitors can also pose for photos at an array of Christmas-oriented artificial arrangements, and enjoy a wintry fashion show and street art performances.

Another highlight is a tea fest, which closes on Thursday.

The tea fest showcases tea preparation techniques and included a record tea drinking feast on Christmas Eve, which gathered 4,000 tourists and local residents.

Lam Dong currently accounts for 27 percent and 25 percent of the country’s tea yield and growing area, respectively.

The province’s auspicious climate and terrain help produce high volumes of quality tea each year.

Lam Dong has received over 4.8 million visits so far this year, a provincial official said at a mid-December press conference to announce the week-long tourism program.

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