On the afternoon of April 9th, a delegation from Hue, led by Mr. Nguyen Khac Toan, Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee, and Chairman of the City People’s Committee, paid a visit, held working sessions, and extended Bunpimay New Year greetings in Salavan Province, Lao PDR.

In an effort toward green and eco-friendly transportation, this issue of Hue Today Weekly features insights from the Director of Hue Institute for Development Studies on this topic.

With the exhibition themed “Hue's intangible cultural heritage - Inspiring creativity and development”, Hue City Museum of History showcased the cultural beauty and artistic essence of the Ancient Capital to domestic friends.

In 2000, in the short piece entitled “Hue Diary,” written when he returned for the first Hue Festival, musician Trinh Cong Son wrote, “When you have a place to return, or to visit from time to time, you are very fortunate. There, you have a river, a mountain, and you can find again your old friends whose hair used to be black has now turned grey. You might suddenly meet a Hue girl on the street and ask her, ‘Is there anything new in Hue now?’ And immediately, or perhaps by chance, she will recite the two lines from a poem by Bui Giang: “Da thua xu Hue bay gio/ Van con nui Ngu ben bo song Huong” (“Yes, sir, Hue now/ Still has Ngu Mount by the Huong river…”)

As if by a twist of fate, the two painters Hoang Dang Khanh and Tran Anh Huy are not only friends but also share a deep passion for art, culminating in their joint exhibition titled “Ky uc thap mau” (“Memories Illuminated in Color”).

On the evening of March 14th, at the hall of Nguyen Tri Phuong Secondary School, the Institut Français de Hué, in coordination with Hue Vietnam - France Friendship Association and local educational institutions, organized Francophonie Night 2026. The activity is part of a series of events celebrating International Francophonie Day and attracted a large number of students.

On the Lantern Festival (the Full Moon of the First Lunar Month) more than 15 years ago, the most “pure Hue native” friend I know, architect Nguyen Trong Huan, and I put on thin raincoats and walked together through the light, drifting drizzle to search for Hue’s culinary specialties. Having lived in this city for many years, Huan still longed for the flavors he once tasted.

Ask the people of Hue what flower they love most, and most will likely answer: the apricot blossom. To put it more formally, “hoang mai” - yellow apricot, without a doubt. Don’t believe it? Come to Hue and see for yourself! There’s a whole movement called “Yellow apricot blossom in front of the entrance”; a completed research project on “Conservation and development of Hue’s yellow apricot variety (Hue’s Hoang mai)”; a scientific conference on developing Hue’s Hoang mai into a key local product, aimed at successfully realizing the project to build Thua Thien Hue province (now Hue City) into Vietnam’s yellow apricot homeland. My friend, journalist Minh Tu, even published a book called “In front of the house stands a yellow apricot tree”, which sold out instantly, was reprinted, and translated into foreign languages to great acclaim.

The first Binh Dien Commune Tet Fair - 2026 is taking place from February 12 to 13. Beyond boosting trade, the fair is also a culturally rich event, and an opportunity to promote the people and land of Binh Dien to friends and visitors from near and far.

“Thuan Hoa is a local publishing house, but not merely a local one, as Hue is a long-established historical and cultural center of the country and is also the one being internationally recognized. Therefore, from the very beginning, the publishing house has strived to produce works worthy of the historic land of Thuan Hoa,” Dr. Nguyen Duy To, Director of Thuan Hoa Publishing House, quoted the late journalist Hoang Tung, former Secretary of the Party Central Committee, when addressing the functions and development orientation of Thuan Hoa Publishing House at a friendly gathering marking its 45th anniversary (1981-2026), held on the morning of February 10.