‘Ong Do’ is a scholar who teaches and writes old Vietnamese letters (pictographic letters).  During Tet, people go to see him to ask him to write letters on a parchment to wish for good energy for the coming year such as happiness, health, wealth, etc.  This art of writing is almost lost nowadays.  In order to preserve the ancient Vietnamese calligraphy, the government is holding an event on the occasion of the Lunar New Year at Van Mieu - Vietnam’s first university.

This photo was taken at the flower festival which took place on the occasion of the “western” New Year.  This year is the first time that the flower festival has been held in Hanoi.  All kinds of flowers were brought from Da Lat, Ho Chi Minh and Thailand to prepare for this big event.  The organizational board tried to set as many records as possible and one of them was to feature the biggest traditional hat, also called a conical hat.  The street was packed with thousands of people who wanted to see this gigantic hat… not that it would fit their head!