Nearly 3 million tourists visited the five-day flower festival in Hanoi, which closed on January 3 with a tea-offering ceremony in front of King Ly Thai To’s Statue next to Hoan Kiem Lake.

The festival was part of various activities being held to celebrate the 1,000^th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi. During the festival, three new Vietnam Guinness Records were set, including the longest Ao Dai (Vietnamese women’s traditional dress), the biggest rattan vase of lotus flowers and the biggest shell-inlaid wooden block modelled on an Imperial Edict on the Transfer of the capital by King Ly Thai To.

While flower designer Nguyen Manh Hung used up to 1,000 flowers to create the 10-m dress, craftsman Nguyen Phuong Quang from Hanoi’s Chuong My district spent more than two years making the 6.5m-high rattan vase. The 1.9m high and 1.3m-wide Imperial Edict was completed by veteran artist Tran Ba Nam from Hanoi’s Phu Xuyen district, who spent three years on the work.

During the festival from December 31, 2009 to January 3, 2010, many activities were held, including a flower arranging contest, a traditional art performance and a night of flower and tea offering.