Large crowds gathered at Ho Guom (the Sword Lake),a favourite location for Hanoi residents to celebrate the New Year’s Eve, at thesacred moment of transferring from the old year to the new one with a lot of wishesfor luck and peace.
To prepare for the big occasion, local workershad been busy cleaning up and decorating streets for many days before.
Stages were set up at popular places such asDong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square (at Hoan Kiem Lake fountain) and Thien Quang Lakefor the countdown programmes, while main streets in the city were lit up withcolourful light illumination.
Tran Viet Hung, a third-year student at VietnamUniversity of Commerce, shared his excitement to welcome the New Year in Hanoi.
He said “It is a regret not to have fireworksthis year. However, I think cancelling firework show is a right decision sincemany people in our country need support. Without fireworks, I can still sharethe New Year joy with my friend in various ways.”
This year, Hanoi and some other localitiesnationwide did not set off fireworks; nevertheless, such activities as musicshows and countdown parties attracted a lot of people.
Pham Ha Phuong, an overseas Vietnamese studentin the US, could not hide her happiness and exhilaration to return home for theNew Year celebration.
She said she was surprised at the positivechanges of Hanoi and wished the capital would become stronger and gain moreaccomplishments in the future.
Meanwhile, thousands of people in the MekongDelta city of Can Tho streamed down streets to join celebratory activities,including an art performance at Luu Huu Phuoc Park in Ninh Kieu district.
Despite the long-lasting rain, locals from thecentral city of Da Nang still got engaged in a countdown party on December 31to ring in the New Year./.