Since after Christmas, the atmosphere of Tet has filled the streets of Nha Trang.

For Lunar New Year, Nha Trang residents often enjoy du xuan, spring-visiting. Adults would frequent temples and pagodas to pay their respect to Budda and their ancestors, or visit neighbors and relatives to wish them a happy, healthy and prosperous year ahead. Young people, on the other hand, would go to amusement parks, walk or drive up Bao Dai Palace to have a panoramic view of the ocean and the city from up on the hill, hop on a boat to Tri Nguyen Aquarium and nearby islets, indulge in a mud spa near Thap Ba (Temple of the Lady), or even venture further to neighboring districts of Dien Khanh, Cam Ranh, Ninh Hoa and Van Ninh ... to enjoy the characteristically pleasant ambience of Tet in the countryside.

In recent years, Nha Trang dwellers have come to relish the novelty of “an Tet" (enjoying Tet) at restaurants and big hotels in the city as a treat for themselves after a year of hard work.

To meet the needs of local people and visitors, major hotels in Nha Trang give many fascinating recreational activities and scrumptious food and drink programs. Tet feels very close when you see hotels in Nha Trang organizing “dung neu”, i.e. planting traditional neu poles only seen at Tet as has been done for probably over a thousand years in Vietnam.

Along with the festivity of planting the poles come fruit offerings, flower and lights, and the long-awaited mua lan (unicorn dance) on the 23th of December in the lunar calendar. Giao thua (New Year's Eve) at Sunrise Beach Hotel & Spa is always full of locals and visitors coming to an Tet, tucking into the luscious feast of palatable dishes and watching special music and performance staged by Sunrise to celebrate the new spring. Many stay here until the small hours to catch the unique moment when the new year meets the old, sipping cocktails at the bar on the hotel's 10th floor while watching fireworks crackling and glowing around the city.

On the first few days of Tet, visitors checking in will receive li xi -- lucky money or pretty small greeting cards to write their wishes for good luck in the new year. In addition, Sunrise also offers Tet buffets with Tet food, local delicacies from all three regions of Vietnam, as well as Nha Trang's specialty of seafood ...

This Tet, Nha Trang is expected to continue being a hot travel destination as more travelers from all over the country, especially from Ho Chi Minh City, pick this beautiful coastal city as the destination of luck in the new year.