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We tried to greet people with “Chuc Mung Nam Today the merchant houses are shops and restau-
Moi!” but had limited success. Locals would look at rants and the Old Town is surrounded by hotels
us blankly for a second (“What are those crazy for- and resorts.
eigners trying to say?”) then the light would dawn Tourism means Hoi An is in festival mode year-
and they’d grin broadly and repeat it back or say round. Lanterns festoon the narrow back streets,
something else festive – none of which we under- lantern-lit boats ply the Thu Bon River. But New
stood. Maybe they said, “Song lau tram tuoi,” which Year’s Eve is something else. On an Old Town back
means something like, “Live to be 100.” street we watched a dance performance involving
Along with kumquat trees, Vietnam’s New acrobatic teens, a pulsing drum corps and dragon
Year’s traditions include giving “lucky money” to costumes.
kids, decorating the house, buying clothes, paying As evening approached, the quaint arched river
off debts, shooting off fireworks, and praying at bridges were lit up like airport runways. By dinner
pagodas. The whole thing lasts for days. Busi- time, the tourist crowd was so dense at the night
nesses close, school’s out, factories shut down, ev- market we had to turn sideways to squeeze our
erybody heads to their parents’ place or way through. At night, the riverside vendors had
grandparent’s or favorite uncle’s. sold so many small floating lanterns -- each hold-
Without relatives to visit, we headed to the his- ing a single candle – looking down at the water
toric coastal city of Hoi An. Which, by reputation, was like looking up at the Milky Way.
is Vietnam’s premier New Year’s destination. Because both of us were nursing colds that day,
Hoi An’s original prime was in the 17th and 18th we decided to forgo the downtown fireworks
centuries when it was thriving riverside port (the show. As we walked back to our hotel, the river-
coast is five miles off). Then the river silted up and banks were lined with tiny tables and chairs and
Hoi An became a backwater to Danang, 30 miles festive visitors drinking beer. At midnight, the
to the north. But the ancient city, with its rows of river surface flashed with reflected celebration.
mustard-colored merchant houses, was preserved. “Chuc Mung Nam Moi!”
When Vietnam opened up to the West in the Love,
1990s, Hoi An was rediscovered. UNESCO made it John and Jody
a World Heritage site in 1999; tourists flooded in.

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