Combining withthe merry atmosphere, peach blossom, apricot blossom and kumquat treesare showing off their beauty with striking colour for traditional Tet,the most important and longest annual festival in Vietnam.
Vietnamese people decorate their houses and offices with theseornamental plants during Tet as symbols of warmth, wealth and good luck.
Peach blossom is traditional at Tet in the north as apricotblossom is in the south. The kumquat tree with its ripe deep orangefruits is popular throughout the country.
A kumquat tree withmany fruits makes a house brighter and warmer, especially in the coldweather in the north. The tree is a popular decoration for the livingroom during Tet. Its many fruits symbolise the fertility andfruitfulness that the family hopes will come in the coming year. Peoplebelieve that the more fruits are on the tree, the luckier the familywill be. Greeting cards and good luck symbols are hung from the Tettree.
Talking about ornamental plants for Tet, one cannot fail tomention peach and apricot blossom, considered as traditional Tetflowers. Apricot blossom is present at most families in the south whilepeach blossom is more popular in the north.
They mark the end ofwinter and the beginning of spring, and bring good luck to the familiesin the New Year, their colour is the symbol of happiness. They areabsolutely beautiful when they are full bloom but become really impresswhen they are tumbling down in the drizzling, covering the ground withpink petals. Peach blossom is an enduring symbol of the Lunar New Year.Tourists often flock to Nhat Tan (Hanoi), the largest peach cultivatingarea, to have a better understanding of the art of growing the treeswhich is passed from generation to generation.
Lunar New Year is a fete of the family, and the time for family members to gather at home to enjoy warm atmosphere.
Every Vietnamese family has their own way celebrating the New Year,but they share the same symbol of Tet in their mind, which distinctVietnamese cultural characteristics.
The symbol is anindispensable part of Vietnamese traditional Tet, and brings the Tetflavour to every family when the day comes.
In addition to suchnational dishes and products as "Fat pork, pickled onions, parallelsentences written on red paper. Long bamboo poles planted upright,strings of fireworks, and square glutinous rice cakes", it isindispensable for each Vietnamese family to mark their Tet with colorfulgolden kumquat trees, peach blossom as well as yellow apricot flowersas the symbol of good fortune for the coming year.-VNA