Memories of Tet seasons

Memories of Tet holidays from bygone days are coming back one by one…

"Early morning dew on a fading peach blossom branch…"

The first Tet (Lunar New Year) I ever experienced was bitterly cold in Hanoi . I've heard that in December, there was a constant drizzle and biting wind, the streets were damp, and the banyan trees seemed to be covered in moss on their bare branches in the gray winter afternoon.

One morning, tiny buds sprouted, signaling the arrival of spring's warmth, and just a week later, the young shoots were lush and green... On the streets, flower vendors carried vibrant, life-filled baskets of flowers. That Tet holiday, my family was happier because of the presence of my youngest daughter, me.

That Tet holiday, after several years of relocating to the North, for the first time, our house had a vibrant peach blossom branch. My parents had to learn to get used to the "North by day, South by night" situation; the general election according to the Geneva Accords was not held, and the road back home had become unimaginably long...

From 1954 to 1975, my family was finally able to return to our homeland in Southern Vietnam, during which time we spent 21 Tet holidays in the North. My father often celebrated Tet away from home. Tet was an occasion for him and other Southern Vietnamese artists to travel throughout the country, performing for the people. In some years, the troupe traveled along the Truong Son mountain range, performing at military outposts for soldiers and wounded veterans.

Therefore, Tet (Lunar New Year) usually only includes my mother and me, along with our neighbors in the apartment complex; most families are without men. On Tet holidays when my father isn't away, our house becomes a "Unity Club" because many uncles and relatives who were relocated from the North drop by.

My family's Tet (Lunar New Year) celebration is always steeped in the flavors of Southern Vietnam: the aroma of sticky rice cakes wrapped in banana leaves, braised pork with duck eggs and coconut milk, pickled vegetables like onions and shallots, and many other Southern Vietnamese dishes.

Like every family in the North at that time, ordinary days might be very difficult, but during Tet (Lunar New Year), they had to have as much as they could afford to buy.

As Tet approached, the most important thing was queuing up to buy various food items, cakes, candies, and sweets using ration coupons. Each family received a bag containing a cardboard box of candied fruit decorated with peach blossoms and red firecrackers, a packet of candy, a packet of biscuits, a few packs of cigarettes, some dried pork skin, a packet of vermicelli, and a tiny packet of MSG.

That's all it took, but having a bag of Tet gifts at home made us feel like Tet had arrived. Then my sisters and I would split up and queue at the state-run store to buy mung beans, sticky rice, fish sauce, and so on...

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We had to gather firewood for cooking the rice cakes months in advance. On her days off, my mother would go to the suburban markets of Hanoi to buy banana leaves for wrapping the rice cakes. During the years of evacuation to the countryside, she only needed to go around the neighborhood once to get a whole armful of large, beautiful banana leaves, so we never had to worry about running out when wrapping the cakes.

As Tet (Lunar New Year) approached, my mother became increasingly busy. Every time she came home from work, her bicycle basket would contain a bundle of dried bamboo shoots fragrant with the scent of sunshine, a packet of vermicelli noodles with the aroma of damp earth… Sometimes she would even buy a few kilograms of sticky rice with the scent of fresh straw, or a kilogram of round, plump, green mung beans at the local market.

One year, my father went on a business trip to Northwest Vietnam and brought back a string of rustic shiitake mushrooms with the scent of the mountains and forests. Around the middle of the twelfth lunar month, the shops that make "spiky and fluffy cookies" start getting crowded with customers from morning until late at night.

Each person brought a bag of flour, sugar, and a few eggs, sometimes with a tiny piece of butter. After a whole day of queuing, they returned home with a bag full of fragrant, sweet cookies. The children at home eagerly awaited their chance to try a few crumbs—oh, how delicious!

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In the days leading up to Tet, the Dong Xuan - Bac Qua market and the Hang Luoc flower market are crowded with shoppers… On the streets, bicycles are bustling with bundles of banana leaves tied to the back, sometimes with early peach blossom branches, while in the residential areas, every household is busy wrapping banh chung (traditional Vietnamese rice cakes).

The aroma of cooked mung beans, the smell of meat marinated with pepper and onions, the smoky scent of the kitchen, and the steam rising from the boiling pot of rice cakes create a "complex" fragrance of Tet. At night, the kitchen fire burns brightly, two or three families share a pot of rice cakes, and children are excited, eager to show off their new clothes still stored in the wooden chest that smells strongly of mothballs…

On the afternoon of the thirtieth day of the Lunar New Year, every household boils a pot of fragrant herbs and soapberry water for the "farewell bath" of the year. A cold drizzle falls, but inside the house, the air is warm with the scent of incense. A vase of vibrant peonies, interspersed with a few purple violets and white gladioli, sits on the tea table in the middle of the house… Everyone goes to wish relatives and neighbors a Happy New Year, rarely traveling far.

After exactly three days of Tet, life returned to normal, and the lingering scent of the new spring remained on the late-blooming peach blossoms…

"The city of ten seasons of flowers…"

The spring of 1976, the first spring of reunification, was filled with smiles and tears. Throughout the country, every family longed for the day of reunion.

That year, starting around Christmas, the air in Saigon suddenly turned chilly. On the streets, people were wearing windbreakers, scarves, and even sweaters and coats, making me feel like I was still in winter in Hanoi. Churches were decorated with lights and flowers.

Ben Thanh Market, Binh Tay Market, and many other large and small markets in the city are brightly lit all night long, overflowing with goods of all kinds. Rows of boats carrying goods, fruits, and flowers from the Mekong Delta... crowd Binh Dong Wharf and many canals throughout the city.

My family celebrated our first Lunar New Year in our hometown after many years away. My parents were both on duty at work during the holiday, so my sisters and I went to Cao Lãnh to celebrate with our maternal family.

On the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month, we went to the "Western port" to buy bus tickets to go home for Tet. The highway was bustling with cars and motorbikes; after years of war and turmoil, many people, like my sisters and I, were returning home for Tet for the first time after peace had come.

Back then, Cao Lanh was just a small town, with only the riverside streets and the market bustling in the mornings.

But from the 15th day of the 12th lunar month, from early morning until late at night, boats and canoes constantly pass back and forth on the Cao Lanh River. There are mostly boats carrying fruit and ornamental plants, followed by boats carrying new mats, charcoal, and traditional stoves... In the evening, electric lights illuminate a whole stretch of the river.

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Families make their own Tet cakes and sweets: sandwiches, sponge cakes, puffed rice cakes, coconut jam, kumquat jam… The village streets are filled with the sweet aroma of these cakes and sweets.

On the second day of Tet, my sister and I took a bus to Saigon to enjoy a few days of Tet in the city. Many streets were still deserted, but the city center was bustling all day long. Houses with storefronts displayed red flags with yellow stars and flags that were half blue and half red with yellow stars.

The Nguyen Hue flower market, which opened on the 23rd day of the Lunar New Year, closed on the afternoon of the 30th, leaving behind a wide, airy street filled with cool breezes from the Saigon River, passing by stalls selling flowers, stationery, newspapers, souvenirs, and more.

The Tax Department Store, the roundabout with the willow tree and fountain, and the area in front of the City People's Committee building were bustling with people strolling and taking pictures, many wearing traditional Vietnamese dresses mixed with soldiers in military uniforms.

Many people rode their entire families on motorbikes, flags pinned to the handlebars, and bunches of colorful balloons in their hands, circling through the streets. Occasionally, a jeep with a flag flying would drive through the streets, carrying several neatly dressed Liberation Army soldiers.

The zoo is the most bustling gathering place. During Tet (Lunar New Year), not only Saigon residents but also people from the provinces who come to the city want to "go to the zoo" because it has many beautiful flowers, exotic animals, all kinds of shops and stalls, and even motorcycle stunts, on-the-spot photographers, portrait painters, and paper-cutting of human figures...

In the Cholon area, the streets were red with firecracker remnants, and every house had red couplets, lanterns, and dragon decorations at the entrance.

The temples were filled with the smoke of incense throughout the Tet holiday, bustling with people coming to pray for good fortune. Everyone left carrying a large incense stick as a symbol of good luck for the new year. Shops and stalls in Cholon, from the main avenues to the narrow alleys, were open day and night.

In the years that followed, the whole country fell into a state of hardship and shortage. The situation of "blocking rivers and closing markets" meant that at times, Ho Chi Minh City was even more deprived than Hanoi during the war…

Every Tet holiday, the whole family had to pool their resources, each contributing what they could. My father wrote in his diary: "In Tet 1985, thanks to 'three benefits,' this year's Tet celebration was better than in previous years."

In order of "contribution," the most generous donors are the couple, Hai and his wife, because they are in business, followed by the parents because they receive city support, and finally the youngest child, who is a teacher..."

"Enjoying this spring season together…"

It wasn't until after 1990 that the subsidy system was gradually abolished, and social life recovered, most clearly demonstrated during the New Year and Tet holiday seasons.

Since then, the traditional Lunar New Year has undergone many changes, from "traditional and inward-looking" to "modern and outward-looking." Social life and family activities in both cities and rural areas have changed to varying degrees.

In large cities with their fast-paced urban and industrial lifestyles, Tet, as a celebration of the new year, arrives earlier, coinciding with Christmas and New Year's Day. Cities also have a large immigrant population, so Tet still evokes a longing for the traditional family reunion.

Therefore, the issue of trains, buses, and planes for "going home for Tet" is a common concern for the entire city for several months, peaking in the twelfth lunar month.

From the day the Kitchen God ascends to heaven, national and provincial roads are bustling with large and small buses running day and night, trains increase their frequency but are still fully booked, airports are packed from early morning until late at night, along with throngs of people on motorbikes on the highways. The major cities are unusually quiet and deserted during Tet.

There are increasingly more services for celebrating and enjoying Tet (Lunar New Year), from food items to tours . Supermarkets and markets everywhere are selling Tet gift baskets early on, with increasingly beautiful and modern packaging, and a wide range of prices to meet the needs of gifting and bringing back to one's hometown...

Food and drinks are no longer a concern when shopping; a single trip to the supermarket is enough to get everything from canned goods and dried foods to sweets, savory dishes, meat, fish, vegetables, and fruits...

The flavors of Tet (Vietnamese New Year) no longer seem as delicious as before because "fatty meat, pickled onions, sticky rice cakes, jams, and candies" are readily available whenever one wants on ordinary days.

The hustle and bustle, the worries, the shared affection during times of hardship, the warm joy of family reunions… all seem to be fading, gradually disappearing from the memories of my generation. All of these things make the atmosphere of Tet this year feel a little melancholic because of the modernity masking tradition.

The changes to Tet are even more evident in Ho Chi Minh City – a city undergoing rapid modernization.

Saigon residents value etiquette but aren't overly concerned about visiting relatives during Tet (Lunar New Year). They can visit before or after Tet, as long as it's convenient for both sides. Unlike Hanoi, Saigon residents often go out during holidays and Tet: visiting amusement parks, watching movies, listening to music, eating at restaurants, and now, traveling and visiting the Flower Street and Book Street – these are new cultural "customs" of Saigon residents...

Many cultural activities are organized, and festivals are revived, demonstrating the preservation and promotion of traditional values, while also attracting foreign visitors.

Especially in Ho Chi Minh City during Tet, there are groups of families and friends who get together to travel to remote areas where many people are still facing difficulties.

They shared practical Tet gifts with their neighbors, giving new clothes to the elderly and children – a gesture of "giving what little they have with a big heart," reflecting the spirit of mutual support and compassion of the people of Saigon.

"Traditional Tet celebrations have changed with the changes in society. Looking back each year, even with a touch of nostalgia and longing, surely no one wants to return to the Tet celebrations of the subsidy era!"

This Lunar New Year of the Year of the Snake marks the 50th anniversary of peace and national reunification. Two generations have been born and raised since the country was freed from bombs and bullets.

If the older generation was instrumental in bringing about peace and reunification, then the generations after 1975 are the builders, the pillars of today and tomorrow.

Each generation has its own responsibilities, and Tet (Lunar New Year) gives us an opportunity to reflect on those responsibilities, to define our goals for the coming year, for our lives…

Tuoitre.vn

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ky-uc-nhung-mua-tet-20250112135717024.htm#content-1