Celebrating Christmas in 32°C weather in Ho Chi Minh City.

To get Christmas photos that look "as beautiful as those taken in Europe," some young people are willing to spend between 2 and 3.5 million VND for a photoshoot amidst falling snow at Christmas-themed cafes in Ho Chi Minh City.

Amidst the 30-32°C weather of Ho Chi Minh City, these "snow-covered villages" have become popular destinations, bustling with visitors both on weekdays and weekends. Although Christmas is still more than two months away, many cafes have already transformed themselves with dazzling Christmas decorations, filled with lights and artificial snowflakes fluttering in the air.

Traveling nearly 15 km from her home in Binh Dong ward (Ho Chi Minh City), Tam Nhien arrived at a cafe in Tan Thoi Hiep ward (Ho Chi Minh City) at 8 am, just as the cafe opened, to begin her Christmas photoshoot. She said she spent about 2.5 million VND on makeup and two outfits, with the team providing advice on ideas and angles. She rented the outfits for 100,000 VND per outfit per day. "It's inevitable that the cafe is crowded on weekends, but I'm still very happy because I had two friends with me and the team guided me attentively on posing," Nhien shared.

Inspired by snow-covered European villages, the cafe introduced a Christmas concept on September 22nd, while the Mid-Autumn Festival concept was still in place. The highlight attracting young people was the space filled with artificial snow and snow-making machines operating in two time slots: 10-11 am and 7-8 pm, with each cycle lasting 5 minutes. The snowfall in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City became a much-anticipated moment for many to take photos in, experiencing "winter in a tropical land."

Talking to Tri Thuc - Znews , Truong Ngoc Trung (HCMC) said he started taking Christmas photos from mid-October, when many coffee shops simultaneously changed their concepts after the Mid-Autumn Festival. "I only take 2-3 photo sessions a day, each customer has a separate time slot to ensure quality. I usually advise customers to go in the middle of the week to avoid crowds. If the shop is too crowded, I will choose the shooting angle with the least unnecessary details or re-process in post-production," he said. According to Trung, each photo session, including makeup and photography, usually lasts at least 2 hours, costing from 2 million VND for one outfit. If a second outfit is taken, the cost increases by about 500,000 VND/month.

Taking advantage of the weekend, six-year-old Dau and Chuot were taken by their mother to a cafe for an early Christmas photoshoot. Hong Phuong (Tan Thoi Hiep ward, Ho Chi Minh City), Dau's mother, said that every time the cafe changes its decoration concept, she brings her children there to capture new moments. "They're so excited to wear beautiful clothes and go out with their best friends. Even though the cafe is quite crowded, the children are still able to run and jump around freely, and I still manage to 'hunt' for some great photo spots to preserve images of my children when they're young," Phuong shared.

Not far away is a famous check-in cafe, located in a three-story castle. This year, the cafe chose a Christmas Eve concept with a pine tree covered with red balls, ribbons and large bows. The fireplace, crystal chandeliers and warm yellow light create a luxurious, cozy space, reminiscent of European nobility.

In the spacious space, ceiling-high bookshelves and elaborate reliefs create a classic, luxurious background. In this context, many young people wear thick sweaters and scarves, despite the city's 32-degree heat to get a satisfactory Christmas photo set. Red and white are still the two main colors, evoking a brilliant festive atmosphere.

Following a friend's invitation, Pham Tu Linh (Ho Chi Minh City) dressed up and went to this cafe to take Christmas photos: "The space here is quite luxurious, with many photo spots, so even though it was crowded, I easily found a place to pose," Linh shared. She said that the price of around 80,000 VND per item was reasonable, the drinks were decent, nothing too special but enough to relax while waiting for her turn to take photos.

For their first Christmas photo shoot, Kim Yen and Ngoc Duy (HCMC) spent time researching the concept of the restaurant to rent suitable party outfits. Yen said that at first she was quite awkward in front of the camera, but after a while she found a satisfactory angle. "We rented the clothes for about 200,000 VND, and the rest was taken by the people who came with us to take the photos. The restaurant space is beautiful and neatly decorated, so everyone can easily get beautiful photos," Yen said.

Located on Hoang Hoa Tham Street, a coffee shop has been decorating with a Christmas concept since the end of September. The shop representative said that because the space is warm and suitable for the holiday season, the shop decided to skip the Mid-Autumn Festival to celebrate Christmas early. The small house is filled with yellow lights, each corner of the room has a nearly 2 meter high pine tree, surrounded by gift boxes piled up next to the fireplace - evoking a cozy feeling like being in a corner of Europe in the middle of Ho Chi Minh City.

Tra My ( from Binh Duong ward) said she had planned her Christmas photoshoot and shopping since mid-summer. Initially, she planned to shoot in the afternoon, but heavy rain forced her to postpone it until evening. "I was quite surprised because the cafe was beautifully decorated, with many stunning photo spots, and the drinks were inexpensive, only about 20,000-45,000 VND per item," My said. As one of the earliest Christmas check-in spots in Ho Chi Minh City, it's now less crowded than when it first opened, creating a more pleasant atmosphere for those who want to enjoy the early Christmas spirit.

Source: https://lifestyle.znews.vn/don-noel-giua-troi-32-do-co-tphcm-post1595208.html