In Ham Kiem and Ham Minh communes (Lam Dong province), many people cannot help but admire the image of tall, unique dragon fruit placed solemnly in front of restaurants and dragon fruit purchasing warehouses.
Not only decorative, these works also express pride in the land known as the dragon fruit capital.
The area currently has vast dragon fruit fields, stretching tens of thousands of hectares, creating a vast green space in the sunny and windy land, contributing to a clear change in the rural appearance.
From a barren land, people's lives were once difficult, now interspersed among dragon fruit gardens are spacious residential areas, modern Thai roof houses, and many large-scale villas.
Along National Highway 1 through Ham Minh commune, a series of dragon fruit granaries have invested in models of red-skinned, green-eared dragon fruit, and even models of yellow-skinned dragon fruit.
On the road leading to the Phan Thiet - Dau Giay expressway through Ham Kiem commune, some restaurants also placed giant dragon fruit in front of the gate, creating a stopover for tourists. Many people stopped their cars to take photos, videos and share on social networks about this unique image.
To create a lively dragon fruit shape, the construction process requires meticulousness, from brainstorming ideas, sketching, calculating proportions, erecting iron frames, pouring concrete to shaping each dragon fruit "ear".
After completing the rough part, the surface continues to be smoothed, treated against cracks, and then painted and colored to resemble real fruits.
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Phong, owner of a restaurant on the road to Phan Thiet - Dau Giay expressway, said that the construction idea originated from the desire to create a unique highlight to attract tourists.
He self-draws drawings, calculates dimensions and directly directs construction, mobilizing staff to take advantage of working when there are few customers.
The most difficult thing is to erect the iron frame and shape the dragon fruit ears. If not done carefully, the project is very easy to crack and peel off after a short time," Mr. Phong shared.
After nearly half a year of construction, the first dragon fruit is more than 4m high to be completed. Realizing the obvious effectiveness when many tourists stopped to take pictures, he continued to make the second one, shortening the construction time to about two months thanks to his experience.
Giant dragon fruit not only creates landscape highlights but also contributes to promoting the image of the typical dragon fruit growing region of Lam Dong, bringing interesting experiences to tourists when passing through this land.
