B: It’s always great to hear from a new listener. Dr. Bonardi, we’ve checked your reports for programs on January 20^th and 27^th and February 3^rd and 10^th. They tally well with our station log so we’ll issue our QSL to verify them. We’re glad to know that transmission on the frequency of 5955 khz was good and stable with a SINPO rating of 54554 or all 5s.

A: Pak Ning Tjang of Indonesia asked How was the TET celebration in Vietnam, particularly in Hanoi? Did VOV’s English section staff have a special banquet dinner for the announcers on New Year’s Eve before heading home from the studio?

Streets in Hanoi are decorated with colorful lights

B: Actually we had a year-end party for the entire VOV staff some days before New Year’s Eve. We also had desserts, beverages, and fruit in the office for broadcasters and technicians who worked during the Tet holiday. During Tet, Hanoi is quieter and there are fewer vehicles on the streets than usual because many people have returned to their home villages for family reunions. Hanoi is “closed for the holidays”. The people who stay visit family members and friends and welcome guests to their house. Some families have a tradition of going to a park, flower gardens, or pagoda to take family photos. The parks are beautifully decorated with a lot of flower displays before and during Tet and are great places for photo shoots.

People buy peach blossom for Tet celebration

A: Most of the city is closed on the first day of Tet with one major exception – the temples and pagodas. Indeed, the area around Sword Lake is packed with Vietnamese and tourists making a pilgrimage to the Lake's own Ngoc Son temple.  West Lake is another popular place during Tet. People visit pagodas and temples there to pray for a happy new year. Hanoi’s Old Quarter is also very festive with crowds of people celebrating the New Year.  Shops owners host big family feasts at all hours of the day. The streets are beautifully decorated.

B: In short, Hanoi is a vibrant and interesting place during Tet. On many travel websites, a number of tourists said they really enjoyed being in Vietnam during Tet. They loved seeing people carrying home flowers and kumquat trees on their motorbikes, hotels and restaurants decorated for Tet, and we loved seeing how happy and excited the Vietnamese people were in anticipation of this holiday. Foreign tourists in Hanoi during Tet put shopping on hold to seek out a still-open restaurant, visit a few temples, and attend a performance of Vietnamese folk art such as a water puppet show.

During Tet people prefer to visit the Jade temple in the Sword Lake

A: For me I love the one in a year opportunity to walk on streets of Hanoi when they are so quiet. The weather at this time of year is very comfortable.  It’s cool and drizzly every morning but in the afternoon the skies had cleared up. 

A: Now let’s continue to read listeners’ letters. From Denmark Hans Verner Lollike emailed us to say: “It’s always encouraging to listen to VOV. I’m very grateful to have received a nice memento for my quiz participation. I thank you so much. I also appreciate the QSL cards you’ve sent me. I hope to send you more reports and I’ll try to keep following the news about your country and its development.”

B: Our recent writing contest was a great successful. Thanks to all our listeners who submitted entries. American listener David Giba tuned in to our program on February 17 on the frequency of 6175 khz and marked SINPO at all 5s. David wrote: “The news started the transmission. Then came Current Affairs, news about the TPP, HCM City social security, infrastructure projects, and poverty reduction, and Vietnamese economy and markets. A song called Melody of spring ended the program. I very much enjoyed listening to VOV tonight and found the economic news very interesting. I love the traditional Vietnamese music most of all. Please send a QSL card or information on how I can get a QSL card from VOV.”

Hanoi is quiet and there are fewer vehicles in the streets

A: We were able to verify your reception report. Any VOV listener can get a QSL card by sending us a report which states the date, time, and frequency of listening, the program content, transmission quality, and personal comment. We also appreciate getting a recording of the program if possible. If you need a frequency list and program guide, just ask. We’ll send them to you by post or email.

B: Another American listener, Richard Nowak, wrote on his reception report of February 22: “I enjoyed tonight’s show, especially the segment on traditional Tet paintings. The news began with tourist development, poetry day, and spring festivals. The Culture and Sports round-up discussed a festival honored as a national heritage. The great Sunday Show had a very interesting segment on traditional Tet paintings. Colors, materials, lines, and different types of paintings conveying wishes for the new year were discussed. The popular paintings attract the old, the young, and tourists, as well. I enjoyed this segment very much. It gave us listeners a very good understanding of Vietnam’s culture.”

A: Thank you for your kind words about toward our program. We’re looking forward to receiving more feedback from you. Eddy Prabowo from Indonesia also listened to the program on February 22 on the frequency of 6175 kHz. He rated SINPO at all 5s. Eddy said: “I logged in with the help of K2SDR’s webSDR reveiver in New Jersey, USA, and monitored in Jakarta Indonesia using a Lenovo E10-30 notebook. Excellent signal strength and very clear audio.”

B: Eddy uses some new tech products for his shortwave listening. In a previous report Eddy said he monitored in Jakarta using Xioami Redmi2 android smartphone. A WebSDR is a Software-Defined Radio receiver connected to the internet, allowing many listeners to tune it simultaneously. SDR technology makes it possible for listeners to tune in independently and listen to different signals. This is in contrast to the many classical receivers that are available on the internet.

A: Wow, it sounds complicated to me. None of our listeners has mentioned this technology before. I’ll go to the internet to find out more about it. Thank you, Eddy, for sending us a recording of the program. It helps us evaluate the signal quality at your location.

B: On the Letter Box, we can’t always mention every letter and reception report we received during the week. But we definitely will verify them all. Thank you very much for listening and sending us your feedback. Our address is English Section, Overseas Service, Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Our email address is englishsection@vov.org.vn. Thanks again for listening. Goodbye.