On the morning of February 26th, a nationwide online conference was held in Hanoi to roll out preparations for the election of deputies to the 16th National Assembly and deputies to People’s Councils at all levels for the 2026 - 2031 term. The event was connected to 34 provincial-level venues and 3.321 commune-level venues across the country.

The Huyen Tran Temple Festival, held on Ngu Phong Mountain in early spring, reminds later generations of the great contributions of Buddhist King Tran Nhan Tong and Princess Huyen Tran - historical figures who played a vital role in the work of expanding the border of Dai Viet toward the South.

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 24, at Thuy Tien Lake Park, the City People’s Committee held the launching ceremony of the “Tree-Planting Festival in Eternal Gratitude to Uncle Ho” for Binh Ngo Spring 2026.

In Greek mythology, the supreme god Zeus transformed himself into a bull to seduce the beautiful princess Europa. When she mounted his back, the bull carried her across the sea to the island of Crete, where she gave birth to great kings, seen as an allegory for the birth of European civilization. The continent of Europe was therefore named after her – Europa, later known by the common name Europe.

It took a whole month of scheduling before I could meet the famous Vietnamese-American chef Kevin Tien in Washington, D.C. It’s truly fascinating that in the heart of the U.S. capital, there’s a culinary space called Moon Rabbit - where this young man quietly plants seeds of creativity to bring Vietnamese cuisine to the world and inspire the Vietnamese expatriate community.

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 first working day following the Lunar New Year of the Horse 2026 holiday, the number of patients seeking medical examination and treatment at healthcare facilities across Hue roses again. Several illnesses had increased, particularly among the elderly and patients with underlying conditions.

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.