Some special things for foreigners during Tet
By Minh Duy in HCMC
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| A foreigner learns to wrap banh tet (traditional sticky rice cake) with a local family in the Mekong Delta's My Tho City on a tour arranged by Saigontourist - Photo: Hoang Long |
As usual before Lunar New Year, HCMC tour operators are launching special tours for foreigners to travel and learn of the atmosphere and culture of Tet during the country’s most important holiday.
Ben Thanh Tourist, in collaboration with the department of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language for foreigners of HCMC University of 
Social Sciences and Humanities, is hosting day celebrations at Rural Waterways.
The tour will start every day from February 14 to 19 and comprise a visit to a southern family to prepare a special meal for Tet, ostrich riding at Vinh Sang Farm in Vinh Long Province, games and shopping.
The program on An Binh Islet will offer a chance for foreigners to mix with local people by making lunch, cakes and jams which are often used during Tet. Foreign visitors can bring these cakes back home to their relatives as special gifts.
Lucky money, or li xi, is the second gift that local people will give to foreign guests during the tour. Giving small money to people who visit a Vietnamese family during Tet is giving best wishes for a whole year of happiness.
The tour is US$39 per person for groups of ten.
Saigontourist Travel Service Co. is offering a half-day tour every day from February 14 to 17. The half-day trip takes in Tao Dan Flower Market and Thien Hau Temple in downtown HCMC and includes an hour ride in a chauffeur-pedaled tricycle, known as cyclo, around China Town in District 5 and a visit to a Saigonese family to experience Tet, including authentic food.
Saigontourist has tours to the Mekong Delta’s My Tho City from February 6 to 13 to visit flower markets and ornamental plant gardens and teaches visitors how to make banh tet (traditional cake made of rice and filled with green bean paste and pork fat). These tours also include a meal in the home of a local family.
For more information, contact Ben Thanh Tourist Travel Service Center, 86 Ly Tu Trong Street, District 1, HCMC, tel: 08 3 822 2506, email: inbound-e@benthanhtourist.com or Saigontourist Travel Service Co., 49 Le Thanh Ton Street, District 1, HCMC, tel: 08 3 829 8914.