Co Ha - the famous royal garden of Hue’s Imperial Capital during the Nguyen Dynasty, has almost lost its architectural traces through time and historical events. However, thanks to the collection, digitization, and analysis of archival photos, an intact Co Ha is being revealed, truly embodying the meaning of “class”.

Hue City these days is becoming more bustling with the atmosphere of the upcoming Tet holiday (the Lunar New Year of the Snake). Flowers and ornamental plants have been brought to decorate the city's parks. The entire city is vibrant with flowers, and people are out taking “check-in” photos.

In a joy of a significant historical moment, as the goal of the entire political system and local people which is making Thua Thien Hue a centrally-governed municipality come true, Thua Thien Hue Newspaper would like to review and highlight through photos some key projects that mark the province’s development with a consistent and unified point of view: Building a centrally-governed municipality based on the preservation and promotion of the values of typical heritage, culture, and history of the Hue land.

In the 2024 Vietnam Art Photography Competition, the Organizing Committee received over 900 sets of photos. Out of these, 73 sets were selected for the exhibition, and 19 sets were awarded prizes.

“Vang son ky my – the essence of Vietnamese craftsmanship” is something that photographer Nguyen Phong is particularly passionate about as he introduced to Thua Thien Hue Weekly a series of photos showcasing “the golden hands” of artisans perfecting the process of applying gold leaf and lacquer to the columns of Thai Hoa Palace.

Following on from the emotional flow of “Bringing the hearts of the mainland to Truong Sa” from a business trip to the Truong Sa archipelago and the platform DK1 in April, Hoang Dang Khoa has introduced precious and nostalgic photos of a vibrant green Truong Sa in the middle of the open sea.

Amidst the scorching hot in April, Bao Chau’s photos, which recorded the scene of Pho Trach villagers (Phong Binh, Phong Dien) harvesting Bang grass (Lepironia articulata) in the green field, like gentle gifts for all eyes. Under Chau's photo angles, Pho Trach is rich and peaceful in every hand movement, the smiles of the villagers in each step, from harvesting Bang grass in the field, drying, preliminary processing the grass, to making it into valuable handicrafts.

“Historical photos are precious and incredibly powerful when we understand and analyze their smallest details. An enthusiastic team may have researched a certain project for decades. However, if they do not have clear evidence, a historical photo decoded to reveal the research results can completely criticize the team effort in just... one hour,” said Nguyen Tan Anh Phong.

The following are some photos taken by Nguyen Phuc Bao Minh, a photographer, during a visit to the Nam Hong Royal Museum (Tu Son, Bac Ninh), with a working group of Hue Monuments Conservation Center, where the “Emperor’s Treasure” golden seal is displayed by Mr. Nguyen The Hong, a businessman.

On the afternoon of the 30th day of Tet, the incense village of Thuy Xuan (Thuy Xuan Ward, Hue City) became more crowded with many delegations of international tourists coming to visit, experience, and take commemorative photos.