Tet is more than just New Year's Eve as celebrated in the West. Imagine
Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving and New Year all celebrated together. Vietnam
Hotels are full during Tet as thousands travel to Vietnam. Book your Vietnam
travel and Vietnam hotel now.

Tet follows the lunar calendar and falls
about six weeks before the vernal equinox. It heralds in spring in northern
Vietnam, and is a period of rest between rice crops throughout the country. It
is a four day period that falls between late January and mid-February.

This is a time of rebirth and renewal for Vietnamese people. Homes are
spring cleaned, debts repayed, old squabbles settled and any outstanding issues
are concluded. Above all, Tet is about family – living and deceased. Vietnamese
will go to great lengths to return home to be with their families at Tet. The
larger cities take on an almost deserted air as tens of thousands of people
travel in Vietnam to visit the ancestral family home.

Tet is marked by
many events. Among the most important and symbolic are:
¤ The ascent to
heaven by the God of the Hearth (Ông Táo) to report on the family over the past
year to the Emporer of Jade (Ngọc Hoà ng) (1 week before Tet).

¤ The
ritual invite and welcome for ancestors to take part in Tet with the living
members of the family (Midnight on the eve of Tet);
¤ Arrival of the first
house guest of the year (early Tet morning).

¤ Reciprical ceremonial
visits, feasts and banquets at the homes of relatives, friends and acquaintances
(first and second days of the New Year).

¤ Sightseeing and fun (third day
of the year)

As a time of transition between the old and the new, Tet is
a chance to begin afresh. Travel to Vietnam at Tet to see Vietnam at its
prettiest and the people most festive. Tet will occur between 8th - 11th of
February 2005.