Beyond visiting heritage sites, enjoying local cuisine and exploring traditional crafts, residents and visitors to Hue now have more interactive and creative ways to experience the city. From getting acquainted with the handpan and making wagashi by hand to painting and crafting, … small-scale workshops are adding new ‘colors’ to the life experiences in the Ancient Capital.

Once a place where ferry crossings were part of everyday life, Thai Duong now has a more convenient road network for travel, transporting goods, and expanding livelihoods. The bridge spanning Thuan An Estuary is ushering this coastal village into a new phase of development.

More than three decades after UNESCO inscribed the Complex of Hue Monuments as a World Cultural Heritage Site (1993), nearly 200 structures and components have been restored, helping turn heritage into a resource for development in the new period.

A group of young people who continue “the story of Hue’s lotus” by giving it new life beyond culinary products or the blossoms that brighten every summer, through decorative items, gifts, and unique accessories.

These days, along several alleys on Bao Vinh Street, many old walls are being given a new look with murals depicting ancient houses, riverside landing stages, boats, and the daily life of what was once a trading port.

Rather than simply introducing familiar destinations and famous attractions in Hue, TikTokers and Facebookers (digital content creators on TikTok and Facebook) are now offering new perspectives on the city’s tourism and people through short videos and candid reviews of their experiences. This approach is bringing Hue to life on social media while giving travelers from around the world more interesting information to inspire their own experiences in the city.

Deeply aware of the enduring losses left by war, Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh from Vinh Loc Commune has devoted much of his time and energy to supporting victims of Agent Orange. Through his quiet acts of compassion, he has come to be regarded by those living with the lingering consequences of war as a real-life “Mr. But” - a benevolent figure in Vietnamese folklore.

On the morning of August 20, thousands of first-year students across Hue City started their new school year. For first-graders, sixth-graders and tenth-graders, it was their first day in a new learning environment, where they met their new teachers and classmates and began a new chapter in their school life.

Ceramic mosaic inlay has long contributed to the beauty of Hue’s royal architecture. Continuing these values, young artisan Huynh Kim Nhat Minh, born in the 1990s in Phu Xuan ward of Hue City, has devoted great passion to creating new works, bringing the art of ceramic mosaic inlay closer to everyday life.

It is not even the end of the sixth lunar month, but I have already heard elderly men in my neighborhood enthusiastically asking one another how the upcoming Autumn offering ceremony will be organized at the village communal house, and whether the heads of the clans have made plans to meet yet. It may seem strange that amid the bustle of city life, these elderly men are passionately talking about village affairs. The village communal house is not far away either, just a few dozen meters from my house. “The city also began with villages. Preserving the roots of the village means preserving its culture for future generations. You young people should remember that,” they would tell me whenever I asked.

In the age of online music, vinyl records continue to hold a unique appeal.

From rough, shapeless wood blocks, through a chisel and skillful hands, Mr. Cu Dai, residing in Ta Ay village, Trung Son commune, has breathed life into wood carvings, making them unique.