Living in a place considered a ‘barren’ land, people in the hilly area of Phong Son - Phong Xuan - Phong My on the west of Phong Dien district were once skeptical when a businessman brought tens of billions of VND back to his hometown to establish a manufacturing plant for producing medicinal essential oils. Now that they are convinced, and feel happy upon breathing in the ‘air fragrant with scents from medicinal herbs’.

Born in 1989, with a love for painting since childhood, in 2010, Le Duy Ngoc left his hometown of Tuyen Hoa, Quang Binh, for Hue to nurture his passion for art and pursue the path of realizing his dreams.

My hometown Phu Loc was the first place in Vietnam which the French came to reoccupy Hue in early 1947. That was also the place where we started the Hue-Danang campaign in March, 1975.

For more than a year, the fact that the bridge over Thuan An sea mouth was constructed has always been a topical issue in Thua Thien Hue. Everywhere I went, people excitedly talked about building a bridge, and in the future, their hometown will have a bridge across the sea at the top of the Central region.

I happened to come across a Facebook post of a friend currently living in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. It read, “seeing seven blooming pink lotus flowers celebrating Vesak on Nhan Co Lake reminds me so much of my hometown - Hue, where Ngu Mountain and the Perfume River reside.”