Calligraphy artists and Confucian scholars are gathering along a street in Ho Chi Minh City, offering enthusiasts Vietnamese and Chinese handwriting.

It has long been a ritual when the Lunar New Year is around the corner.

The street, which opens from January 19-28, stretches as far as 300m from Truong Dinh to Huyen Tran Cong Chua. It is crowded with calligraphers and scholars from HCMC and several central cities and provinces.

According to Le Lan, Director of the Labour Palace Calligraphy Club, launched eight years ago, the street, a traditional cultural feature on the occasion of the New Year, is now popular with local residents. It draws tens of thousands of visitors strolling along the street each year and has become a rendezvous for calligraphy lovers.

The festive atmosphere on the street proves that fine New Year customs are still going strong even as the city develops at a roaring pace.-VNA