Vietnamese Tet

Vietnamese Tet or Lunar New Year (or Tet Nguyen Dan in Vietnamese) is a special occasion for the Vietnamese when they celebrate the arrival of spring, the beginning of a new lunar year, family reunions, village traditional festivals...

Tet is the longest holiday for the Vietnamese; be it workers or farmers, be it living in cities or in the countryside. All banks, governmental offices, shops, restaurants...are closed during Tet. Tet is the time that foreign travellers have great difficulties in finding good services; prices are extremely high during this time of the year.

Hanoi Old Quarter before Vietnamese Tet
In the Old Quarter of Hanoi, people are busy acquiring items for Tet including red lanterns, cakes, decorations...

Kumquats - Vietnamese Tet trees
Kumquats are new year trees which are believed to bring along wealth to the family

Old Quarter of Hanoi before Vietnamese Tet
It's so busy that streets in the country are normally jam-packed before Tet when people rush around and rush home