Nguyen Hue blooms to welcome new year

This year's flower display on Ho Chi Minh City's Nguyen Hue Street to mark the Lunar New Year will feature the country through stylized mountains, plains and islands.
According to General Director of Saigon Tourism Corporation Tran Viet Hung, Nguyen Hue Street will be divided into three sections with sub-themes including Spring in the Highlands, Spring in the Plains and Spring on Islands. The area surrounding the statue of Ho Chi Minh this year will be decorated with flower pots and 54 stylized hearts, representing Vietnam's 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam, made of bamboo, flower and brocade.
To mark the year of the snake, two snakes made of melaleuca bark with their tails bent together will form a heart. The Spring in the Highlands display will showcase the cultural diversity of the highlands with the musical instruments such as the Paranung drum and gongs made of flowers. Typical highland ethnic minority costumes will be displayed on mannequins made of straw and flowers. There will be a giant waterfall decorated with flowers and huge rocks.
The "Spring in the Plains" section includes a clock tower in front of the Sun Wah Tower which will showcase the images of 10 mascots over the past decade. The rice paddies layout that attracted many tourists last year will also be retained and embellished with the white storks this year.
The miniatures landscapes in this section will be decorated with melon rigs, carts of flowers, flower looms, and flower trusses, plus also a lotus pond, hanging bridges, and images of bumper crops.
The "Spring on Islands" section this year will differ from last year, with a stylized sailing boat on a sea of flowers representing a good fishing season, green coconut trees, white sand beaches, and baskets. Visitors will walk just below the decorative hanging fishing nets, providing them with the impression of walking through a fishing village.
The miniature landscapes in this section will be decorated with fresh flowers such as waves of flowers and conical hats, boats at sea, starfish and salt fields.
Visitors may also find two sails made of sunflowers on a blue water background on either side of the street symbolizing the rising sun as a signal for the dawn of a bright future for the country.
According to Tran Hung Viet, travel companies in the country have offered visitors tours of the street. Entrance to the flower street is free for the entire period from February 7 to 13.