I assume one of the most important holidays in Vietnam is the Lunar New Year, which occurs in late January and early February. The official Lunar New Year or Tet holiday is celebrated from the 31st of December till the 3rd of January according to the Lunar calendar. Nonetheless, the break is often extended to 5 or 7 days later and even longer for students.
Every year at this festival, people across the nation will come back to their hometowns and celebrate the occasion with their families and friends. Thus, only on these days are the streets in big metropolises like Saigon and Hanoi not filled with motorbikes during the daytime and the atmosphere turns rather quiet at night.
Since everyone believes that welcoming the new year with a positive attitude, a clean environment, and new things will surely guarantee a successful upcoming year, there is always a lot of buying and selling to do on the Tet holiday. In addition, cleaning the entire house is also an indispensable part of the holiday. Every place in the house must be squeaky clean and ready for the new year.
I think the reason why Vietnamese people treasure the Tet holiday so much is because the occasion gives everyone the chance to express their respect and remembrance for their ancestors as well as spend precious time with their beloved family members.
