Memories of the old Tet seasons come back one by one…
"Morning dew on the fading peach branch…"
The first Tet I lived in this world, that year Hanoi was very cold. I heard that December was a month of drizzling rain and cold wind, the streets were damp, the banyan trees seemed to be growing moss on their bare branches in the gray winter afternoon.
Suddenly one morning, buds began to sprout, signaling the warmth of spring, and just a week later, the young green buds were blooming… On the street, flower baskets were bright and full of life. That Tet, my family was happier because of the presence of my youngest daughter, me.
That Tet, after several years of regrouping to the North, for the first time there was a brilliant peach blossom branch in the house. My parents had to learn to get used to the "Northern day, Southern night" situation, the general election according to the Geneva Agreement was not held, the way back home had become extremely far away...
From 1954 to 1975, when we were able to return to our homeland in the South, my family had 21 Tet holidays in the North. My father often celebrated Tet away from home. Tet was the occasion for him and other Southern artists to travel across the country to perform for the people. Five groups traveled along the Truong Son road to perform at military stations serving soldiers and wounded soldiers.
So, on Tet, there were usually only my mother and I and the neighbors in the apartment complex, most families were also without men. Whenever my father did not go far away for Tet, my house became the "Unification Club" because many uncles and aunts who had regrouped came back.
My family's Tet holiday is always imbued with the flavors of the South, the smell of banh tet and banh it wrapped in banana leaves, the smell of braised pork with duck eggs and coconut water, pickled cucumbers and many other Southern dishes.
Like every family in the North at that time, on normal days there might be a lot of shortages, but on Tet holiday there must be everything that can be bought.
Near Tet, the most important thing was to line up to buy food, cakes, and candies using the coupons. Each family received a bag containing a cardboard box of candies painted with peach branches and red firecrackers, a package of candies, a package of cakes, a few packs of cigarettes, a piece of dried pork skin, a package of vermicelli, and a tiny package of MSG.
Just like that, but having a bag of Tet gifts in the house makes us feel like Tet has come. Then my sisters and I divided up the lines to buy green beans, sticky rice, fish sauce, etc.
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Firewood for cooking banh tet had to be saved several months in advance. On the day off, my mother went to the market on the outskirts of Hanoi to buy banana leaves to wrap banh tet. During the years of evacuation to the countryside, my mother only needed to go around the neighborhood to be able to ask for a full armful of big, beautiful banana leaves, so she didn’t have to worry about running out when wrapping banh tet.
As Tet approaches, my mother becomes busier. Every time she comes home from work, she has a bundle of dried bamboo shoots with the scent of sunshine, a package of dong vermicelli with the scent of moist soil… Sometimes she can even buy at the country market a few kilos of sticky rice with the scent of new straw, and a kilo of round, green mung beans.
One year, I went on a business trip to the Northwest and brought back a string of rustic, mountain-scented shiitake mushrooms. Around the full moon of the twelfth lunar month, the shops that make "quy gai quy sponge" cakes began to be crowded with customers from morning to night.
Each person brought a bag of flour, sugar, eggs, and sometimes a tiny lump of butter. After waiting in line all day, they brought home a bag full of sweet, fragrant cookies. The children at home eagerly waited to try the crumbs. Oh, how delicious!
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On days close to Tet, Dong Xuan - Bac Qua market, Hang Luoc flower market are crowded with people jostling to shop... On the street, there are bustling bicycles with bundles of dong leaves tied to the back, sometimes early peach branches, in the apartment complex, every house is busy wrapping banh chung.
The smell of ripe green beans, the smell of meat marinated with pepper and onion, the smell of kitchen smoke, the steam from the pot of boiling cakes gives off a "combined" aroma of Tet. At night, the kitchen fire is red hot, two or three families cook a pot of cakes together, the children are excited since the day off from school, looking forward to showing off their new clothes still stored in the wooden chest that smells of camphor...
On the afternoon of the 30th of Tet, every family cooks a pot of old coriander water and soapberry water for a "year-end" bath. The drizzle is cold, the house is warm with the scent of incense, a vase of bright dahlias with a few purple violets and white gladiolus placed on the coffee table in the middle of the house... Everyone goes to wish their relatives and neighbors a happy new year, and rarely goes on trips far away.
After exactly three days of Tet, life returned to normal, the scent of spring lingered on the late-blooming peach blossoms...
"City of ten seasons of flowers…"
Spring of Binh Thin 1976, the first spring of reunification, was filled with smiles and tears. Everywhere in the country, families looked forward to the day of reunion.
That year, since Christmas, the air in Saigon suddenly became cold. On the streets of Saigon, windbreakers, scarves, even sweaters and coats appeared, making me feel like I was still in winter in Hanoi. The churches were decorated with lights and flowers.
Ben Thanh Market, Binh Tay Market and many other big and small markets in the city are lit up all night long, with a plethora of goods, from the best to the worst. Boats carrying goods, fruits, and cotton from the West… are anchored at Binh Dong Wharf and many canals in the city.
My family had the first Tet holiday in our hometown after many years away. During the Tet holidays, my parents had to work, so my sisters and I went to Cao Lanh to celebrate Tet with my mother's family.
On December 23, we went to the "Western Port" to buy tickets to go home. The highway was crowded with cars and motorbikes. After many years of war and chaos, like my sisters and I, many people returned home for the first time to celebrate Tet after peace.
At that time, Cao Lanh was still a small town, with only the riverside streets and the market bustling in the morning.
But from the full moon of the twelfth lunar month, from early morning to late night, boats and canoes pass by on the Cao Lanh River, the most numerous of which are boats carrying fruits and ornamental flowers, then boats carrying new mats, coal boats, stove boats... in the evening, electric lights light up the entire stretch of the river.
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Families make their own cakes and jams for Tet: sandwiches, sponge cakes, rice crackers, coconut jam, kumquat jam... The village streets are filled with the sweet scent of cakes and jams.
On the second day of Tet, my sister and I took the bus to Saigon to enjoy the Tet holiday in the city. Many streets were still deserted, but the downtown area was bustling all day. The frontage of the houses was hung with red flags with yellow stars and half-blue and half-red flags with yellow stars.
Nguyen Hue Flower Market, which opened on the 23rd of Tet, ended on the afternoon of the 30th, returning the spacious and airy street filled with cool breezes from the Saigon River through kiosks selling flowers, stationery, newspapers, souvenirs...
Tax Trade Center, the willow tree roundabout and the fountain, in front of the City People's Committee were crowded with people walking around, taking pictures, many wearing Ao Dai mixed with military uniforms.
Many people drove their entire families on motorbikes, flags pinned to the handlebars and colorful balloons in their hands, around the streets. Occasionally, a jeep with a flag on it drove through the streets, with several clean-shaven and neatly dressed liberation soldiers on board.
The zoo is the most bustling gathering place. During Tet, not only Saigon people but also people from the provinces who come to the city want to "go to the zoo" because there are many beautiful flowers, strange animals, all kinds of shops, there is also a flying motorbike circus, there are street photographers who take instant photos, draw portraits, cut out people in paper...
In the Cho Lon area, the streets are red with firecrackers, every house has red parallel sentences, lanterns and dragon decorations on the doors.
The pagodas were filled with incense smoke throughout the Tet holidays. People came to pray for good luck and fortune, and everyone left with a large incense stick in their hands to receive good fortune for the new year. Shops in Cho Lon, from the main road to the small alleys, were open all day and night.
In the following years, the whole country fell into a state of hardship and shortage. The situation of "blocking rivers and banning markets" made Ho Chi Minh City at times even more deprived than Hanoi during the war...
Every Tet, the whole family had to pool their savings together. My father wrote in his diary: "Tet 1985, thanks to the "three benefits", this year Tet was better than every year.
In order of "contribution", the most is from the second son and his wife because they do business, then the parents because they have the city's support standard, and finally the youngest child is a teacher...".
"Enjoy this spring together…"
It was not until after 1990 that the subsidy regime was gradually abolished and social life recovered, most clearly demonstrated during the New Year holidays.
Since then, the traditional Tet has undergone many changes, from "traditional, inward-looking" to "modern, outward-looking". Social life and family activities in the city or countryside have changed more or less.
In big cities with urban and industrial lifestyle, Tet with the meaning of welcoming the new year has come earlier than Christmas and New Year. Urban areas are also home to many immigrants, so Tet still has the tradition of family reunion.
Therefore, the story of trains - cars - planes "going home for Tet" is a common concern of the whole city for several months, peaking in December.
Then, from the day "Mr. Tao returns to heaven", the national and provincial highways are bustling with large and small buses running day and night, the trains increase their trips but still fill up all the carriages, the airport is crowded from early morning to late at night, along with crowds of people riding motorbikes on the national highways. The big cities on Tet are more deserted, strangely quiet.
There are more and more services for eating and playing Tet, from foods to tours. Supermarkets and markets everywhere sell Tet gift baskets early, with increasingly beautiful and modern packaging designs, with all prices to meet the needs of giving gifts and bringing home...
No need to worry about buying food and drinks like before, just go to the supermarket for one day and you will have everything from canned food, dried food, sweets, salty food, meat, fish, vegetables, fruits...
The taste of Tet doesn't seem to be as delicious as before because "fatty meat, pickled onions, banh chung, jam, and candy" are available whenever you want to eat them.
The busyness, the worries, the sharing of affection during times of poverty, the warm joy of family reunions… seem to be fading away, disappearing along with the memories of my generation. All of these things make the Tet atmosphere today a bit sad because of the modern look covering tradition.
The changes of Tet can be seen more clearly in Ho Chi Minh City - a city with a rapid "modernization" process.
Saigonese people value etiquette but are not too particular about visiting relatives during Tet, they can visit before or after Tet as long as it is convenient for both sides. Unlike Hanoians, Saigonese people often go out during holidays and Tet: going to entertainment areas, going to the movies, listening to music, going to restaurants, now traveling, visiting the Flower Street, Book Street is a new cultural "custom" of Saigonese people...
Many cultural activities are organized and festivals are restored, demonstrating the preservation and promotion of traditional values, while attracting foreign visitors.
Especially in Ho Chi Minh City, during Tet, there are groups of families and friends who invite each other to go to remote areas where there are still many people in difficult circumstances.
They shared practical Tet gifts with the locals, gave the elderly and children new clothes, "a little gift, a lot of heart" showing the spirit of mutual love of Saigon people.
"Traditional Tet has changed with the changes in society. Looking back every year, even if there is a bit of regret and nostalgia in the memories, surely no one wants to return to the Tet holidays of the subsidy period!
This At Ty Tet is the 50th Tet season of the country's peace and unity. Two generations were born and raised since the day the country was freed from bombs and bullets.
If the previous generation contributed to peace and unification, the generations after 1975 are the generation that builds and is the pillar of today and tomorrow.
Each generation has its own responsibility, and Tet gives us an opportunity to reflect on that responsibility, to determine the goals of the coming year, of life...
Tuoitre.vn
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ky-uc-nhung-mua-tet-20250112135717024.htm#content-1
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