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 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.

More than 100 works by 41 renowned artists inspired by the literary legacy of Nguyen Huy Thiep were unveiled to the Hue public on the afternoon of July 5th at the Lan Vien Co Tich space (95-96-98 Bach Dang Street, Phu Xuan Ward).

The sketches created by Artist Nguyen Van Nguyen successfully depict the heroic historical years of the resistance war fought by the people and soldiers of Binh Tri Thien against the US. These sketches accurately portrayed the lives of compatriots and soldiers during this time. Many of these works were composed during the war and were introduced to the public for the first time in an exhibition titled “Memory Land”.

Since embarking on the journey with technology to preserve fresh flowers into everlasting blooms, the love for flowers of Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Lan (from Phong Thu, Phong Dien) has flourished even more. Day and night, with relentless dedication to exploration and research, this young lady has ingeniously created beautiful, unique everlasting flower products, from flower fields.

Beautiful custard apple varieties from Thailand, Taiwan, and even our own Vietnamese sugar apples grown and cared for by Mr. Nguyen Quang My, the owner of Quang My Garden, will be supplied to the market in Hue during this Lunar New Year. These are the "sweet fruits" after 2 years of Mr. My's hard work in transforming the land of Huong Tra hills to grow fruit trees for commercial purposes.