On every Kitchen God’s Day, the family of Mrs. Phuc on Yet Kieu Street, Hanoi, groups up to prepare a vegetarian feast and burn incense to see the Kitchen God off. Gold carp must be released before 12pm.

Hundreds of people including children attended the setting up of a cay neu made from bamboo in the grounds of the Viet Nam Museum of Ethnology yesterday to herald the start of the Tet holiday.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Major mobile network operators in Vietnam have warned mobile users to avoid eagling and texting on lunar news year’ eve period to prevent network congestion.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Fitch Ratings last Tuesday affirmed Viet Nam's long-term foreign and local currency-issuer default ratings (IDRs) at ‘B+', with a stable outlook.

For the first time Hanoi held traditional rituals to see the Kitchen God off. Besides the icons of earthen tripods and offerings, a paper-made gold carp of almost 4 meters long was processed from Bat Trang village to Hanoi’s center.

More than 1,000 Vietnamese expatriates from over 100 different countries gathered at the Xuan Que Huong cultural event in Ly Thai To Square in Ha Noi's central Hoan Kiem District yesterday evening

It has been more than two years since Vedan Vietnam Co. paid compensation to farmers for damages caused by its pollution, but many farmers in HCMC’s Can Gio District are still demanding compensation.

"A ruling party should accept competition or accept the self-discipline to become more mature, cleaner and stronger," said former Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Office Tran Quoc Thuan.

VietNamNet Bridge – Over the past three days, hundreds of offshore fishing boats have returned home from the waters of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa, to welcome the lunar New Year.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Travel companies in Ha Noi are hurrying to meet travel demands which are expected to increase up to 20 per cent compared with the period immediately before Tet.

Currently, all the foreigners entering the Vietnamese territory are counted as “foreign travelers.”

Iran on Sunday announced fresh talks with world powers on its nuclear drive and said it was open to an offer from the US for two-way discussions if Washington's intention was "authentic".

VietNamNet Bridge - Many streets in the center of the capital city and around the Hoan Kiem Lake have been decorated with flowers, lights, flags and banners to welcome the New Year of the Snake.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The city is forecast to be in short of up to 15 per cent of labour force after the nine-day Tet holiday.

VietNamNet Bridge - Five Mrs. World ladies went to Hanoi to visit the Ngoc Son Temple, The Huc Bridge ... and especially the accidentally met President Truong Tan Sang.

 The European Union's massive spending on farm subsidies and infrastructure projects will be in the spotlight at difficult talks this week to set the bloc's next longterm budget.

Dr. Patric Dixon, who Times journal calls the “world’s leading futurist,” has forecast that Vietnam would serve as the new industrial factory in the near future.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) has been joyful with the record high number of 6.847 million foreign travelers in 2012, an increase of 13.86 percent over 2011

The Vinashin ocean shipping company will be one of two subsidies of the Vietnam Maritime Corporation (Vinalines) that will be permitted to go bankrupt in the process of restructuring Vinalines.

 VietNamNet Bridge – A huge and exotic array of Tet flowers are lining Nghi Tam Street in the capital city of Hanoi and attracting quite a crowd.