Amid the complex developments of the Nipah virus outbreak, on the morning of February 24th, when the international cruise ship Adora Mediterranea docked at Chan May Port, the international health quarantine force under Hue Center for Disease Control (CDC Hue) implemented monitoring and inspection procedures to ensure epidemic prevention and control.

On the morning of February 23 (the 7th day of the Lunar January), at Trieu Mieu and The Mieu - Hue Imperial Citadel, Hue Monuments of Conservation Center held the ceremony to lower the traditional New Year Neu pole and open the New Year seal in a solemn atmosphere, marking the close of Tet holiday and the start of the new working year in accordance with former royal court rituals.

On the morning of February 23, the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee held a conference to evaluate the situation before, during, and after the Lunar New Year of the Horse 2026; and to review adjustments of Hue City’s Master Plan for the 2021 - 2030 period, with a vision to 2050, to meet the development requirements in the new phase.

No one has captured the Vietnamese sense of living away from one’s homeland better than poet Nguyen Khoa Diem when he wrote: “They carry the names of their communes and villages on every migration journey.” In the highland city on the Lang Biang Plateau, this sentiment holds true as well. Many people from Hue left their ancestral land to settle here nearly a century ago. Though four or five generations have now been born on this new land, the “Hue spirit” in these distant Hue communities has never faded.

On February 22, Hue City Police reported that they had promptly returned a lost handbag containing important documents and valuable property to a foreign tourist at Phu Bai International Airport.

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.

According to the information released by the Department of Tourism on February 22, during the 9-day Binh Ngo Lunar New Year holiday, the number of visitors to Hue increased sharply year-on-year. Especially, tourism revenue witnessed an increase of 350% compared to the previous year.

Two world heritage cities - York (the UK) and Kyoto (Japan) - have been implementing Net Zero tourism models that Hue can refer and adapt to its local context.

Since 2017, Ms. Nguyen Thi Dieu Hanh, Head of the Biology Department at Quoc Hoc - Hue High School for the Gifted, has been tirelessly seeking “seeds”, nurturing and guiding generations of students onto the International Biology Olympiad arena, contributing to the prestige of the century-old school.

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.