(VOVWORLD) - A few days before the Lunar New Year of the Horse, foreign visitors to Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta join in Tet activities typical of the Mekong Delta, trying their hand at wrapping banh tet (cylindrical square sticky rice cakes), making coconut jam, writing calligraphy words, arranging a 5-fruit tray, and burning incense on an ancestral altar.
 Foreigners experience “Mekong people celebrate Tet” in Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo: VOV) |
The cultural experience tour “Mekong people celebrate Tet”, organized by the Vietluxtour Travel Company, takes tourists into the rustic Lunar New Year atmosphere in Vietnam’s southwestern region, where they enjoy the holiday in small homes of local residents along the canals in Dong Thap province. In the kitchen, the scent of fresh banana leaves, newly harvested glutinous rice, and wood smoke blends together into the distinctive scent of Tet in the southern region.
Foreign visitors watch local people wrap banh tet, stir coconut jam in a big pot, write calligraphic wishes for the New Year, arrange a 5-fruit tray, and burn incense on their ancestral altar, learn about them and try their hands in making these Tet stuffs. Adriana, a tourist from Poland, said that although she had learned quite a lot about Vietnamese culture from books and previous trips, this was the first time she had taken part in ancestral worship rituals during Tet.
“I didn't know about the ancestor offering. It’s kind of new for me. I know that you’re supposed to connect with your ancestor. That’s nice to hear, because in Poland we have kind of the same culture in our ceremonies. What I like the most is your calligraphy. It's amazing and beautiful. We don't have anything like that in Poland. It's very nice that they can give people something from Vietnam to have with them at home. It's a very nice souvenir,” Adriana said.
Another tourist from Poland, Wojtek Pawelec, said: “Now I know how you feel during that celebration. It is an amazing feeling. The preparing of the fruit and cake is very impressive, how it looks during the celebration, how you prepare, how the family get together, everyone coming back home for the celebration. People from Poland, from Europe, they know almost nothing about your country, but I hope in the future they will know much more.”
 A tourist guide introduces Vietnamese Tet customs. (Photo: VOV) |
Their best Tet memory after visiting a local family is of the cosy Tet family meal where they enjoyed traditional dishes with their hosts and listened to stories about the local cuisine.
Tourism no longer means just seeing and taking photos. The experience of celebrating the Lunar New Year with local people is opening up a new direction for Vietnamese tourism, one that closely connects travel with the preservation and promotion of Vietnamese cultural identity.