On the first day of 2026, sunny weather set a serene and poetic tone in Hue. Both visitors and residents took time to savor the city’s unhurried, gentle pace. Beyond its famed heritage sites, spiritual and cultural spaces, parks, and public recreation areas were bustling with visitors.

On the afternoon of December 30, at Vietnam-Japan Friendship Association of Hue City, Vietnamese Haiku Poetry Club - Hue Ancient Capital held its 2025 year-end review ceremony while marking the fifth anniversary of its establishment.

In the middle of the rice fields of Dien Hoa (now Dien Chau Commune, Nghe An Province) stands a small memorial site. There, the final wish of a father - the poet and musician Nguyen Trong Tao, who spent many years with Hue - has been fulfilled.

On the familiar green chalkboard, under the skillful hands of Ms. Le Thi Loc Phuong, an art teacher from Tu Ha Primary School No. 1 (Huong Tra Ward), the heritage sites of Hue such as Ngu Phung Pavilion, Thien Mu Pagoda’s bell tower, or the graceful curve of Truong Tien Bridge gradually come to life. Each delicate stroke of white and colored chalk transforms the classroom chalkboard into a lively painting, evoking an image of Hue that is both serene and poetic.

Some rivers have painted their own portraits in human memory, like the Seine with Paris, the Danube with Vienna, the Nile with Egypt... And with Hue, it is the Huong River – the one that has immersed itself in layers of mist and time, flowing into poetry, music, and painting as a wandering stream.

Together with the Huong River - Ngu Mountain, the conical hat and the purple ao dai of Hue Women are also a symbolic cultural combo that is deeply connected with the locals in the Ancient Capital. And the poet Bui Giang once “fell in love”: The poetic conical hat / Taking you to Hue City / Sunshine pierces the rim / Revealing the soul of homeland in poetry… (Taking you to the city).

On the afternoon of August 30th, in Hue City, Vietnam Haiku Poetry Club - Ancient Capital Hue branch held a gathering featuring poetry and music to mark the 80th National Day anniversary.

Without noise and haste, the journey invites travelers to lose themselves in the timeless, contemplative, and poetic beauty of Hue along the Huong River. In recent years, this experience has been reimaged with touches of elegance: afternoon tea at sunset, dinner under the stars, and the lingering notes of traditional Hue Singings.

On the afternoon of August 26, at Ho Chi Minh Museum, Huong Giang Poetry Association of Hue City held a poetry and music program to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day (September 2).

Hue culture with its typical characteristics of the land is portrayed through many unique cultural values such as cuisine, clothing, garden house architecture, education, music, theater, language, and poetry. These values have become great potential for Hue to become an important tourist center of Vietnam and Southeast Asia.