[Video] How 1949 Saigon Rang in the Lunar New Year

It's no secret that the Saigon of today is a world apart from the Saigon of old.

As Tet approaches and the entire country rushes to complete its final end-of-year preparations, this video posted to Facebook by user Sai Gon Xua & Nay reminds us of what the Lunar New Year looked like in 1949.

Ahead of the holiday, bustling markets and ox-drawn wooden carts populate the city streets alongside traditional calligraphers, lion dance troupes and wizened fortune tellers. Clouds of incense smoke envelop the throngs of Saigonese at Cho Lon's Tue Thanh Assembly Hall, while others pay their respects at District 1's Hung Vuong Temple or the Le Van Duyet Mausoleum in Binh Thanh. While many of the details are different, the activities remain the same; Nguyen Hue even had its long-running flower street back then.

Take a glimpse of Saigon's enchanting old-school Tet below:

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