A thousand doves, the symbol of peace, were released at the opening ceremony of the Thang Long-Hanoi millennium anniversary celebrations on October 1.

The owner of the doves is Pham Tai Thu, who was born in the central province of Quang Nam. Thu started a business in the Central Highlands city of Da Lat growing orchids and later became famous for his flowers, which have been presented to several central provinces and Ho Chi Minh City .

He first started to raise birds in 1998, breeding from Vietnamese, French, Thai and Japanese varieties.

He has so far set up bird sanctuaries in Da Lat, Dam Sen park in Ho Chi Minh City, and Pham Van Dong park on Son Tra island and at a steel plant in the central city of Da Nang, raising a total of 3,800 doves.

His desire to release 1,000 doves at the opening ceremony of the Thang Long-Hanoi millennium celebrations as a gift to the capital received the support of the city’s fathers.

Hanoi has chosen its Botanical Gardens as the doves’ new home./.