Urban imagination: A 3D photo shows the flower road planned for Ham Nghi Street in HCM City for Tet next month. This is the Year of the Goat. — Photo courtesy of Saigontourist

HCM CITY  (VNS) — A 580m stretch of Ham Nghi Street in downtown HCM City will be decked in flowers to welcome Lunar New Year next month.

The flower road, created for the last 11 years on neighbouring Nguyen Hue Street, will run from Pho Duc Chinh to Ho Tung Mau.

As usual, the mascot of the upcoming New Year will be displayed at the beginning of the street along with flowers and other decorations featuring the beauty of Viet Nam's countryside, the proposed metro systems, and other images representing Vietnamese traditions and the country's biggest city.

According to the HCM City-owned Saigontourist, the company responsible for the arrangements every year, the street will feature three main segments this year: Viet Nam's Magnanimity (Hao Khi Viet Nam), Vietnamese Identity (Ban Sac Viet) and Glory Viet Nam (Vinh Quang Viet Nam).

The first will showcase the country's quintessence through handicrafts, dolls from all regions, and other images.

In the Ban Sac Viet segment, visitors can see apricot flowers representing a yellow spring – lucky in Vietnamese culture – and several others of various colours.

Vinh Quang Viet Nam will have images of urban life like letterboxes, door frames decorated with flowers, and two metro lines created out of flowers.

The annual book fair will be held in the stretch between Ho Tung Mau and Ton Duc Thang streets.

Work will begin on February 6 and the flower road will be open to visitors from February 16 to February 22. The New Year falls on February 19 this year.

Nguyen Hue Street has been closed off for work on the city's first metro route. — VNS