But not all overseas Vietnamese are able to return to Vietnam for Tet. Although they have to stay in the residence countries, they always turn their minds to their homeland.

Le Trong Van, cultural and historical researcher in the US:

Tet (Lunar New Year festival) is an occasion for remembering ancestors. I’m now 78, having lived far from Vietnam for 40 years. I’m greatly moved each time I return to the homeland. I recognize that the country is developing more and more and people’s lives are being improved day by day.

In the US, we have to work during the Lunar New Year festival but we still manage to hold our family Tet. Anyway, we are Vietnamese.

Tet in Vietnam has its own, distinct atmosphere, with family reunions, peach trees, and real green chung (square glutinous rice) cakes. In the US, there are also chung cakes, but they are wrapped in tin foil, not in phrynium leaves.

In the US, we often teach children Vietnamese history and the Vietnamese language.

I’ve celebrated Tet in Vietnam several times. I especially remember the Tet of 1999, when I first returned to Vietnam for a family reunion.

I now want to contribute more to the fatherland. I want to write a lot of articles on Hanoi in response to its 1000^th anniversary.

In the past, I took part in the resistance wars and now my spirit goes back to the homeland and I want to resettle in Vietnam someday.

Vietnamese culture is different from that of the US. Vietnamese people have a strong sense of neighbourhood and often visit each other. They give priority to families.

Nguyen Van Tho, overseas Vietnamese in Germany: I tell my children stories about the homeland

When my children were small, I usually took them to Vietnam for Tet. When they reached school age, we begin to celebrate Tet in Germany.

Our Tet here has the same atmosphere as in Vietnam. I often tell my children to light incense in memory of our deceased ancestors.

We came from Hanoi, drank Red River water, breathed Hanoi air and contemplated the Sword Lake. The Hanoi culture permeated us gradually and permanently. The education of our children about patriotism must be conducted in a similar manner.

Nguyen Van Tuu, Vietnamese expatriate in Belgium: Tet helps family members reunite

I’ve been far from the fatherland for more than 50 years. Nostalgia for the homeland grows stronger during occasions like Tet. When I recall sitting around a chung cake pot with my parents, I feel tears welling up. Now in this country, I try to maintain the celebration of Tet so that my children can escape their busy work.

My children understand their parents and have managed to arrange time for welcoming the Lunar New Year. All family members join hands to prepare a rice tray and perform ritual offerings to the ancestors on New Year’s Eve. Then my children go out to pick buds or young leaves.

We choose a ‘first-footer’ (first visitor) with a suitable age so our children will have a good business in the new year. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, we grandparents present gifts to sons, daughters and their spouses to bring them luck.

Nguyen Thi Kim Hien, Vietnamese living in Russia:

When Tet nears, we often create artificial peach flowers to decorate our room. Just as in Vietnam, on Lunar New Year’s Eve we slaughter a chicken and prepare a dish of steamed glutinous rice to worship our ancestors. I have a memory about this. When my child was very small, she often cried seeing us slaughter chickens, because she was taught at school to love animals.

During New Year Eve rituals, my daughter doesn’t like us to light incense in a closed room.

Now that she is more mature, she understands that this is a traditional custom and no longer objects it. She even looked for other Vietnamese students in Russia and joined them in celebrating Tet.

Vu Khac Loc, overseas Vietnamese in Thailand: Tet is the time of friends

I’ve been in Thailand for 64 years and still observe Tet celebrations with my family. About 100,000 Vietnamese are living in Thailand. On these occasions, people often gather to exchange news and information about the homeland.

I myself wrapped a lot of chung cakes and distributed them to my Thai neighbours.  I cook Vietnamese traditional dishes and invite Thai neighbours to enjoy them with us. We try to mingle with native people and introduce them to the Lunar New Year festival.

Bui Ai Phuong, overseas Vietnamese in Italy:

We have to work during the Tet festival. But I myself try to spend time cleaning and decorating our house and cooking Tet dishes.

When our family members gather to eat Tet meals, I often recall for my children memories of Tet festivals in the homeland. My children are very eager for me to take them to Vietnam, but we have been too busy to fulfil their wish. They still follow the calendar to see when Tet is coming.

Vu Thanh Tuyen (Alain Vu), Vietnamese French, one of world’s top sopranos:

Although I’ve lived abroad for a long time, I still observe Tet customs. At Tet, my family has banh chung, pickled onions, pork, fruits, flowers and incense to offer to ancestors.

On Lunar New Year’s Eve, we go out to welcome the New Year. On the first day, we greet friends and wish each other a happy new year.

I’m very impressed by charity programmes in Vietnam to help poor people enjoy Tet.

I’m very proud of being one of the world’s top sopranos. I see that there are a lot of talented people in the homeland but they have not received proper training to develop their capacity./.