Tourists strolling on Chu Van An - Vo Thi Sau - Pham Ngu Lao walking street

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At 9pm, my friends and I took a classmate from junior high school in my hometown, who now lives and works in Ho Chi Minh City, for a walk on the Chu Van An - Vo Thi Sau - Pham Ngu Lao walking street. It had been a long time since we had gone out after 9pm, so the bustling atmosphere here overwhelmed us, the "tourists" in our 50s. The shops were crowded, the streets were bustling as groups of visitors flocked to join the flow of people going back and forth to enjoy the specialties or choose to buy souvenirs and gifts sold on both sides of the street.

The appeal of the walking street is the liveliness of the street corners with colorful cafes and bars, along with the roads installed with modern lighting systems combined with integrated entertainment spaces such as music, street art, Hue cuisine... making the whole neighborhood shine on the 3 evenings of the weekend, helping residents and tourists "stay up late" instead of going to bed early like before.

However, besides the excitement and bustle with sound and light effects stretching across the three streets of Chu Van An - Vo Thi Sau - Pham Ngu Lao, visitors here are still not really satisfied. "Hue is a place where many traditional crafts and villages converge, including many famous ones, such as Thanh Tien paper flowers, Pho Trach palm cushions, Phu Cam conical hats... Therefore, if the streets located in the walking street add more space to experience traditional crafts so that visitors can both participate in the experience, learn about the history of the craft villages and then choose to buy the products they make, it would be very interesting, without having to go to the craft villages. On the other hand, there are too many shops, but very few cultural and artistic activities, street music to serve the cultural enjoyment needs of visitors", Ms. Thu Huong, a visitor from Ho Chi Minh City shared.

Tourists visit and shop for souvenirs and gifts at the walking street Chu Van An - Vo Thi Sau - Pham Ngu Lao

Chairwoman of Phu Hoi Ward People's Committee, Ms. Vo Thi Anh Thu, said that the Chu Van An - Vo Thi Sau - Pham Ngu Lao walking street, which opened in September 2017 and spans 3 streets, currently has more than 150 accommodation establishments and about 500 small service businesses to meet the needs of residents and tourists, of which more than 70% are foreign tourists. In the near future, the ward will continue to improve the infrastructure, discuss with businesses to change the model and appearance of the walking street to create a vibrant and bustling atmosphere to serve tourists during the National Tourism Year 2025.

Increase connectivity

Different from the bustling atmosphere of Chu Van An - Vo Thi Sau - Pham Ngu Lao Walking Street, after only 2 years of operation, Hai Ba Trung Walking Street is in the "afternoon market" situation due to the lack of entertainment, cultural and artistic activities, so it is increasingly monotonous and deserted. With the combination of existing commercial areas and exploiting commercial services of the people to form a bustling neighborhood, serving the night entertainment needs of the people and tourists, Hai Ba Trung Walking Street is expected to be a space for organizing cultural exchange activities, art, street music... contributing to meeting the cultural enjoyment needs of local people and tourists. However, in addition to creating a space to display, introduce and sell handicraft products, specialties and cuisine from three regions by mobile vehicles along with existing shops on both sides of Hai Ba Trung Street, this walking street has not organized many cultural and artistic activities in the past, so it has not really "attracted" visitors.

“Poor, monotonous and boring when the walking street is only surrounded by restaurants, coffee shops or carts selling fast food with strong fried and grilled smells. Meanwhile, visitors coming here, in addition to enjoying food and refreshments, really need a space for performing arts, music exchanges or cultural exchange programs, street music…”, Ms. Ngoc Minh, a tourist from Dong Ha City (Quang Tri) shared.

The emergence of night streets, walking streets or culinary streets in Thuan Hoa district not only creates entertainment venues for residents and tourists, but also connects walking spaces on the streets with the space along the Huong River.

Bustling atmosphere at Hai Ba Trung walking street

With the aim of connecting walking routes along the Huong River, as well as connecting with nightlife areas and walking streets in the area to help visitors experience walking spaces on the southern bank of the Huong River, recently, the People's Committee of Thuan Hoa District invested in a walking route project along the Huong River from Toa Kham wharf to the foot of Dap Da bridge, with a total investment of more than 35.2 billion VND. The project builds a walking route combined with a bicycle path running along the Huong River from Toa Kham wharf to the foot of Dap Da bridge with a length of about 460m, 6m wide; the water supply, drainage, and lighting systems ensure the needs of use. The project is expected to be completed by the end of August 2025.

With the same purpose, Deputy Secretary of the District Party Committee, Acting Chairman of the People's Committee of Thuan Hoa District Nguyen Dinh Bach said that the district has been implementing projects to build walking routes from the foot of Dap Da Bridge to the foot of Nguyen Hoang Bridge. At the same time, upgrading and renovating routes in the central area, such as: Truong Dinh, Pham Hong Thai, Phan Chu Trinh... Along with that, implementing a plan to develop typical tourism products and specialties, aiming to combine the development of tourism infrastructure with product diversification, focusing on exploiting the potential of culture, ecology and traditional craft villages to create unique tourism products and attract tourists. In particular, priority is given to developing night-time economic tourism through the activities of night streets, Chu Van An - Vo Thi Sau - Pham Ngu Lao, Hai Ba Trung walking streets; Truong Dinh culinary street by organizing many cultural and artistic activities, street music... to continue to stimulate demand and attract visitors.

Chairman of Vinh Ninh Ward People's Committee, Mr. Nguyen Duc Tuong Thoai said that in order to improve the quality of activities of Truong Dinh Food Street and Hai Ba Trung Walking Street, the ward has just sent a proposal to Thuan Hoa District People's Committee to consult with Hue City Land Fund Development Center to create conditions for the ward to use the facilities of land lot No. 4 Hoang Hoa Tham to build public toilets to serve the needs of residents and tourists, and at the same time install some signs prohibiting stopping and parking cars during the operating hours of the night food street. Particularly on Hai Ba Trung Walking Street, the number of residents and tourists coming to visit and have fun has decreased sharply due to the limited number of cultural and artistic activities that have not attracted residents and tourists. Therefore, the ward proposed the District Culture, Information and Sports Center to support cultural and artistic programs and activities to attract visitors to have fun and entertainment, contributing to promoting business and trade for business households here.

Article and photos: Thanh Huong

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/du-lich/cung-hue-thuc-khuya-152396.html