“Phố ông đồ” (Vietnamese Calligrapher Street) is the name that Mr. Nguyen Minh Nhat, an inhabitant of Yen Binh, Le Binh ward, Cai Rang district, Can Tho city, called his small alley. According to Mr. Nhat, this alley used to be quiet so he asked the households in the alley for recreating the atmosphere of Tet with many scenes, such as: kitchen corners, conical hats of the homeland, places for writing calligraphy, Ms. Ba’s Taylor’s, lucky money stalls and cylindrical glutinous rice cakes to create new features for the alley. Mr. Nhat said, “Today, many people like taking photos on Tet but they must come to the city centre to have the beautiful ones because there is not any good spaces like these around here. So, I want to create a difference, a highlight and a good place for everybody to entertain.”

Being a photographer and an owner of a film studio in Cai Rang district where attracted lot of young people as well as photographers, Mr. Nhat had many experiences in the décor. Though, Mr. Nhat invested all his enthusiasm in building “Phố ông đồ” for everybody to have beautiful shooting angles. Only from the idea of making small hamlet more beautiful, Mr. Nhat did not expect to attract many people. Young people not only in Can Tho but also in other neighboring provinces come here to make photo collections on Tet. Ms. Tieu Kim Chenh, from Kien Giang province, said: “Being recommended, I come to this street and really surprise because of its beauty. Although Tet is not coming now, there are many beautiful scenes here give me the feeling of Tet and I can gain many good photos”.

Late afternoon is the busiest time in “Phố ông đồ” with a lot of people, especially professional photographers. Mr. Tran Anh Vang, one from Ho Chi Minh city, said: “The Vietnamese Calligrapher Streets in other places are usually created nearer Tet than here, so they are very crowded; it takes lot of time and efforts to have beautiful photos. The context here is rather logical and the models do not move too much. Taking photos in this street is quite easy”.

Traditional and renovative dresses are clothes that many people chose when coming to this street. Also, many families and couples come here to express their feeling by taking photos. Mr. Nhat creates not only the income for his family but also a highlight for the locality. Mr. Huynh Chi Trung, a secretary and leader of Yen Binh zone said: “When the model of Mr. Nhat comes into operation, the inhabitants here are very happy because they can have more places for tourism. From this model, we continue to mobilize people to keep the environment in the alley green, clean and beautiful.

 Mr. Nhat says that many people supported the idea of implementing “Phố ông đồ” and he will ask more permission to decorate the rest of the alley to make the village more beautiful and crowded. There is also a chance for everyone to do sightseeing and freely take photos. For professional photographers, he collected VND 100,000 per one.