It’s the day before TET holiday, or in other countries, what is usually celebrated as Chinese New Year. TET, in Vietnamese, means New Beginnings. As celebrated by the Chinese and pseudo-Chinese worldwide, this year’s Chinese New Year of the Ox falls on January 26, which is a Monday. But for some reason, the Vietnamese start theirs a day before.
In fact, weeks before TET, everyone is in a flurry buying gifts and other stuff for their loved ones. Stores, clothing shops, lighting stores, etc. experience record sales per day. But this year, because of the new trend for “moderation”, people seem to be more practical when it comes to buying stuff. The food gift baskets, fruits, liquor, etc. are still selling like hotcakes. Other than that, there is the occasional rush for clothes at MNG and other branded places. But the emphasis seems to be on moderation.
For the past 3 days, people are ganging up on Hang Gai road (where the silk shops are), Hang Ma (where the Chinese ornaments are) and Hang Dao (where the night market is located). Normally, the night market would be appearing only every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. But on this week before TET, it has been there on Hang Dao road, right after 9 pm and lasting past 11 pm. After 4-5 visits to the night market in my 1st year in Hanoi, you become tired of the same old unchanging merchandise that seem to be on display week after week after week. So the novelty of walking around the stalls wears off quite quickly.
If you manage to walk around TET, do try to have a pho bo (Vietnamese noodle soup with beef slices) or pho ga (same noodle soup but with chicken slices), if anything is open at all. My friend tells me that the walking food street called Tong Duy Tan is usually open during TET. Great! Now how to walk to there coz most of the xeom (motorcycle drivers) are also on holiday back to their provinces?
These are typical tall terraced houses of Hanoi. No elevators! Will exercise your butt and hams.
View from my friend's condo at Lakeview Towers, beside West Lake of Hanoi.
One of my favorite lakes - Thinh Quang lake in central Hoan Kiem district, is a study of shadows and light set against a backdrop of the placid lake and the buildings in the far distance.
Tags: blogging in hanoi, Chinese New Year, Hanoi, hanoi lifestyle, hanoi resident, hanoi vacation, living in hanoi, shopping in Hanoi, TET Festival, things to do in hanoi, tourism in hanoi, travel and leisure, Vietnam
