Tet - Lunar New Year

Family gathering, the core of the celebration

Calligraphy in old Vietnamese or Chinese that blesses the new year


Every home must be graced with a branch of peach blossoms

Fire crackers, whose happy noise marks the transition from the old to the new year, whose pink remains brighten up a wet and cold early spring day, and whose smell has become a haunting memory of those long gone days

Mid-autumn festival (Trung Thu) (continued 01)

The richly decked family altar with all kinds of fruits and flowers

Hand-made lanterns from bamboo and color papers, a must-have for the occasion

A procession of neighborhood kids

An official procession

Mid-autumn festival (Trung Thu)

The mid-autumn festival on the full moon day (15th) of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, whose celebration must include moon cakes, seasonal fruits, lanterns, masks, processions and dances. It is a colorful and fun occasion most appreciated by children.

Long Bien Bridge - Hanoi (continued 01)

Local people on boats by the bridge in 1909

Opening of the pedestrian lane on 25 April 1924

Main entrance into the bridge from Hanoi

Railway track on the bridge

Long Bien Bridge - Hanoi

The Long Bien Bridge (known as Doumer Bridge before 1954, after the name of Paul Doumer, the Governor-General of French Indonesia) was built in 1903 by the French architect Gustave Eiffel. It was then one of Asia's longest bridges (2,500m). When finally restored from the damage caused by U.S. bombardment in 1967 and 1972, only half of the bridge retained its original shape.