Nguyen Hue flower street basks in glory before opening day

 Ho Chi Ming City’s famed Nguyen Hue pedestrian street, a top tourist attraction, has been transformed into a floral boulevard with giant tiger statues.

Work on Nguyen Hue flower street in District 1 is nearly complete after half a month.

This year, the flower street is scheduled to open to the public from 7 p.m. Saturday. The Year of the Tiger peaks on Tuesday.

All visitors to the flower street are required to wear masks, even while taking photos.

Right at the entrance to the flower street at the corner of Nguyen Hue - Ton Duc Thang is a giant tiger statue made of gravel with a height of 3.5 meters, length of 8 meters and weight of nearly 2 tons.

The 720-meter flower street stretches from the City Hall on Le Thanh Ton Street to Ton Duc Thang Street by the Saigon River. A day before its opening, the pedestrian street is a patchwork of bright colors.

Unlike previous times, the mascot is no longer the family image at the entrance of the flower street. This year, in the middle of the road is placed a giant tiger statue to emphasize the behavior of the animal that often lives independently.

This model is 4.6 meters high and more than 10 meters long with a combination of tempered glass, mica and grass moss.

A scene depicts countryside villages characterized with miniature bamboo bridges, and rivers winding between blooming flower beds.

A scene covering an area of 600 meters features green rice fields.

This year's flower street uses many environmentally friendly and reusable materials like metal, rattan, bamboo, and bricks, and nearly 97,000 pots and baskets containing flowers of all kinds.

Right at the center is a space for HCMC, which used to be the epicenter of the fourth coronavirus wave, to express gratitude to compatriots who have stood by it during its most difficult period.

A LED screen will show the images of doctors, nurses and soldiers working together to help the city fight the pandemic

More than 100 workers are busy arranging flowers in different scenes, connecting the electrical system and cleaning up toilet facilities. This year, the flower street boasts more than 100,000 flower pots, mainly from Dong Thap in southern Vietnam and Lam Dong in the Central Highlands, home to flower paradise Da Lat.

"This is the seventh year I have joined in decorating the Nguyen Hue flower street. Every year this place has its own beauty, making it a popular tourist attraction during Tet," said Minh Quan, while watering flowers.

Saigon's flower street first opened in 2002. It has since become a part of the country's celebration of its biggest and most important festival.

It would close on Feb. 4, the fourth day of the first lunar month

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