“I have written about everything from the rustic to the elegant aspects of Hue with all my heart, so that readers, once they have loved Hue, will love Hue even more,” shared Ms. Hoang Thi Tho, a journalist, about her two upcoming books, “Remember to visit Hue tomorrow” and “Please go from childhood.”

These are 6 of 121 Vietnamese culinary dishes that have just been honored by the Vietnam Cuisine Culture Association (VCCA) as typical national dishes in phase I of a project titled "Building and Developing Vietnamese Culinary Culture into a National Brand Name”. All of these 6 dishes, including: Hue beef noodle soup, glutinous rice dumplings stuffed with roasted pork in sweet soup, mussel rice, banh loc (glutinous rice dumplings), vegetarian fig salad, and lotus-leaf-wrapped steamed rice; all are close to the gardens and paddy fields of the land.

A Roang is a border commune of A Luoi district, which is about 90km away from Hue city center. People living here are mainly the Ta Oi people. Being located at the foot of the majestic Truong Son Mountain, A Roang was once a poor and extremely difficult place to travel to. However, it is now an attractive destination for visitors who love the rustic beauty of people and villages in wild mountains and forests, or immersing themselves in waterfalls and lakes in the middle of mountains and forests.