Nhat Tan peach trees aflush with Tet fervor

Nhat Tan Ward, Hanoi's peach growing hub, currently boasts nearly 800 households cultivating peach trees over about 50 hectares of land. The yearly total of peach trees and branches sold for the Lunar New Year festival, or Tet, reaches into the thousands.

An overalled Trung carefully trims leaves on each branch so more nutrients can reach the flowers, a classic technique for trees grown for their blossoms. This Tet harvest her family has prepped 600 pits, down by 100 against last year.
Nowadays, farmers mainly cross-breed forest peach blossom roots with dao bich (red peach) for the best trees.

Some peach blossoms have bloomed and are up for grabs from VND300,000 ($13) upwards.

A month before they trim the leaves, farm owners order pots of all sizes. Typically, a high-quality, aesthetically-pleasing pot that comes with its own stand costs around VND450,000.

Farmers place peach trees into pots so they can grow accustomed to their new space in time for Tet.
During the leaf-picking and tending phase, farm owners employ laborers at a daily rate of VND300,000 per head.

During the two months before Tet, these peach trees, with their leaves already trimmed, only require watering and moss layering on the pot surface.

An aerial view of Nhat Tan peach gardens.
The area is renowned as Hanoi’s long-standing peach blossom hub. In 2006, local peach growers were granted trademark protection for their peach trees.
Like pine trees on Christmas for Europeans and yellow mai flowers for Vietnamese in the south, peach flowers are a symbol of Tet in the northern region, with most people decorating their homes with the blossoms to celebrate Lunar New Year.
Peach trees represent luck and prosperity for a new year and brings the spirit of spring to households.