Photos of 29 provinces and cities that are only in memories, touching many people's emotions

(Dan Tri) - Since 2020, Mr. Duy An has traveled to all regions of the country, taking photos of each province and city. Unexpectedly, the photo series received special attention because it touched the emotions of many people.

Since July 1, Vietnam officially has 34 provinces and cities. 29 places that have been associated for many years are now merged, marking an important milestone in the country's restructuring and innovation process.

Thus, the familiar blue-background, white-lettered administrative signs printed with the words "Thai Binh District", "Nam Dinh District", "Ha Nam District", " Ben Tre District"... will no longer appear independently on administrative maps.

Mr. An next to the An Giang province border board (Photo: Character provided).

Many people believe that this is not only a change in name or administrative geography, but also a strong transformation, creating a Vietnam that is more streamlined in structure, but broader in vision to reach out to the world .

Therefore, in recent days, a series of photos of the territories of 29 provinces and cities that have just merged have received special attention from the online community because they touch the emotions of many people.

Sharing with Dan Tri reporter, Mr. Duy An (from Vinh Long, currently living and working in Ho Chi Minh City) said that he was also surprised because his photo series was shared by many people, creating a wide spread on many social networking platforms.

With a burning passion for travel and a desire to visit every province and city in the country, since 2020, with his familiar "war horse", Mr. An has been traveling everywhere. In each locality, he looks for signs of the provinces to take pictures to preserve memories.

Male backpacker next to a sign in Binh Dinh province, now Gia Lai province (Photo: Provided by the character).

He himself did not expect that from small memories collected over many years, the signs in 29 merged provinces and cities would suddenly become a sensation, touching many people.

"Since 1993, I have made my first trips by motorbike. After getting married and having children, more than ten years later, I returned to this passion. In all 63 provinces and cities (before), I always went to the locality's map to take the first photo as a way to preserve the impression," Mr. An shared.

The first map was taken by An in 2020 in Bac Giang. Since then, every time he travels alone, he has kept the habit of taking pictures.

Many difficult-to-find signs, such as Binh Phuoc Province (now Dong Nai Province), were located in the border belt, nearly 200km from Ho Chi Minh City. Because they were located in an inconspicuous location and he was not familiar with the dirt road, Mr. An had to search for almost a day to find them.

Another time, he was struggling alone to find the sign of Binh Thuan province (now Lam Dong province). The sign was placed at Gia Bac pass - one of the passes that is not easy to conquer because it has dozens of hairpin bends.

However, there are also many locality signs placed in easy-to-find locations because they are located right on the national highway, so taking pictures is quick, for example, the locality signs of Thai Binh province (now Hung Yen province) or Nam Dinh province (now Ninh Binh province).

Map of Thai Binh province, now Hung Yen province (Photo: Provided by the character).

Normally, whenever he goes to a new province and wants to find the map, Mr. An will ask for information from friends who have been there before. He also checks the location on Google, but he often gets the wrong directions. Many times, he has to ask for help from local people to find it.

"Finding provincial maps to take pictures of is a hobby. I hope to preserve beautiful memories for many people," he confided.

To balance work and pleasure, every year Mr. An often goes on trips lasting about a month. If he travels in the Southern or Central Highlands regions, the trips are usually short. But if he goes to the North, he usually plans to go for about a month.

Kon Tum province, now Quang Ngai province (Photo: Provided by the character).

Because he was traveling alone, the male backpacker believed that he needed to maintain the speed limit, not speed or overtake recklessly, to ensure traffic safety. Usually, he preferred to drive at a moderate speed to enjoy the beautiful scenery along the roadside.

"Before every long trip, I will have the car fully serviced and have important parts replaced. Keeping a relaxed mindset is also a very important factor. To me, no matter where my homeland is, it is still the Fatherland's sky," he shared.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/du-lich/anh-dia-phan-29-tinh-thanh-chi-con-trong-ky-niem-cham-cam-xuc-nhieu-nguoi-20250701102124886.htm