Book Street-unique cultural icon, the pride of Ho Chi Minh City

Nguyen Van Binh Book Street, a unique cultural space of Ho Chi Minh City has attracted a great number of readers after launching one year ago.

The project of Nguyen Van Binh Book Street was implemented in just three months. The 200-m long section adjacent to the iconic Central Post Office in the heart of the city is designed to provide a location for businesses in the publishing sector to organize events and present products, and a cultural space for book enthusiasts.

The pedestrian-only street includes more than 20 book stalls featuring books and magazines from domestic and foreign publishers. The booths have been operated by publishers and distributors such as Kim Dong Publishing House, Tre (Youth) Publishing House, Tong Hop (General) Publishing House and others.

Nguyen Van Binh Book Street in district 1, Ho Chi Minh City

Nguyen Thanh Phuong, a student of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities said that he was surprised during his first visit to the book street. He joined an interesting outdoor discussion about book release with the participation of authors and publishers who answered all questions of readers.

The book street has also drawn book collectors with several exhibitions, including a book fair offering rare and old books in last November. The three-day fair displayed nearly 1,000 book titles published in Vietnam several decades ago,  such as Ngo Tat To’s novel Leu Chong (Heading for Royal Exams), both published in 1942 with the authors’ signatures, as Nguyen Tuan’s novel Vang Bong Mot Thoi (Reminiscences of a Golden Era) published by the Cao Thom Publishing House in 1968.

The book street has currently seen 5-10 activities that will be organized in evey week.

In order to celebrate lunar New Year, a number of cultural and artistic activities will be held during Tet holidays from January 20 – February 2.

22 display booths featuring books, CDs, DVD's, decorations, calendars, and ceramic works by artist Le Thiet Cuong that will be presented to the public.

There will be book releases, tea making, Vietnamese and Japanese tea culture and art, performance of Nha Nhac or royal court music of Hue, the distinct Vietnamese cultural characteristics on Tet, handmade greeting card making, guitar show, folk music performance and more.

(Source: SGGP)