Cherry blossom forest to grow into festival by 2015

      A 56,000 cherry blossom forest will be planted just 5 kilometers from Dalat, in what organizers hope will eventually grow into an annual cherry blossom festival by 2015.
Tuyen Lam Lake Tourist Zone in Central Highlands Lam Dong Province will be the site of the new plantings beginning on Monday.
The VND6 billion (US$350,877), VND1.3 billion ($76,000) project, being developed by the tourist zone’s authorities, will be housed at the foot of the Phuong Hoang (Phoenix) Mountain, the director of the zone’s management board, Nguyen Xuan Thanh, told Tuoi Tre newspaper.
Some 15,000 trees will be planted in the first phase, before work is wrapped up by 2013.
Nestled just five kilometers away from the resort town of Dalat, the 1,406-hectare Tuyen Lam Lake Tourist Zone is an emerging tourist attraction in Lam Dong.
It is known as “the second Dalat” for its year-round cool weather and serene surroundings, punctuated by Tuyen Lam Lake, Datanla Waterfall and the Truc Lam Zen Monastery, the largest Zen monastery in Vietnam.