The dragon mascot image originally planted by Mr. Hai’s family is nearly 1.5m tall and was intended to be a fence.
So far, the eaglewood tree is over 50 years old.
Mr. Nguyen Van Hai recounted that in 2016, with the initial suggestion from his son, he came up with the idea of creating a dragon on the eaglewood tree fence. Before starting, Mr. Hai bought nearly 100kg of 6mm iron and together with a craftsman bent and twisted it into a dragon shape.
At first, to help the eaglewood tree grow and branch strongly, Mr. Hai actively fertilized and took care of it. Whenever a branch sprouted, Mr. Hai used thin steel wire to tightly tie and bend it according to the predetermined iron mold.
After many years of trimming, shaping, the dragon image on the eaglewood fence has been completed by the time it is about to turn into the year of Giap Thin.
According to Mr. Hai, the dragon is 20m long, with a round, soft body that gets smaller from head to tail. The entire dragon lies on a 1m wide eaglewood tree fence, divided into 9 sections, each with a different curvature, gradually decreasing from the neck to the tail. From the peak of the dragon’s head to the base is over 3m.
Every day, Mr. Hai admires and adjusts his masterpiece.
Many people come to see and express their desire to buy at a high price, but Mr. Hai is determined not to sell. Because this is his lifelong work, moreover, it is the tree left by his father.
After many years of cultivation, the eaglewood tree is now healthy and free from pests and diseases.
In 2024, the year of Giap Thin, Mr. Hai hopes that the dragon mascot will bring many lucky things to his family.
“The work becomes more meaningful when the father is the one who plants the eaglewood tree, and my son is the one who suggests the idea, and I am the one who creates the dragon. Three generations have created a work of art,” Mr. Hai shared.
