~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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[Year 2002]

Rare Hanoi turtle surfaces on Jiang visit

HANOI - One of a small colony of giant but extremely shy soft-shelled turtles inhabiting central Hanoi's picturesque Hoan Kiem Lake showed its nose on Saturday, an event so rare that locals associate it with a major happening. The turtle's head bobbed up intermittently out of the water over a period of about 15 minutes shortly after 1:30 p.m. (0630 GMT), watched by a few dozen excited bystanders, witnesses said.

"People believe a turtle in the lake will only show its nose if there is a big event -- maybe it was Jiang Zemin's visit," said 33-year-old Luu Thi Thuy. Jiang Zemin, president of Vietnam's communist ally and traditional rival China, left Vietnam on Friday after a three-day confidence-building visit. According to local media reports, a turtle also appeared in the lake on February 16, less than two weeks before the visit.

Ho Hoan Kiem, literally Lake of the Restored Sword, got its name from an Arthurian-type legend surrounding the 15th-century warrior-king Le Loi, who was given a magic sword from heaven to see off Chinese invaders by a golden turtle in the lake. After the last battle, the king returned to the lake, where a turtle took back the sword and disappeared with it into the depths to return it to its divine owners. Scientists say the turtles of Hoan Kiem lake, which can weigh up to 200 kg (440 pounds), are one of the most endangered species of turtle in the world and like to ensure their privacy by burrowing deep into the mud on the floor of the lake.

The turtles are so rarely seen that many locals still consider them to be legend rather than reality.

By Rathavary Duong - Reuters - March 02, 2002.