Work on the largest-ever embroidery painting is expected to be complete by October next year, in time for the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

The painting, titled “Wish of 1,000-year-old Thang Long” features sweet pink lotus flowers looming above the roofs of ancient-street houses and the curling Red River at the dawn.

The masterpiece has been embroidered by Vietnamese artisan Hoang Le Xuan who is well-known for her “golden hands” and eight other artisans at the Da Lat-based XQ Historical Village, XQ Company since October 2006. The painting, at 3m in width and 4m in height, will break the record achieved by the painting of spring in Hanoi entitled “An origin song,” also made by XQ Company in 2005.

XQ company Director Vo Van Quan said that a mass with traditional rites will be organised to carry the painting through the central cities of Nha Trang, Danang, Hue and Vinh and then on to the northern city of Ninh Binh before arriving in Hanoi for the anniversary.