"Banh Chung" (square glutinous rice cake) is a traditional cake of Vietnamese people during Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays.

A flower market on Hanoi's Hang Luoc street is busy and bustling on the last days of the lunar year as many people come here to buy peach flowers or kumquat trees or just to enjoy the Tet atmosphere.

 Passing down through generations and continued with equal enthusiasm today, “Xong dat” (first footing), a Tet tradition in Vietnam, has always been associated with hopes for a fruitful year ahead. 

Lunar New Year holiday (Tet) spirit is in the air, as peach flowers bloom and kumquat fruit turn yellowish. Tay Ho district is the most famous destination for the Tet specialties in Hanoi.

 Like most other nations in Asia, Vietnamese people welcome the New Year according to the lunar calendar, and Tet Nguyen Dan (the lunar New Year Day) has long become the biggest festival of the nation. 

 One of the oldest traditions that define the Lunar New Year in Hanoi is the city’s markets where people not only shop for flowers and goods but also bask in the cheerful atmosphere. 

Tet custom demands different sorts of cake to offer to the earth, heaven and  ancestors. Apart from bánh chưng (square cake), there are many other delicacies that have become popular over a thousand or more years. 

Making banh chung or creating peach blossoms from paper are among the festivities that kids from many public and private kindergartens across the nation have experienced in preparation for the upcoming Lunar New Year festival.

Rich or poor, Vietnamese at home or abroad carefully cook traditional dishes to put on the home altar to worship their ancestors during Tet (Lunar New Year) festival.

 The annual Phet Ball Festival in the northern province of Phu Tho is slated to take place on February 26 – 28, or the 11st – 13th day of the first lunar month.

 Ho Chi Minh City will host cultural and amusement events at many places in the downtown area during the Tet (the Lunar New Year) holiday, which will begin on February 15.

A Lunar New Year festival has been held at an ancient communal house in So Village, Cong Hoa Commune, Quoc Oai District, 20km west of Hanoi.

The HCM City annual Tet (Lunar New Year) Book Fair will open in District 1 from February 13-19 (from December 28 to January 4 on the lunar calendar).

 Traditional Tet customs of Vietnam

 Ethnic communities in mountainous areas of the central province of Quang Ngai are preparing offerings and rituals for the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) celebration in their own unique style.

As a rule, pho Ong do (or street of calligraphers) opens in Ho Chi Minh City just a couple of weeks before the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival.

 Festivals featuring peach flowers and the culture of the H’mong ethnic group will be held in Meo Vac district, the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang from February 21 – 22 (the sixth and seventh days of the first lunar month).

One day before the opening ceremony, all of the ornamental trees and dog statues have been finished and installed on Nguyen Hue Flower Street in Ho Chi Minh City for the occasion of the Lunar New Year (Tet) celebration.

New Zealand, Canadian, Norwegian and Swiss ambassadors to Vietnam have released a video extending best wishes to Vietnamese people on the occasion of Lunar New Year (Tet) festival.

Visitors to Hue Imperial Palace have the chance to revisit the olden days and enjoy a real traditional Lunar New Year through "Old atmosphere of Tet traditional cakes" program organized by the Hue Monuments Conservation Center.