On the morning of February 17 (the 1st day of Lunar New Year), thousands of people and tourists gathered in the Nghinh Phong slope area, crossing the sea to go to the temple on Hon Ba island (Bai Sau area, Vung Tau ward, Ho Chi Minh City) to pray for peace at the beginning of the new year.
From early morning, the area was bustling with motorbikes entering the parking lot and many cars parked along Ha Long road. After that, people and tourists followed the trail down to the beach. At about 6 am, when the tide began to recede deeply, revealing a jagged stone road, people began to cross the sea to go to the island to offer incense and pray for peace.
On the island, there is a small temple, often called Mieu Ba, built around the end of the 18th century to worship Thuy Long Than Nu. The temple is worshiped by many fishermen, praying for favorable weather to be assured to go offshore fishing.
Mr. Nguyen Tuan Anh - a resident of Long Hai commune - said that he and his family came to Vung Tau from early morning to visit the temple. "We have learned about the tide retreat calendar, so we came early to prepare. When the tide recedes, revealing a rocky road, we cross the sea to go to the temple to offer incense and pray for peace. After that, the whole family will continue to offer incense at pagodas," Mr. Tuan Anh said.
According to the Culture and Social Department of Vung Tau ward, in the first days of the year, there are often many people and tourists coming to visit the temple and offer incense to pray for peace on Hon Ba island. This year, from the 1st to the 4th day of Tet, the tide recedes deep during the day, creating favorable conditions for people and tourists to cross the sea to visit the temple. The locality also arranged forces to ensure security and order in the area.
On the morning of the 1st day of Tet, in addition to Hon Ba island, other temples and pagodas in Vung Tau ward were also bustling with people and tourists coming to offer incense on the first day of the year. A large number of people also came to Quang Trung park area (Bai Truoc) to enjoy spring, check-in with the big scene of the Binh Ngo mascot.
