The ceremony took place at Trinh Pagoda in Yen Tu mountain and was attended by members of the Party Central Committee: Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan and Secretary of the Quang Ninh Provincial Party Committee Pham Minh Chinh; former Politburo member and Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Pham The Duyet; permanent member of the Executive Board of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) Central Committee Venerable Thich Thanh Quyet; leaders of central and local departments, agencies and branches and thousands of Buddhist monks and visitors.
The annual Yen Tu Spring Festival opened with an incense offering ceremony to King Tran Nhan Tong, who found the Truc Lam Zen sect, a prayer for a peaceful country and prosperous people and the Yen Tu’s seal opening ceremony.
On the occasion, many other cultural and arts activities will also be held during the festival at other sites in Yen Tu relic, which is considered the centre of Vietnamese Buddhism.
The Yen Tu relic welcomed nearly 250,000 visitors during the first eight days of the Lunar New Year, up 10 percent compared to the same period last year.