Buying lucky charms at the beginning of the year.

Every year on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, after offering tea and cakes to the ancestral altar, the family gathers to exchange New Year greetings, and I go to the market to buy lucky charms, hoping for a peaceful and harmonious new year for the family.

Clusters of brightly colored balloons in the morning sun - Photo: TU LINH

As a child, I often heard my grandmother say that according to our ancestors' customs, buying delicious betel nuts, beautiful betel leaves, a bag of rice, a can of white salt... on the morning of the first day of Tet meant bringing good fortune home. These items, according to belief, would bring the family a year of abundant health and prosperity. Going to the Tet market to buy good fortune at the beginning of the year is a beautiful cultural tradition of the Vietnamese people.

According to tradition, ancestor worship is the responsibility of men, but women are largely the deciding factor in the prosperity, well-being, and strong bonds within the family. Therefore, my grandmother reminded my mother to continue buying lucky charms at the beginning of the year, both to preserve the custom and to create optimism for a peaceful new year.

Like my mother, I often buy betel nuts and leaves for good luck at the beginning of the year. The familiar old lady who sells these items year-round sits at the corner of the market, a spot I usually frequent. Her tray of betel nuts and leaves is neatly and meticulously arranged. Because it's considered good luck, she carefully selects young betel nuts and betel leaves with their stems intact, ensuring customer satisfaction.

The old woman, chewing betel nut with her toothless mouth, offered betel nuts and leaves to the customers, not forgetting to wish them a Happy New Year. Customers, believing they were buying good fortune to bring home, didn't haggle or bargain, but were very open and happy to receive the offerings with both hands.

Despite selling goods all year round, the old woman still makes an effort to go to the market during Tet (Lunar New Year) because, according to her, both sellers and buyers feel happy and joyful. With just 100 young betel nuts and 100 betel leaves, she brings joy and hope for a bright new year to countless visitors.

On the morning of the first day of Tet (Lunar New Year), my family has a tradition of taking a stroll around the city before returning to our hometown to pay respects to our ancestors. When my children were young, they always wondered why so many people didn't take a break during Tet and continued selling goods as usual.

There's a woman from Nam Dinh province who sells children's toys in Quang Tri all year round, but instead of going home for Tet, she takes advantage of the opportunity to sell goods to tourists. On the morning of the first day of Tet, she's at the street corner near the Provincial Cultural and Film Center selling toys and balloons to children.

Clusters of brightly colored balloons in the spring sunshine, and attractive toys for children, make the street corner more lively. A student returning home for Tet (Lunar New Year) also came out onto the street on the first morning of the year with a stall selling piggy banks of all sizes, shapes, and eye-catching colors. These chubby-faced piggy banks, as if they know how to smile, are often bought by parents as gifts for their children on New Year's Day. And countless others trying to make a living at the beginning of the new year add to the cheerful and bustling picture of Tet.

Thank you to the New Year's market for allowing me to fully appreciate the unique charm of traditional Tet and the cultural beauty of our nation. Although I didn't buy much, this is a tradition maintained through many generations, making each spring season warmer and more peaceful.

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