UniCode problem

[johnsonlim026]

Hi, i would like to insert a string of unicode to a table.

I have change the column format to utf8 and column collate to utf8_general_ci
i am able to insert unicode through the sql as below through the MYsql query browser:

insert into `names`(`name`)values(N'心脏病')

But how does i use this in my vb.net program that use MYsql?
I am using command parameter to do this but the result i get is ????
I am using strUpdate="insert into `names`(`name`)values(N'心脏病')" but the result i get is also ????

Does anyone has any idea to do this ?