During these hot summer days, visitors to the Imperial Citadel of Hue were deeply impressed with the many ponds of charming white lotus blossoms.

Under the Nguyen dynasty, all the ponds in the areas grew white lotuses only, a type of lotus with fragrant smell and scrumptious seeds. However, this particular lotus variation has largely fallen into oblivion since then.

The preservation of white lotus flowers started 10 years ago with the discovery of some precious white lotus species and growing in Thai Dich pond. After 10 years of numerous failed attempts, the species have now been successfully grown in the citadel ponds.–VNA