Every year, on the eighth day of the first lunar month, locals in Thi Cam Village, Xuan Phuong Ward, Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi, joyfully organise their traditional rice cooking contest.
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| Traditional rice cooking contest thrills Thi Cam villagers |
The four teams competing are assigned three tasks: manually making a fire, running for water, and pounding and cooking rice.
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| Each team assigns a member to carry water from the Nhue River |
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| Four men are then selected in each team to build a fire |
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| Meanwhile, other team members are pounding rice |
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| Each team has 30 minutes to complete their task, from starting the fire to cooking the rice |
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| The competition generates great joy and excitement among villagers and visitors |
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| Competitors often play a little trick on the organising board: they make several heaps of ash on the ground and hide their rice cooker in one of them so that the board members will take more time to find their cooker, ensuring the rice will be well-cooked |
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| When all four rice cookers are found, they are offered to the village’s tutelary god before they are judged by the village’s elderly. After the winning team is announced, the rice is delivered to the villagers to pray for a new year of prosperity and peace |
NDO/Photos: Thanh Dat – https://en.nhandan.vn/
