A bamboo pole (New Year's Tree) stripped of its leaves except for a tuft on top. Red paper decorates the tree which is planted outside the house during the Tet holidays. It is supposed to ward off the evil spirits during absence of the Spirit of the Hearth who leaves the family at this time to visit the palace of the Jade Emperor.

 

According to Vietnamese legend, once upon a time, in the East of the Soc Son Mountain, North Vietnam, existed a gigantic peach tree. The tree was so huge that its shadow extended through out a large area of land. Up on the tree, lived two powerful deities, Tra and Uat Luy. They protected the people of the land in the surrounding areas from the devils. The devils were so afraid of these two deities that even the sight of the peach tree haunted them.

However, at the end of every Lunar year, these two deities had to fly back to heaven for an annual meeting with the Jade Emperor. During this time, the devils took advantage of this opportunity to harass the peaceful inhabitants. To fight the battle against these devils, people came up with the ideas of display a branch of the Peachtree in the house to scare away the devils. Since then it becomes a custom of the North Vietnamese to have a branch of a Peachtree during Tet season to protect themselves against the Satan soldiers. Who doesn't have Peachtree can draw the figures of the two deities, Tra and Uat Luy, on red paper, and display them in front of the house.

 

Hoa Mai are popular in the south region of Vietnam because of the warm weather. Cay Mai (tree) is a small, yellow flowering plant that is used for decoration during Tet with the meanings of prosperity and well-being for the family.