Washington D.C., our nation's capital, has a yearly cherry blossom festival in spring. Cherry blossoms are very similar to peach blossoms. Many people from around the country make a journey to D.C. to see these flowers. Other countries around the world also have cherry blossom festivals. Japan, for example, is well known for this. Another country that seems to get less attention for its blossoms is Vietnam. In fact, one will find many blossoms throughout the country! This is because cherry/peach blossoms bloom in late January- mid-February. During this time, many people around Vietnam celebrate Tết. Tết, is also known as the Chinese or Lunar New Year. Other countries, like China and South Korea, celebrate the New year during this time as well. It makes me wonder, why are peach/cherry blossoms so important during Tết? I took some time to research and found out why!
Some people I speak to call the special flower peach; others call it cherry; still others call the blossoms "Sakura". The different labels might be from different translations. I will use "peach blossoms" because that seems to be the most common name in Vietnam. A fellow English teacher told me that there are two different blossom colors: hot pink and light pink flower.
