People buy kumquat trees ahead of Tet in Da Nang city (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – During thedays just before Tet (Lunar New Year), it is easy to see motorbikes carryingall sorts of ornamental plants, while streets which are used to sellingornamental plants and flowers become crowded.
In the merry atmosphere, peach blossom,apricot blossom and kumquat trees are showing off their beauty with strikingcolour for traditional Tet, the most important and longest annual festival inVietnam.
Vietnamese people decorate their houses and offices with these ornamentalplants during Tet as symbols of warmth, wealth and good luck.
Peach blossom is traditional at Tet in the north as apricot blossom is in thesouth. The kumquat tree with its ripe deep orange fruits is popular throughoutthe country.
A kumquat tree with many fruits makes a house brighter and warmer, especiallyin the cold weather in the north. The tree is a popular decoration for theliving room during Tet. Its many fruits symbolise the fertility and fruitfulnessthat the family hopes will come in the coming year. People believe that themore fruits are on the tree, the luckier the family will be. Greeting cards andgood luck symbols are hung from the Tet tree.
Talking about ornamental plants for Tet, one cannot fail to mention peach andapricot blossom, considered as traditional Tet flowers. Apricot blossom ispresent at most families in the south while peach blossom is more popular inthe north.
They mark the end of winter and the beginning of spring, and bring good luck tothe families in the New Year, their colour is the symbol of happiness. They areabsolutely beautiful when they are full bloom but become really impress whenthey are tumbling down in the drizzling, covering the ground with pink petals.Peach blossom is an enduring symbol of the Lunar New Year. Tourists often flockto Nhat Tan (Hanoi), the largest peach cultivating area, to have a betterunderstanding of the art of growing the trees which is passed from generationto generation.
Lunar New Year is a fete of the family, and the time for family members togather at home to enjoy warm atmosphere.
Every Vietnamese family has their own way celebrating the New Year, but theyshare the same symbol of Tet in their mind, which distinct Vietnamese culturalcharacteristics.
The symbol is an indispensable part of Vietnamese traditional Tet, and bringsthe Tet flavour to every family when the day comes.
In addition to such national dishes and products as "Fat pork, pickledonions, parallel sentences written on red paper, Long bamboo poles plantedupright, strings of fireworks, and square glutinous rice cakes", it isindispensable for each Vietnamese family to mark their Tet with colorful goldenkumquat trees, peach blossom as well as yellow apricot flowers as the symbol ofgood fortune for the coming year.-VNA
