San jose earthquakes avaya stadium

David Duong, president of California Waste Solutions, CEO of Vietnam Waste Solutions: Vietnam is always in my heart

February 11, 2021 by www.vir.com.vn

“My companies and I have made some meaningful and practical community activities with a view to supporting the homeland to overcome the difficulties.”

What were your biggest concerns when looking back at a turbulent 2020?

The past 13 months has been a journey fraught with challenges for most businesses, including our companies. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the world, including the United States. Meanwhile, Vietnam is continuing its fight against the pandemic as well as recovering from the natural disasters like saline intrusion, floods, and landslides. Thus, my companies and I have made some meaningful and practical community activities with a view to supporting the homeland to overcome the difficulties.

When the US declared states of emergency in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, it witnessed a severe scarcity in medical equipment especially face masks. At that time, CWS donated 40,000 N95 face masks to the US. The company also ordered 80,000 cloth face masks and 1.5 million surgical face masks from Vietnam to give the American people. In mid-April 2020, CWS donated $100,000 to the COVID-19 Prevention Fund by the Consulate General of Vietnam in San Francisco.

In November the company granted an additional $120,000 to the Consulate General of Vietnam in San Francisco to support the residents of the flood-hit central region. At the event, the Vietnam American Business Association (VABA), where I am chairman, also granted $51,000 to the central region. As of present, the total sum CWS, VWS, and VABA have donated to Vietnam amounts to $171,000.

VWS also gifted VND200 million ($8,700) to the Standing Committee of the Vietnamese Fatherland Front to support the fight against COVID-19, as well as drought and salinity in the south of Vietnam.

Despite these moderate contributions to help residents in the central region, these grants reflect the warm hearts of Vietnamese people living in the US as well as the children living far away from their homeland around the world. I affirm that the Vietnamese community in the western states of America, no matter what they do, wherever they are, is always turning towards the homeland, especially in difficult times.

The expat community also expressed their belief that under the leadership and direction of the government and the consensus of the people, Vietnam will continue to control and contain the COVID-19 pandemic more successfully than most nations have been able to achieve.

How do you see the challenges affect the operation activities of CWS and VWS?

In the midst of turbulent times, CWS and VWS have conquered many challenges to maintain our operation. Fortunately, most of our staff in the US and Vietnam have overcome the difficulties caused by the global health crisis. CWS continues to earn the trust of the San Jose City authorities with the signing of the new contract on waste treatment.

VWS still safely operates and processes the amount of garbage discharged in Ho Chi Minh City.

However, my greatest concern is the delay of the project to upgrade the waste treatment technology at Da Phuoc Integrated Waste Management Facility. The project has been waiting for the city’s approval for a long time, which leads to increases in capital bringing the project costs over $400 million. The project will produce eco-friendly by-products such as fertiliser, compost, and compressed natural gas, bringing enormous benefits to society.

We hope that the city will soon green-light this new technology in line with US and EU standards for its huge benefits on environmental protection, creating more products for the society and generate new jobs for the local community.

Meanwhile, VWS is waiting for the approval of Functional Departments about the planning report for the Green Environmental Technology Park in Thu Thua district of the Mekong Delta province of Long An. Covering an area of 1,760 hectares, the project uses modern waste-to-energy combustion technology in line with EU standards. Once put into operation, the Green Environmental Technology Park will receive and handle all kinds of garbage for Ho Chi Minh City, Long An, and other provinces in the key southern economic region, with a processing capacity of 44,000 tonnes of garbages per day.

At present, the planning of the project is adjusted and waiting for the approval of competent authorities. However, I am confused by Long An’s alleged proposals to alter the purpose of a clean site planned for the Green Environmental Technology Park. It is worth noting that the project is a testament to the wholehearted efforts of the Vietnamese business community in the US towards the homeland. The investment capital for this project is very large so we have mobilised resources from the Vietnamese business community in the US as part of funding for this project.

You have said that your aim is not to do business but to serve and repay your homeland. How do the obstacles affect this sentiment of Vietnamese overseas investors like yourself?

I believe the good things of the previous years will continue into 2021 with innovative thinking and synchronous implementation from high to low levels. In another economic aspect, Vietnam has formulated good policies such as the Law on Investment. The central leaders are determined to implement the new policies. I was very happy when Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc agreed to set up a special taskforce to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to Vietnam.

As of present, I am committed to continuing contributions to the homeland. This spirit is in line with our efforts as chairman of VABA, which was established to promote investment and trade activities between Vietnam and the US. I always encourage Vietnamese overseas businesses to return and invest in Vietnam.

In addition, VABA is aimed at fostering solidarity among Vietnamese businessmen as well as enhancing the position of Vietnamese businessmen in the US. The association has created a bridge connecting entrepreneurs and investors from the US to Vietnam. I can affirm that, no matter who or where, Vietnamese people overseas always turn to their homeland, especially in difficult times.

However, some overseas Vietnamese businessmen have said that there is still some inconsistency from high to low levels. This, coupled with inconsistent policies, has plagued several businesses in some localities. Those are the things that will hinder overseas Vietnamese businessmen to fund certain projects and contribute to the local market.

What is the outlook of attracting investment from Vietnamese overseas businessmen?

At present, Vietnam has become a spotlight as a safe investment destination for investors, especially many big names like Apple, Foxconn, Google, and Samsung. These are good signs for the country’s FDI attraction. Many overseas Vietnamese people in the US have supplied millions or even tens of millions of US dollars of investment into Vietnam. If the central, provincial, and city authorities can create more favourable conditions for overseas Vietnamese investors, it will attract much larger foreign influxes in the coming time.

By Song Nguyen

Tet in the times of pandemic: muted celebrations for Vietnamese diaspora in US

February 12, 2021 by e.vnexpress.net

Thanh Nguyen, 35, an ethnic Vietnamese man living in Virginia, always returns home to Maryland during Tet (Lunar New Year). But this year the nurse decided to stay back and instead celebrate the festival with his parents by video call.

“My Vietnamese parents are disappointed because I did not drive home to see them, but the Covid-19 pandemic is a good reason to not travel, especially when I work in a hospital with infection risks,” he said.

He also made several video calls to relatives in Vietnam for Lunar New Year, which falls on February 12 this year.

“My mom sent me two banh chung and I bought some spring rolls. I will go to a nearby Buddhist temple to pray for a new year if it is not too crowded during the weekend.”

Nguyen is among many members of the Vietnamese diaspora in America who have celebrated the traditional holiday of their forefathers amid the raging pandemic with a lot of differences this year.

Asian Garden Mall (Phuoc Loc Tho) is a popular place to celebrate Tet among Vietnamese in Westminster, California. Photo by Shutterstock/Hung Tran.

In California, even though Governor Gavin Newsom lifted the stay-home order in late January in response to an improving situation, a move hailed by some Vietnamese ahead of their traditional holiday, many people still have their guard up and are not gathering with relatives or going to public places.

“We will not go to Vietnamese malls or supermarkets since the places are always packed” Thao Nguyen, a banker in Orange County, California, said.

Nguyen’s family canceled a party with relatives on the last day of the lunar year, which “always used to be an indispensable part of our Tet. ”

Instead, she had dinner and went to a nearby Buddhist temple without her parents, who are old and likely to be vulnerable to the coronavirus.

In December 2020, according to health officials in Santa Clara County, California, the Vietnamese and Philippine communities were more severely affected by the pandemic than other Asian-American groups in the San Francisco Bay region.

Many Tet activities and events have been canceled.

Little Saigon does not have music shows, traditional lion dancing and banh chung -making competitions like it usually does.

In San Diego, Tet Festival, presented by the Vietnamese American Youth Alliance (VAYA), is held virtually from February 12 to 14.

“We had hoped to have an in-person Tet Festival, as Tet is often the time when families gather to reconnect and usher in the new year,” Dennis Duong, president of VAYA, said in a statement.

“But with the surge in Covid-19, we knew that it was unlikely any live events would be permitted in the foreseeable future. Still, it’s important to recognize the New Year and give the community a safe option to celebrate from home.”

Virtual Tet events and reunions are becoming new normal.

Travor Ta, 19, of Orange County in California called his family in Los Angeles and his father’s parents in the southern province of Vinh Long.

“My relatives passed the phone around so I can see all of them, then I wished them good health, and they normally wish me ‘ tien vao nhu nuoc ’ (money comes like water),” he said.

In a Facebook group for the Vietnamese community in America, many people said they would call their parents and relatives instead of going home to see them.

“Going home is not on the table amid this pandemic,” Ta said.

He recalled his childhood memory when he used to skip classes on the 1st or the 2nd day of Tet for lion dance performances and receiving li xi (lucky money) from his extended family in California.

Stalls supply traditional Tet products like confectionary baskets, candied fruits, lanterns, and red calligraphy papers in Hong Kong Supermarket in Atlanta City, Georgia, U.S. Photo by VnExpress/Phuong Phuong.

‘Life goes on’

While gatherings and festive activities are limited, overseas Vietnamese trying to sustain their traditions by making traditional foods and decorating their houses.

Trang Tran, 43, of Houston, Texas, spent the evening before the Lunar New Year’s Eve cooking dishes for her family and relatives.

“We call it ‘ an Tet ’, which literally means eating Tet,” she explained.

She said that banh chung (Vietnamese sticky rice cake with mung bean and pork), thit kho hot vit (southern-style braised pork with eggs) and pickles are always served in her family during the first day of Tet .

“There is no arrowroot in Houston, so we used banana leaves to wrap our banh chung ,” she added.

Another favorite activity among Vietnamese-Americans during Tet is gambling and playing board games with their loved ones.

Since the first day of Tet is on Friday, Tran said, children in her family would spend the whole weekend playing bau cua tom ca (a betting game) and ca ngua (horse racing game).

“Of course, no gathering with our relatives because of the Covid-19.”

Many Vietnamese neighborhoods are bustling and filled with festive decorations.

In Orange County’s Little Saigon, home to thousands of Vietnamese-American businesses, Asian Garden Mall is bustling with traditional flower markets and stores selling Vietnamese foods.

In San Jose, Texas, Lion Plaza, a popular market for the local Vietnamese community, is also filled with masked shoppers.

But the pandemic has cast a long shadow.

Some businesses said the number of patrons has fallen this year.

“We thought people would stay at home after a difficult year with a lot of losses, so we keep our feet on the ground and do not have high expectations when it comes to Tet business,” Nhut Nguyen, a restaurant owner in Asian Garden Mall, said.

Young Vietnamese, busy with their work amid the urban rat race, said they do not have much time for Tet but would try to celebrate it as “much Vietnamese” as possible.

In an 11,000-member Facebook group of Vietnamese living in the U.S., people share their experiences in finding traditional dishes like banh chung and banh tet in various states.

“You can have Tet in many ways,” said Thanh Nguyen, who will go to work on Lunar New Year and have banh chung alone.

Nguyen has bought some chrysanthemums and a yellow mai tree, which, he said, would welcome the spring and bring luck.

“The most important thing about Tet is that it has always in our DNA, regardless of the pandemic and any other ordeal,” Thanh commented.

“Traditions are handed down through generations, that is how life goes on.”

Many Vietnamese will spend Tet far from their loved ones this year

September 2, 2021 by ven.vn

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Han, 32, a trainee in Yamanashi, Japan, said she had finished her training in June 2020, but was forced to stay in Japan due to the pandemic and would be marking her fourth Tet far away from her family in Hung Yen Province.

Vietnamese students’ New Year meal in Germany offers a full range of traditional dishes

Since the Japanese do not celebrate the Lunar New Year, Han will have to go to work during the holiday and will only have time on New Year’s Eve to gather with Vietnamese friends living in the same house. She and her friends had to order some traditional Tet dishes well in advance through websites specializing in selling Vietnamese goods in Japan, Han added.

Nguyen Cam Anh, 50, from Dong Thap Province is currently residing in the San Francisco Bay area town of Brentwood. The Vietnamese Lunar New Year falls in January or February and does not coincide with the Western New Year, which means she has to go to work.

However, if the first day of Tet falls on a weekend, the Vietnamese community will usually celebrate on time. In previous years, if the Lunar New Year fell in the middle of the week, it would be celebrated on the weekend before or after by the many Vietnamese residents of California in San Jose and Orange County.

This year the atmosphere ahead of Tet was somewhat subdued due to social distancing, lockdowns and concerns about the ongoing pandemic. Instead of gatherings, Vietnamese residents in California made greetings by phone and on Facebook.

The thousands of Vietnamese students abroad, whether in Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea or the United States, are also unable to fly home and celebrate with family this year.

Bui Thuc Anh, 22, a student at Ludwig Maximilians University (LMU) in Munich, said that 2021 is the third year she is having to celebrate Tet so far away from home.

Before the pandemic outbreak, she could at least gather with her friends on each Lunar New Year to eat and drink in order to ease their homesickness. But this year, curfews and lockdowns throughout Germany are limiting such gatherings and boosting people’s nostalgia, Thuc Anh added.

Nguyen Le Quoc Anh, 19, studying at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, said that even though it was Vietnamese New Year, she would have to study and work and would only have coffee with friends on the weekend. With restaurants being closed, she and her friends are forced to cook and eat at home.

Thuy Duong

Vietnamese Americans hope better time ahead with the new US government

January 23, 2021 by hanoitimes.vn

The Hanoitimes – Vietnamese Americans are relieved that after a tumultuous presidential period, the US is entering a new phase.

In Washington and Southern California, Vietnamese supporters of the US President Joe Biden breathed sigh of relief when he promised to become president for all Americans. No violence cases broke out on this special day throughout the US.

“Anti-American” factors are under control

In Washington DC, a day after the power transition with unprecedented turmoil in the American political history, the calm atmosphere prevails. Mr. Dao from Pennsylvania who witnessed the inauguration of the US president said: “A historic moment that I will never forget .”

Mr. Dao from Pennsylvania. Photo: Gia Tuan

When asked what impressed him the most in this presidential election and inauguration on January 20, he said: “The first woman of color becomes vice president of the US”. And what he most wished for after the new president took office: “No more people die due to Covid-19 because they are required to wear a face mask that the previous president didn’t do.”

Mr. Scott Nguyen from Santa Ana said: “I was nervous during the ceremony. When the 46th president was sworn in, I felt relieved. Obviously, “anti-American” factors like what happened on January 6 have been effectively contained by the authorities.”

Although there are no parades or gatherings of hundred thousand people around the National Mall or a series of celebrations as in other presidential inaugurations, but hundreds of thousands still exploded with joy hoping for a truly great America to be back.

Many people raised doubts about the new administration could succeed in deal with current challenges. Nearly 25 million Americans have been infected with the Covid-19 pandemic and more than 400,000 others died. With the economy in deep recession, high public debt and unemployment, stigma, division and hatred, many Vietnamese Americans think “it takes time”.

“Be mindful that the new president has a four-year challenge. If he fails to fulfill his commitments, voters will oust him in the next election,” Scott Nguyen said.

Fighting together the pandemic

The reason why this presidential election drew large turnout from Vietnamese Americans in Little Sai Gon, Southern California, was their desire for a better society.

“We need a president who works for the Americans and upholds American values. A president work to overcome the prevailing political polarization,” Ms. Nguyen Mai Khanh, from San Jose said.

A Vietnamese American child in the US. Photo: Gia Tuan

According to Seattle-based pharmacist Samantha Lin, the 46th president could set optimistic directions for the US to get out of the gloomy situation caused by Covid-19. The previous administration refused to make masking up in public transport compelling, leaving it on the hand of private companies, despite recommendations from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention on using face masks.

Right after the US president Biden was sworn in, on January 21, he signed an order requiring people to wear face masks on planes, trains, buses and at airports. “This is the positive move of the new government”, said Samantha Lin.

“Americans, no matter they are Democrats or Republicans, should gather around the new administration to combat the pandemic. Let’s make the US the world’s leading superpower in terms of economy instead of the number of dead people from Covid 19,” Ms. Lin said.

The joy and the spirit for a solidarity among the Vietnamese Americans responded to Joe Biden campaign’s theme.

Mr. Hien Le from San Francisco said that Americans should give the new American administration a chance and put their faith and hope into the next four years. “I am relieved that after so much turmoil, America is entering a new era,” he said.

US Vietnamese diaspora see light at end of Covid-19 tunnel

February 19, 2021 by e.vnexpress.net

On February 15, CNN reported more than 53,800 new Covid-19 infections in the U.S., its lowest daily case count since October 2020 and a vastly different number from just the previous month, when infections were topping 200,000 a day.

The number of new cases remained under 80,000 for the fourth day in a row Wednesday, while hospitalizations fell to their lowest level since November 10. The number of Covid-19 patients requiring treatment in intensive-care units (ICU) also fell, to 13,103, the sixth consecutive day the total has been below 15,000.

Travelers wearing protective face masks at the airport in Denver, Colorado, U.S., November 24, 2020. Photo by Reuters.

There were other signs that the pandemic situation was improving.

“The situation in California is getting better, with the number of patients in ICU declining,” said Ton That Binh, a Vietnamese man working in the medical sector in San Jose.

He guessed that the state’s pandemic level could move soon from purple (widespread) to red (substantial). Under California’s color code, purple is applied for counties with more than seven daily new cases per 100,000 residents or a higher than 8 percent positivity rate; and red means four to seven new cases per 100,000, or a 5-8 percent positivity rate.

Binh felt a key reason for the improvement was the higher numbers of people wearing masks and following social distancing rules. Also, herd immunity may have occurred in several areas where the number of cases was high enough.

Remarkably, Americans have not had big crowd gatherings and protests since the inauguration of President Joe Biden, another factor leading to the declining cases.

However, Binh also feared that the situation could be reversed in the next few weeks because of winter storms and power cuts; and a further case reduction could only be seen in the spring.

Nguyen Quynh, a staff at the University of Missouri, Missouri, said Columbia City recorded an infection rate of 2.25 cases/1,000 residents on February 18, lower than the proportion of seven cases/1,000 in mid January. Consequently, students could go back to school and patients in medical centers could meet one family member.

Quynh thought vaccination was a key factor in helping reduce infections in her city. Not only were more and more people getting injected, people were wearing masks everywhere and working more from home.

Ninh Pham, a medical interpreter at the Fulton State Hospital in Missouri, said it seemed that doctors now understand the virus better and had come up with different methods of treating it, and there was increased availability of personal protective equipments (PPE). As a result, the number of patients in ICUs was reducing.

Ninh also believed that the pandemic situation was gradually coming under control, with the “anti-mask attitude” no longer mainstream as it was last year. The Biden’s administration is boosting scientific support for the community, she felt.

In Illinois, Nguyen Trung, with the University of Chicago, presumed that the smaller number of infections was an outcome of fewer people traveling after the Christmas and New Year holidays at the end of last year.

He said the habit of wearing masks and washing hands frequently has improved his family’s health, no one getting sick recently. In general, people’s voluntary actions were the most important factor in containing the Covid-19 pandemic, Trung said. Some were complying with the rules because they do not want violations listed on their CV, reducing their employment chances later, he added.

Vaccination side effects

Trung admitted that he’d been quite reluctant to take the Covid-19 vaccine at the beginning because he’d heard about dangerous side effects. Then he thought he should consider vaccination a benefit he is getting because his work is related to the Chicago University’s hospital. He got the two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in mid December 2020 and mid January 2021.

He suffered fatigue, headache and nausea after the first shot and a mild fever after the second one. The symptoms lasted for about 24 hours.

Since then, he was “confident that the vaccine will bring positive results in Covid-19 controlling in the U.S.”

Most states in the U.S. are giving vaccination priority to people on the frontline in the Covid-19 fight, including medical staff, police and people over 65.

Quynh in Missouri said she felt good after receiving two doses except for achy muscles on the arm that received the shot. She did acknowledge that others have had more serious side effects depending on their physical condition.

Ninh, who has had one dose, felt grateful for the advancement of science and hoped that the second shot next week would be fine for her. She has never had any allergic reactions to medicines before, she said.

In California, Binh noted that vaccinated people still carry the risk of transmitting the virus, so they should use masks and keep distance from others. These are critical measures in reducing infection cases, while vaccines help to decrease the number of deaths, he said.

Le Tuan Anh, a freelance photographer in New York, expected to get vaccinated early April following the priority order because he is under 65.

On Feb 16, a CNN report said that the U.S. was still months away from having most Americans vaccinated. About 14 million Americans have been fully vaccinated with both doses of their Covid-19 vaccines. That’s only about 4 percent of the U.S. population. And it takes weeks for vaccines to fully kick in. More than 11 percent of Americans have received at least one dose of a vaccine.

A USA Today report quoted Jeff Zients, White House Covid-19 response coordinator, as saying the U.S. was on track to have enough vaccine supply for 300 million Americans by the end of July.

Cautious optimism

Tuan Anh noted that the number of infections in the U.S. was still high and state authorities were under pressure as they pondered whether or not to open up the localities. Businesses and employees were in financial difficulties.

In addition, he worried the pandemic would be hard to contain worldwide without enough effective vaccines for poor countries.

Quynh was also cautiously optimistic. She hoped to see that vaccination program speeded up in the U.S., with the government playing a key role. She also wanted to see a safe opening for businesses and workers in many sectors. Furthermore, research on the vaccines’ sustainable effectiveness should be enhanced to remove people’s doubts, she said.

“If vaccines do not have long-lasting effects, the early economic opening up could be counter-productive.”

However, William Le, living in Sacramento, California, expressed his optimism about the new policies. He felt people were obeying the social distancing rules because they were getting support packages from the government. More packages were coming, he’d heard. Small and medium enterprises were getting various assistance programs at state level.

“I see a very promising recovery in the coming time,” he said.

Ninh described the situation in the U.S. as “a light at the end of the tunnel” as the administration boosted the vaccination program to achieve real herd immunity in the near future. She looked forward to normal life returning before Christmas this year as President Biden has forecast.

“I want to see nothing more than that.”

Tet market in California is bustling with excellent flower and goods stalls

February 8, 2021 by hanoitimes.vn

The Hanoitimes – The largest Vietnamese community in California is eagerly preparing to welcome their traditional Tet (Lunar New Year Festival) as the lockdown for Covid-19 in this state has been recently removed.

Lively reunited flower market

On the occasion of Tet , the Vietnamese community in Little Saigon District, Orange County, Southern California, open a flower market outside the Phuoc Loc Tho mall. Both traders and buyers are excited to see the spring and their traditional holiday atmosphere return in the US.

The Ochna flowers and tropical fruits for Vietnamese traditional Tet holidays in the US.

The atmosphere is very busy in joy as no one expected that they could do it this year. “It is a big surprise for me. Every year, in November, we are ready to open the flower market. This year we were not expecting its opening because we thought it would be impossible due to Covid-19,” said Mr. Minh Tran, owner of Nguyen Hue shop, “about a week ago, we were informed that the flower market is allowed to open we are very happy although we would be much busier.”

Along with fresh flowers as the main product, Tet market in Phuoc Loc Tho mall this year also offers fruits, jam cakes, red envelopes for lucky money for the New Year, calligraphy and handicrafts.

In the section of flower, popular flowers for display during the holiday such as peach, ochna, orchid, daisy are available, reminiscing everyone about the familiar atmosphere of Tet at home.

Another flower shopkeeper, Ms. Anh Le shared his impression on the flower market: “There is neither music nor lion dance, ao dai (traditional dress) show and banh chung (traditional rice cake) packaging competition, so the ambiance seems less animated. However, I can still have a good sale. Everyone keeps a social distance to ensure safety and avoid the spread of disease.”

The flower of Vietnamese Tet – the Chrysanthemum could be found in market in the US. Photo: Gia Tuan.

Ms. Katty Dang (from Los Angeles), a visitor at the market, said that she stayed at home from March 2020 until now due to the Covid-19. She thought that she would continue staying home before and during Tet without celebration as well.

But now as the lockdown has been lifted and shops reopen so people can go shopping for Tet , she said “I’m very happy to know that the flower market is open. Today I only take a walk around to enjoy contemplating the flowers. Seeing blossom peach and ochna is also seeing Tet ” she said, “I will come back with my daughter to buy some ochna or orchids to relieve my homesick during the New Year Festival.”

Meanwhile, Lion Plaza – a long-standing traditional market of Vietnamese people in San Jose City, is always busy at this time. A lot of people come here for shopping for the Lunar New Year Festival.

Goods are offered in abundance. Since last week, Ms. Mai, a cashier at the plaza said she could not stop counting money. “People fill their trolleys with food, fruit, cake, jam, meat, vegetables and everything. They are so excited to do shopping and everyone wears masks and keeps a safe distance of two meters,” she said.

The colouful ao dai (Vietnamese traditional dress) is on sale for the special occasion. Photo: Gia Tuan

Meanwhile, in the Little Saigon area, the number of customers going shopping has increased sharply as Tet is closing in fast. The most purchased products are jam, banh chung, gio cha (Vietnamese sausage), salad, ao dai, votive paper, among others.

All shops have reduced inventory amount this year compared to other years, because the Covid-19 pandemic is still evolving seriously in the world and the US.

It is predicted that most Vietnamese families in the US will limit traveling to see each other during this Tet holiday and only pay each other short visits to exchange Tet gifts, these stores focus on making gift baskets to offer them.

Despite the absence of entertainment activities this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the atmosphere at Vietnamese malls and stores now is still lively and representative of Tet .