Renowned Vietnamese specialty pho, the national traditional costume ao dai, and the Nguyen Hue Flower Street Festival have recently been listed among 100 interesting facts about Vietnam’s most populous city, Saigon.
The 20-catgeory list, titled “HCMC – 100 Interesting Facts,” which is the result of a poll launched by the city’s Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism over June and July, includes typical spotlights of the city including museums, architecture, historical and cultural sites, traditional markets, nightlife and entertainment venues, food, special cultural, sports and tourism events, shopping places, and trademark souvenirs. According to Nguyen Thi Hong, deputy chairman of the city People’s Committee the poll aims to introduce the city’s unique tourism products which have cultural value to domestic and international tourists, as well as to encourage local tourism enterprises to improve their products’ quality. After two months, the organizers had received 35,000 votes from local tourism experts, residents and tourists visiting the city. The organizing board also plans to make a short film on the ‘100 Interesting Facts’ which will be shown on Vietnam Airlines flights. This is not the first time the city has voted for its interesting facts. In 2010, a similar poll was launched and announced 100 facts in 10 categories.