A local tourism expert has suggested moving Saigon's annual Tet flower extravaganza from Nguyen Hue Street to a local canal.
VnExpress reports that Nguyen Van My, the founder of Lua Viet Tours Co Ltd., suggested to city officials on Tuesday that they should relocate the yearly Tet flower blowout.
"Saigon's iconic annual flower street along Nguyen Hue Boulevard has fulfilled its mission," he told the news source. "Year after year, the city spends big sums transforming the boulevard into a flower street with artificial decorations. I think we should have a floral canal in Saigon to replace the flower street."
The Tet tradition has drawn tens of thousands of people to the street every Lunar New Year holiday since 2004, with the exception of 2014 when Nguyen Hue underwent its transformation to a pedestrian zone.
My recommended the Ben Nghe Canal, which runs alongside Vo Van Kiet Boulevard, as the best candidate for the project. "Along the banks of the canal we could have stands selling traditional Vietnamese food and craftwork. If the plan works, Saigon will have a unique flower canal that cannot be found anywhere else."
However, his vision doesn't seem to take into account the fact that Vo Van Kiet, along with Ben Van Don Street on the other side of the canal in District 4, are very busy multi-lane roads which lack pedestrian crossings.
The news source also shares that the municipal transport and tourism departments will forward the proposal to the city government.
Saigon officials are trying to make better use of local rivers and canals, with the most prominent effort being the recently launched Waterbus, the first line of which connects District 1 to Thu Duc District.
[Photo via Scooter Saigon Tour]
