Wrapping banh chung, celebrating the reunion

TTH.VN - As the COVID-19 pandemic is under control and travelling is more convenient, many families are able to gather together this year. Sticky rice, Dong leaves, mung beans, and meat are prepared for everyone to wrap banh chung, and being together in a cozy and beloved atmosphere on the last days of the year.

Wrapping banh-tet and banh-chung to offer to ancestors is a cultural beauty of many Hue families

This year, many relatives of Mr. Le Van Ba's (Thuan Loc Ward, Hue City) have returned home from other provinces and abroad. On the last afternoon of the year, he and his wife prepared 40 cans of sticky rice and invited their children and grandchildren to wrap banh chung and banh tet.

In the cool and rainy spring weather, his house was full of laughter of adults and children. Mr. Ba said that it took him two days to prepare for the wrapping of the cakes; then, staying up late and cooking the banh chung pot. However, he did not feel tired. The cooked banh chung will be distributed to many families. "I want my children and grandchildren to feel the warmth and reunion of Hue people’s Tet in the true sense of the word," he said.

Mr. Ba's family also welcomed young guests who are his acquaintances to experience wrapping banh chung and learn how to wrap this traditional cake. He enthusiastically instructed them and hoped that the young people would keep the spirit of Hue people in cultural life of today and in the future.

Similarly, after years of studying and living in a foreign country, in early 2023, Ms. Ho Khanh Ngoc Bich's family has returned to her hometown to celebrate Tet. On the last days of the old year, in the extended family’s house located next to An Dinh Palace (Phu Nhuan Ward, Hue City), the family members wrapped banh tet and banh chung together.

On the night before, she had told her children about the story of banh chung and banh day so that her son, Soc, could understand more about the culture of his homeland. “The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted everything. Now, as I come back home, I deeply understand the values of camaraderie and family reunion. My children are very happy because they can learn and explore the traditional cakes as well as the meaning of Tet in the motherland,” shared Ms. Bich.

The hardship seems to disappear. Each cake is warmly loved and shared. Hundreds and even thousands of Hue families have had such meaningful days being together and wrapping the cakes on the last days of the year. Then, they just look back on the previous hardship, and look forward to a new year full of peace and happiness, and live in the arms of love and reunion.

Thua Thien Hue Online would like to invite readers to enjoy the cozy reunion moments beside the cake trays on the last days of the Year of the Tiger: