Peach blossom season
In northern Vietnam, Tết does not really begin until the peach branches arrive.
Living abroad, the thing I miss most about Tết is not a dish or a ritual. It is the colour pink appearing all over the north in the weeks before the Lunar New Year.
In the north, the flower of Tết is hoa đào, the peach blossom. In the south it is hoa mai, the yellow apricot. Families buy a branch or a whole potted tree, carry it home on the back of a motorbike, and keep it in the living room through the holiday. A branch that opens on the first morning of the year is said to bring good luck.
The weeks before Tết have their own rhythm: cleaning the house, paying debts, visiting the graves of ancestors, and markets filling up with flowers, red envelopes and boxes of sweets. Then the city goes quiet for a few days, and the streets are almost empty.
Being away from Vietnam during Tết teaches you which parts of it you actually carry with you. For me it is this: a branch of blossom, a clean house, and the feeling that the year can start over.
Photos: phuongnh258, luissteven on Pixabay, used under the Pixabay Content License. These are not my photographs.
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