Well, that's Christmas and New Year done and dusted and now everyone in Hoi An and Vietnam for that matter is preparing for Tet. This is their most important day of the year. It is the same day as Chinese New Year and occurs on the first day of the first month on the Vietnamese calender on a new moon, usually late January, early February. This year it starts on 30th January. Hoi An is abuzz with preparations for this festival. Houses and shops are being repainted (straight over the top of the mould) and special foods are being prepared, schallots being one of them, would you believe? Dog is another but a local expat from Australia assures me that the family pet isn't devoured but they have special restaurants where you can consume this "delicacy".
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