Bai Choi is a traditional form of art that originated from the South-central region and is often played by central people during Tet.

Nguyen Phung Ky, former Vice President of the Phu Yen Literature and Arts Association who sings and researches Bai Choi says Phu Yen people often sing Bai Choi during Tet and they consider it as the unique feature of their culture.

During the resistance wars against the French colonialists and American imperialists, Bai Choi songs and music encouraged soldiers and people to fight the enemies and persuaded those who followed the enemies to turn back and join the revolution. Although singers were amateur their songs were persuasive. All the songs have been preserved until today.

Nowadays at Tet all villages in Tuy An, Phu Hoa, Dong Hoa, Dong Xuan districts in Phu Yen province are bustling with Bai Choi. These folk songs are specific to coastal areas.

Before Tet, people build U-shape bamboo huts. The Bai Choi festival usually begins on the first day of Tet. As soon as a large number of people gathers the game singer will open the festival with a song. The stage for playing Bai Choi includes 9, 11 or 13 huts. Each one has five or six players inside, a bamboo pipe to hold cards and a signal flag. One hut is called the centre house for a music troupe with a drum and musical instruments. A deck of cards with 27 pairs is divided into two, one for players and one put in the centre house. Cards are printed on paper and glued onto bamboo sticks.

The game singer draws a card from the bamboo pipe in the center house. The player whose card matched the one drawn by the game singer wins. The game continues until the final card is drawn.

Phu Yen has renown artists such as Dinh Thoang, Phung Long An and Phung Ky as well as many talented amateur singers. Many people like to indulge in Bai Choi and play the game until the fifteenth of Lunar January.

Bai choi has been an integral part of Phu Yen people’s lives for many years. It is particularly meaningful those who study or work far away from home. Whenever Tet comes they remember the singing which embodies the sentiments of people who live in areas often hit by floods and droughts.

The provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism opened Bai CHoi for young people in late 2010 to preserve and promote the traditional art. The Folklore Arts and Culture Preservation Fund and the Culture Research Association have conducted programmes to restore this cultural heritage of Phu Yen.

Vice Director of the Phu Yen provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Phan Dinh Phung says that this is part of the programme to promote and preserve the regional folklore and to mark the province’s 400^th anniversary. In addition, the national Bai Choi festival will also be held during the time when the province will be hosting the National Tourism Year 2011.