Saigon’s famous Nguyen Hue walking street has been given a flowery facelift to welcome the Year of the Buffalo ahead of its Tuesday night opening. 

Nguyen Hue flower street in District 1, one of the biggest annual draws in Vietnam’s southern metropolis to herald Lunar New Year, Tet, is nearly ready after half-a-month of hard work.

This year, the flower street is scheduled to open to the public from 7 p.m. on Tuesday, two days before Lunar New Year's Eve, and close on Monday next week. The Year of the Buffalo peaks this Friday.

Due to the newly-discovered Covid-19 outbreak at Tan Son Nhat International Airport that recorded 29 cases, all visitors to the flower street are required to wear masks, even while taking photos.

HCMC has recorded a total of 31 community transmission cases since the country's latest outbreak began on Jan. 28.

The 720-meter flower street stretches from City Hall on Le Thanh Ton Street to Ton Duc Thang Street by Saigon River. A day before its opening, the pedestrian street is a patchwork of bright colors.

This year, the chosen theme is "Ho Chi Minh City: Civilization - Modernism - Love". Accordingly, officials say the Tet flower street was designed with the expectation of giving people and visitors the feeling of a city full of vitality, dynamism and prosperity, in harmony with its core cultural values.

Right at the entrance gate to the flower street is a family of buffaloes. On their backs are fellow herdsmen with conical hats flying kites and playing flutes, symbolizing the relationship between farmers and their faithful animals.

A total 60 buffalo mascots in various poses and sizes – calves to muscled adults – styled with traditional materials including rattan, bamboo, melaleuca bark and lotus leaves will populate the flower street. The buffaloes are almost always in pairs and part of herds, signifying family and a close knit community.

In the middle of the flower street are statues of herdsmen riding on buffaloes, a cultural feature of the southern delta, bringing both modern colors and preserving the traditional features of the countryside.

A scene depicts the harvest of bumper crops, recreating the peaceful countryside atmosphere with buffaloes grazing on rice fields. All along the flower street, the buffalo mascot appears in pairs and in herds.

The famous Dong Ho painting, "Boy Sitting on a Buffalo and Playing the Flute" also appears on the flower street. This is a very popular motif representing Vietnamese folk culture. The art of Dong Ho paintings originated in the eponymous craft village in Bac Ninh Province of northern Vietnam.

This year's flower street mainly features organic materials, conveying a green message while promoting an environmentally friendly lifestyle.

More than 100 workers are busy arranging flowers in different scenes, connecting the electrical system and cleaning up toilet facilities. This year, the flower street boasts more than 100,000 flower pots, mainly imported from Dong Thap in southern Vietnam and Lam Dong in the Central Highlands, home to flower paradise Da Lat.

Saigon's flower street first opened in 2002. It has since become a part of the country's celebration of its biggest and most important festival.

Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long on Monday proposed HCMC apply social distancing in some areas following surging infections linked to Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc agreed with the proposal in a meeting, saying that there have been seven areas in HCMC recording community transmissions, and social distancing should be applied in those areas, which include Districts 1, 9, 12, Binh Thanh, Go Vap, Binh Tan and Tan Binh.