Strolling “street of ong do”

Annually, HCM City’s “Ong do” (those who teach Han script and also calligraphers) gather on Pham Ngoc Thach and Nguyen Thi Minh Khai before Tet festival.
Pham Ngoc Thach has become the “street of ong do” for four years and the “ong do” must wear traditional costumes (ready-to-wear turban and ao dai). Those working on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai road look less professional, as some wear traditional outfits and some others even wear western clothes.
Le Lan, chairman of the HCM City Labour Cultural Palace and the chief organizer of the “street of ong do”, said that the streets unofficially opened on February 3, but on the official opening day, all ong do would wear traditional outfits.
As in previous years, the key topic in calligraphic works this Tet are still yellow and pink peach flowers, poems and parallel sentences. Tiger paintings are also a favourite.
The prices for calligraphic works are a little higher than 2009, ranging from 50,000-100,000 for small-sized pieces and from several hundreds of thousands to a million dong for big ones.
Ong do Hoang Nha remarked that the streets are not crowded yet, but over the next several days, they will be very busy, especially in the evening hours.