Party chief’s spouse, Cuban first lady enjoy water puppetry, visit Ngoc Son Temple
The two ladies' appearance drew warm greetings and applause from crowds of holidaymakers who gathered around the pedestrian streets decorated with flags and banners for the National Day.
Madam Ngo Phuong Ly and Madam Lis Cuesta Peraza offer incense at Ngoc Son Temple. (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA)𒀰 – Madam Ngo Phuong Ly, spouse of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee To Lam, and Madam Lis Cuesta Peraza, spouse of First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee and President of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, enjoyed a traditional water puppet performance and visited Ngoc Son Temple in Hanoi on September 1.
The activity form part of a state visit to Vietnam by the Cuban couple, who will also attend the celebration of the 80th anniversary of Vietnam's National Day.
At the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre, the Cuban lady and her entourage were introduced to the centuries-old folk art form, rooted in Vietnam’s wet-rice culture. The two ladies watched performances selected from Vietnam’s repertoire of nearly 400 water puppet plays.
Madam Lis Cuesta Peraza expressed her appreciation for the hospitality of Madam Ly and the Vietnamese artists, noting that the performances helped her better understand the art of water puppetry imbued with Vietnamese folk culture. She voiced her hope that in the future, Vietnamese puppeteers will visit Cuba to share this traditional art with Cuban audiences.
Madam Ngo Phuong Ly and Madam Lis Cuesta Peraza experience the Vietnamese water puppetry. (Photo: VNA)
Recalling her visit in 2024 to El Arca Puppet Museum in Havana with Madam Lis Cuesta Peraza, Madam Ly said both Vietnam and Cuba possess distinctive puppet traditions, adding that she hopes her guest will have chances to learn more about Vietnam's puppetry during future visits.
After that, the two ladies walked to Ngoc Son Temple on Hoan Kiem Lake, a favourite cultural site of Hanoians and visitors alike.
Their appearance drew warm greetings and applause from crowds of holidaymakers who gathered around the pedestrian streets decorated with flags and banners for the National Day. Many shouted “Viva Cuba, Viva Vietnam” and “Vietnam – Cuba” in celebration of the enduring friendship between the two nations.
At Ngoc Son Temple, they offered incense, learned about the history and legends of Hoan Kiem Lake, and viewed the preserved giant turtle specimen. On The Huc Bridge, they admired the iconic Turtle Tower and Hanoi’s autumn landscape. The Cuban lady was delighted to receive a calligraphy work reading “Peace” from a local scholar./.
Vietnam always bears in mind and remains grateful for the solidarity and fraternal support extended by the Cuban people to the Vietnamese people during their struggle for national liberation and reunification in the past as well as during the ongoing process of national construction and protection, Party General Secretary To Lam said.
Over the past 65 years, cooperation between the two countries has been expanded across all levels, channels, and sectors, with three main pillars: political-diplomatic relations as the foundation, economic-trade-investment as the driving force, and people-to-people exchanges as the bonding element.
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