With the traditional Lunar New Year around the corner, Vietnamese townspeople rush back to their hometowns where they were born and raised, to spend a fulfilling holiday with their loved ones after a long year of work.
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| Booking a ticket (train or bus) months prior to the special holiday, the commuter would not forget to purchase staple traditional gifts like a bough of peach blossom, a bunch of “banh chung” (sticky rice cakes stuffed with green beans and marinated pork) or new clothes for family members. |
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| The holiday spirit has coated the cities in shades of pink from peach blossoms in flower markets, shades of green from kumquat trees, and shades of red and gold form the ornaments peddled on the streets |
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| Due to the relatively low temperature of the northern Vietnamese wintertime, peach blossoms that could endure the cold have always been preferred to the yellow apricot trees and chrysanthemums which would be usually seen on display in the southern region |
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| Tet holiday is also the perfect time for Vietnamese damsels to put on the traditional “ao dai” (long-sleeved silky traditional tunic) |
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| Boxes of candied fruits, confectionary or a basket of fresh fruits are great ideas for gift exchanging during the traditional holiday. |
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| Transportation hubs, such as train stations, bus stations, and airports, need to handle an extremely heavy passenger load as compatriots and people living far from their hometowns simultaneously head back to their hometown before the Lunar New Year’s Eve |
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| "Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it." - William Arthur Ward |
By Sam Luong
NVCC
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