Within the cultural complex of Hue, if the system of palaces and royal tombs defines the face of an Imperial capital, the villages along the lagoon and coastline preserve the depth of community life. There, heritage does not lie dormant in the past but lives on in every festival season, every daily custom, and every belief tied to the natural environment. The Cau Ngu Festival of Thai Duong village, held once every three years in January at the Thuan An seaport, is precisely such a heritage - a vibrant cultural practice where community memory, maritime knowledge, and the will to survive have woven together into an enduring whole across hundreds of years.

On the morning of February 28 (the 12th day of the first lunar month in the Year of the Horse), at the Thai Duong Cultural Village Communal House in Thuan An Ward, the 2026 traditional Fish Worshipping (Cau Ngu) Festival officially opened in a solemn and vibrant atmosphere, attracting a large number of People, fishermen, and visitors.

That is the vast green casuarina forest that the people of Thai Duong Thuong village (formerly Hai Duong Commune, now part of Thuan An Ward, Hue City) planted decades ago to shield them from the winds, stop the sand, and protect the village. Amidst the vast sky and land, the casuarina trees grow lush and strong, becoming a sturdy shield, guarding the village from waves and winds, and the harshness of the sea.

Under the majestic roof of the Guol, amidst the resonant gongs of the festive season, the Co Tu people of Doi Village are steadily awakening the potential of community-based tourism. They are creating livelihoods right on their homeland while preserving and sharing the traditional cultural values of their village.

That is the early morning market of My Loi village, Vinh Loc commune. Before becoming part of today's Vinh Loc commune, My Loi belonged to Vinh My commune - a coastal plain, with the sea on one side and a lagoon on the other. It is indeed known as the only place in Hue where the locals have an accent similar to Quang region.

In the coastal fishing villages of Phu Vang District, nearshore fishermen have begun their first voyages of the year, setting sail to welcome the sea’s early blessings.

Kim Doi village, Quang Thanh commune, Quang Dien district is known as a bustling place for producing dried noodle sheets during the off-season. Recently, with the support of mechanisms and policies from functional departments and the locality, the people of Kim Doi have invested more in machinery, expanded production with higher productivity and quality, and brought their products to distant markets, creating job opportunities for hundreds of local workers with stable incomes... Notably, dried noodle sheets in Kim Doi have recently been voted as a typical agricultural product of the province.

From a type of wild grass growing in waterlogged lowlands, the people of Pho Trach village have turned rush into hundreds of thousands of practical, beautiful and environmentally friendly handicrafts.

It is the Huong River, the river that "embraces Hue in its heart", which is also a priceless gift that nature has dedicated to this place. The Huong River is magnificent from the upstream, with a peaceful beauty and full of poetry as it confluences and hugs around gardens and villages such as Kim Long, Nguyet Bieu, Vy Da, Gia Hoi, Bao Vinh, and Sinh village, etc. And then, before pouring water into the sea, the downstream river area is a place to make a living, which is hard but close and dear to the locals.

Scarcely had the boats been pushed into the sea, touching the water surface when the waves, in turn, hit the shore. The wind and waves struck the boat sides, causing the boat to wobble. But a few minutes later, the muscular men with the help of the sea village women successfully started the boats for a squid fishing trip which would last more than 12 hours.