On February 16th, the last day of the Lunar Year of Snake, workers of Hà Nội's Urban Environment company on one of their last tours picking up waste from make-shift peach and flower markets. Photo courtesy by tienphong.com

HÀ NỘI — During less than 12 hours before the Lunar Year of the Horse kicks in, environmental workers still had to pick up loads of large peach, pear and apricot branches from the city's pavements to keep the city clean. 

Unsold peach branches, peach trees, kumquat pots and potted flowers were either left behind on the sidewalks in the outskirts, or the owners destroyed them so that they could not be used by anyone else. 

Dubbed "forest peach branches" for sales purposes, these branches were and still are a popular home decoration trend. 

The best place for these wild forest peaches is in the forest. If you get to travel to the mountains in the northwestern provinces or near Đà Lạt in the south, you will never forget the magnificent landscapes filled with blooming peach trees. 

"Look at the big branches that were cut off and left behind on the streets. It took them five years or more to grow that big. A life cut short only due to some selfish hobby for a few days of Tết," complained Trần Thị Nguyệt, who lived in Portugal.

The trend to have a branch of wild peach in your living room has been growing over the past 10-15 years. The wild beauty of the five-petal, light pink flowers, contrasting with moss on the branch, represents the eternal liveliness of spring. It also reflects an ancient philosophy that has been brought into modern life. 

It's illegal to cut down peach branches in the protected forests for sale. But five years ago, in Sơn La Province, the local government tried a programme to stamp peaches grown in the mountains for legal sale in the cities. 

Suppoters of "forest peaches"argue that the sales of the flowers and trees help many gardeners to earn more income during the biggest and most important festival of the year. They also provide better income for mountain gardeners. 

They also bring up personal taste to look for a unique, special beauty that cultivated peaches cannot have. 

Those who oppose the hobby say they'd rather go to the mountains and contemplate their wild beauty in their best environment even at the added expense of travel and accommodation. 

Peach flowers grown in gardens in Hà Nội bloom for Tết. VNS Photo Trương Vị

"Not everyone can afford a trip to the mountains," argue wild peach hunters. "But a small branch of wild peach can bring a whole spring from the wild Northwest to Hà Nội."

You can go on for aesthetics and will not find a final decision, but the wasted trees on the streets of Hà Nội and Nghệ An are real, and the environmental workers need to pick them up. 

Discarded waste peach who would never see spring, either in the mountain or down in the cities.Photo courtesy of tienphong online.com

Tết lasts for only a few days, but big trees of these sizes, whether in protected forests or private gardens, should not be cut down only for some people to show off wealth or class for a few days. 

If a beautiful branch can be seen in cafes or other public places, more people can admire its beauty, then it can be reasonable.

No statistics are available for the amount of peach ready for Tết that has gone to the garbage dumping site, but the market has been slow because buying power was limited. Not only have peach sellers gone home with less profit than expected, but their potential customers could not afford it.

When neither of them was benefitting, the street environmental workers are the last to pick up the discarded peach wood and dump them in a city landfill.

Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính thanked the environmental workers who keep Hà Nội streets clean. Photo courtesy by Hải Linh (Nhân Dân)

Only a couple of days ago, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính paid a visit to the public environment workers at Hà Nội Railway Station, giving them an early Tết wish and symbolic red lucky money envelopes for the New Year. He thanked them for their great work, shook their hands, and encouraged them to keep up their great work to keep Hà Nội streets clean. VNS