There are various ideas to name the walking path along the Huong River
Identifying for easy promotion
After nearly a year coming into operation, the walking path along the Huong River from Truong Tien Bridge to Da Vien Bridge has become a “meeting place” of Hue people, being lavish with praise of community and tourists. Having a chance to be in Hue and walk on this route, Dr. Tran Du Lich, member of the economic advisory group of the Prime Minister also exclaimed: “The route is extremely wonderful, there is rarely such a beautiful walking path like this”.
Although being a new destination of Hue, recently, however, except the general name call “the walking path along the Huong River”, this walking path hasn’t had its own name yet, while many people named it the “dapper” names such as the walking path for “slow living”, or the “the road across the forest”, etc.
Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc, Deputy Director of Tourism Department said that by walking on this walking path, tourists can take the view of Hue Flag Tower, Phu Van Lau - the most typical features of Hue. Therefore, with its own appropriate name which can well express the unique characteristics and is associated with the park, the poetic Huong River, etc., it will create more favorable conditions in destination promotion. Naming can seem like a way to identify the brand name for this walking route, making it easier for tourists to remember, to recognize, as well as easier to find when coming to Hue.
With many people of this Ancient Capital, the walking path is also a place to come in the morning or afternoon for jogging and contemplating the beautiful landscapes. In the eyes of local people, the walking path has been perfect, and it will be perfect more and more when this “baby newborn” is named.
Mrs. Cao Hoang Trang, a citizen choosing this walking path for her morning jogging exercise said that she had heard about the plan of naming before. According to her, it is necessary to choose the name, which is both easy to remember, famous, and associated with Hue.
Mr. Le Nhu Chinh, Director of Thua Thien Hue Green Park Center informed that the plan to name the walking path has been in steps to implement in the right processes, as well as being in the phase of receiving consultancy of experts and researchers, etc., to get the most appropriate name.
Need more opinions
With the special location as the walking path along the Huong River, in the coming time, the path will be expanded and lengthened to Thien Mu Pagoda on the Northern side, Kim Long Hydrological Station on the Southern side, adding more functions, which are not only for riding bicycles, going jogging but also being a playground with many activities such as camping, river bathing, and even being a place to organize scale artistic and cultural events, etc., thus, the walking path requires a name which can express both of its own features, the dynamism and heading towards the development in the future.
According to the Thua Thien Hue Green Part Center, there are various ideas for naming this walking path along the Huong River. Many people claimed that it will be gorgeous to wear ao dai and take pictures here. Hence, it can be named after Lord Nguyen Phuc Khoat, the father of ao dai.
There is also an idea suggesting that it should be named “Thach Xuong Bo” (Calamus) as this kind of plant grow luxuriantly and pervade the aroma on the two sides of the Huong River. Additionally, according to the documents, the name “Huong River” was also after the name of this plant. Furthermore, some people suggest that the two walking paths along the two sides of the Huong River can be named Hoang Sa and Truong Sa, etc.
Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc made a suggestion that there are famous parks in some countries such as the US or France, and some of them are named the “Central Park”. These parks become famous and attractive tourist destinations. In Hue, because this road belongs to the chains of parks along the Huong River, it can be named “Huong River Park” to make it popular and easy to attract various influxes of tourists.
Dr. Dang Minh Nam, Deputy Director of the Provincial Development and Research Institute claimed that with something that is highly communal and uncertain about the options, the management agencies should make the consultancy from experts, researchers, and local people to get the feasible option and receive the support by most stakeholders.
Story and photo: Quang Sang