VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam’s tea drinking culture will take centre stage in a 40-episode television series to be broadcast on HTV7 channel.

Bitter sweet: Actors Bebe Pham (in role of Ha Giang – left) and Ngoc Thao (as Gia Vinh) in a scene from Nghe Tra.

The series is produced by the Cat Tien Sa company on the suggestion of rock musician Tran Lap.

“I have visited famous tea shops throughout Ha Noi and found that people come to the shops not only to drink but also to enjoy the cultural beauty of the custom,” said Nguyen Quang Minh, general director of the company.

Called Nghe Tra (Appreciation of Tea), feature tea culture, through which appear conflicts and hopes for a better life for the young.

The film tells a story of a young woman played by Bebe Pham named Ha Giang, who is born into a tea-producing family. She is sent to study in Singapore with the intention of improving her family’s brand.

However, Giang has made some mistakes.

She comes to realise tea is not only for drinking. It bears various meanings of life including a bitter taste.

Overseas Vietnamese actress Bebe Pham admitted that she had met a lot of difficulties in her first working trip in Viet Nam. She expresses two contradictory characteristics: an active girl, who then leads a secret silent life as a monk in a pagoda.

“The role helped me understand more about Vietnamese culture,” she said. “It makes me more proud when talking to my foreign friends about it.”

The series also features musician Xuan Phuong, editor Pham Hoang Nam, singer Ho Quynh Huong, stuntman Quoc Thinh, and historian Duong Trung Quoc.

“All the people we approached agreed to take part,” said Minh, “They just wanted to make a contribution to a series based on traditional culture.”

The series, directed by Danh Dung will be broadcasted on HTV7 every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 10.30pm from December 7. Only broadcast in Vietnamese.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News