Happy Vietnam

Traditionally, during the first three days of the Tet (Lunar New Year)festival, Vietnamese families go to pagodas and temples to pray for health, happiness and good fortune in the year ahead. Offerings, including flowers, incense and fruit, are given to wish for a successful year for friends and relatives. Visiting pagodas during Tet festival has become an age-old cultural tradition, and an indispensable part in Vietnamese people’s spiritual life. VNA Photo

The first days of the new Lunar year are sacred to the Vietnamese people, the time for everyone to make wishes. During this time, a number of traditional meaningful customs are practised and calligraphy hanging is one of the most beautiful ones. The custom does not only reflect Vietnamese people’s respect for knowledge but helps preserve a time-honoured activity as well. The meaningful characters written on special papers have become the symbol of good luck, worshipping objects for thousands of years in Vietnam. VNA Photo

Peach blossoms are an enduring symbol of Tet (Lunar New Year) festival in the northern region of Vietnam. Traditionally, the Tet holidays are days of relaxation, family reunion, happiness and joy. Just as many people in the West buy pine trees for the Christmas holiday, Vietnamese often buy many types of flowers and plants to decorate their house in the special period. Peach blossoms and kumquat trees are common in the north while southern people prefer apricot blossoms for Tet. VNA Photo

Visiting Tranh Khuc village in the outskirts of Ha Noi these days, it is easy to see the image of families busy packing Chung cakes to serve customers. On average, each household makes 200 - 300 cakes in a normal day. But one week before Tet, their productivity may increase by 10 times. They have trade secret to bring out the typical taste of the Chung cake with sticky rice, buttery green bean, pepper fragrance, and fatty pork. In order to have good cakes, they have to carefully choose rice, bean, pork, and leaves. VNA Photo

The Bonsai kumquat trees of Van Giang district in northern Hung Yen province with their unique shapes and sizes are picking up in popularity among shoppers for Tet decorations. VNA Photo

The northwestern mountainous province of Yen Bai has set a clear goal to eradicate temporary and dilapidated housing by August 30, heard a local conference on January 21 reviewing the housing support programme for low-income households in 2023-2024 and launching the project to eliminate the above-said housing conditions for 2025. VNA Photo: Đinh Thuỳ

Spring has fully blossomed across the islands of Truong Sa district. To ensure soldiers and residents in this island district can celebrate the Lunar New Year (Tet) with joy and peace of mind, a variety of cultural and sports activities have been organised. On New Year’s day, the soldiers and residents of Sinh Ton Island visited the local temple to offer incense and ring the bell, praying for a peaceful year ahead. This was followed by sports activities that brought together officers, soldiers, and residents. VNA Photo: Hữu Quyết

A ceremony was held on January 22 morning (the 23rd day of the final month of the Year of the Dragon) at Thang Long Imperial Citadel to showcase the traditional rituals of Kitchen God farewell and Neu pole erecting (a tall bamboo tree with red garment strips used to ward off evil spirits during Tet). The program re-enacted the rituals during the Lunar New Year that used to take place in the ancient Thang Long Imperial Citadel, expressing the wish for prosperity for the country and peace and prosperity for the people. VNA Photo: Thanh Tùng

Vietnam's leading retailer Saigon Co.op has stockpiled more than 12,000 tonnes of essential goods traditionally consumed for the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday in late January, or 30-50% higher than normal. Most of them are goods meant for the market stabilisation programme, like rice, sugar, cooking oil, pork, poultry meat and eggs, processed foods, vegetables, fruits, and seafood. The rest include other foods and Tet specialties. Other supermarkets such as Go!, BigC and Tops Market (under Central Retail Vietnam), Aeon, Satra, and WinMart are also busy preparing for the year-end shopping bonanza, having stockpiled sufficient essential goods for Tet. VNA Photo: Trần Việt

In the last days of the lunar year, the traditional craft village of Trang Cat (Thanh Oai, Hanoi) is bustling with local farmers busy harvesting dong leaves for making chung cake for the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival. As Tet draws near, Trang Cat villagers enter their main harvesting season of dong leaves (Stachyphrynium placentarium) – used as a wrapping for various food items in Vietnamese cuisine, especially chung cake (glutinous square rice cake) – the traditional and indispensable Vietnamese dish during Tet. Chung cake is a traditional Vietnamese cake which is made from glutinous rice, mung bean, pork and other ingredients. VNA Photo: Phạm Tuấn Anh

There is no busier time than Tet for Thuy Tram village in the northern province of Phu Tho. It is a time of high demand for the village’s famous produce, red carp. Thuy Tram village in Phu Tho province is a famous red-carp raising area in the north. The produce is distributed in many parts of northern Vietnam during Ong Cong Ong Tao or (the Kitchen God) festival which takes place on the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month. VNA Photo: Tạ Toàn

A programme entitled Tet Viet-Tet pho 2025 (Vietnamese Tet – Old Quarter Tet 2025) celebrating Tet (Lunar New Year) 2025 has opened at Kim Ngan communal house, Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem district. VNA Photo: Thanh Tùng

Thuong Loc crispy orange - a specialty of Can Loc district, has become a famous brand of Ha Tinh. Gardeners are busy harvesting oranges to serve people during the traditional Lunar New Year festival (Tet). VNA Photo: Hoàng Ngà

As the Lunar New Year 2025 is approaching, various initiatives across Vietnam have delivered support to underprivileged families, fostering the festive spirit of solidarity and care. VNA Photo: Đức Thọ

The red Dao people in Nguyen Binh district (Cao Bang province) are busy im preparations for making their traditional humpbacked sticky rice cakes for the Lunar New Year festival (Tet). The traditional sticky rice cake is one of the most important food during Tet. VNA Photo: Thanh Tùng

Braised fish cook in the unique style of Vu Dai Village in the Red River Delta province of Ha Nam, has gained fame far and wide thanks to its special taste. VNA Photo: Khánh Hòa

A warm Tet celebration was held on January 13-14 for residents of Bach Long Vi island district in the northern port city of Hai Phong. The event was co-organized by the High Command of Coast Guard Region 1, the Committee for Mass Mobilization under the Hai Phong municipal Party Committee, and the city’s Department of Customs. A variety of activities were held as part of the program, such as offering incense at the Bach Long Vi Martyrs’ Memorial, visiting and extending Tet greeting to 18 armed forces units in the district. Photo by courtesy/VNA

Dong Thap province’s Sa Dec city has planted over 100 hectares of various ornamental flowers for the 2025 Lunar New Year market. In which, the city planted 100,000 chrysanthemum pots and other flowers. Sa Dec’s chrysanthemums come in 6 different colours, with price ranging from 100,000 - 200,000 VND (3.94 - 7.88 USD) per pot. The flowers can stay fresh for more than one month, making it a great ornamental flower for Tet decorations. VNA Photo: Nguyễn Văn Trí

In the 2024-2025 winter-spring crop, Hai Duong province has over 22,650 hectares of vegetables, with an estimated output of 505,000 tonnes, supplying the domestic market and for export. Currently, many crops are in the harvest time. VNA Photo: Vũ Sinh

As many as 145 million tonnes of cargo were handled through ports in 2024, up 27% compared to 2023. Of the figure, about 20 million tonnes were shipped through seaports, according to the Vietnam National Shipping Lines (VIMC). VNA Photo: Hồng Đạt