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"March is here, and it fills me with so much emotion."
The pomelo tree blossoms with white flowers, filling the sky with memories.
The fragrance is gentle yet intensely sweet, like a breath.
"From someone… from a very distant past"
Hanoi this season is characterized by humid spring rains, and the sky is always tinged with sadness due to gloomy, gray clouds. Yet, all of this is salvaged by the pristine white color and pure fragrance of...pomelo blossomsLike a young maiden in the prime of her youth, grapefruit blossoms captivate with their gentle, pure white, and translucent beauty.
As March arrives, the season of pomelo blossoms returns to the capital.
The delicate, dreamy blossoms of the pomelo tree add to the peaceful beauty of Hanoi.
Every year after Tet (Lunar New Year), as the changing seasons become more apparent, Hanoi begins to welcome the pomelo blossom season with its clusters of intoxicatingly fragrant flowers. Walking along the streets during this time, one unconsciously slows down a little, to admire the pleasant white blossoms, to savor these days in Hanoi that are as poetic as poetry, yet also bring a sense of tranquility to the soul.
These days, street vendors and old bicycles are piled high with clusters of pristine white pomelo blossoms. From bustling streets to secluded corners deep within the old town, one can still find a faint, familiar, and pleasantly rustic fragrance. Just encountering a branch of pomelo blossoms gently swaying in the breeze is enough to bring a smile to one's face.
These days, street vendors' carts and old bicycles are piled high with clusters of pristine white pomelo blossoms.
During the pomelo blossom season, many people seek out these flowers to bring home and arrange in vases or display on plates in their living rooms. The gentle fragrance of pomelo blossoms permeates the entire house, dispelling the damp, musty feeling characteristic of Hanoi's humid season. Gradually, the hobby of enjoying pomelo blossoms has become a cherished tradition for many people every March.
In recent years, more and more people in Hanoi have become captivated by the fragrance of pomelo blossoms. This simple, rustic flower appears on street vendors' carts throughout the city, sold in bunches or by weight. Compared to other fresh flowers on the market, pomelo blossoms are among the more expensive. Specifically, Dien pomelo blossoms, with their small blossoms but abundant branches and distinctive fragrant scent, are the most expensive, costing around 500,000 VND/kg. Currently, pomelo blossoms are in season, with prices ranging from 250,000 to 300,000 VND/kg. Some vendors sell small bunches of pomelo blossoms for 50,000 to 80,000 VND/bunch.
Pomelo blossoms can be found on street vendors' carts throughout the city, sold in bunches or by weight.
Pomelo blossoms are priced at 300,000 VND/kg, while fallen blossoms cost 150,000 VND/kg.
According to a vendor selling pomelo blossoms at the entrance to Thong Nhat Park (Hanoi), she imports pomelo blossoms to sell from the end of February to the beginning of March until the season ends. The price of pomelo blossoms is 300,000 VND/kg, while fallen blossoms cost 150,000 VND/kg. Most customers buy pomelo blossoms because they love the fragrance, so they only buy a few hundred grams at a time; the number of customers buying 1 kg or more is not large.
Appearing only once a year and never lasting more than 20 days, everyone rushes to preserve a little bit of grapefruit blossom fragrance for themselves. Not a luxurious or ostentatious flower, grapefruit blossom possesses a simple, unpretentious, gentle, and uniquely captivating beauty. Without needing to be overly complicated or elaborate, grapefruit blossom naturally enters life, habits, songs, poems, and even familiar everyday dishes.
Not only is it used for display indoors, but the fragrance of pomelo blossoms is also preserved in refined culinary dishes.
Not only is it used for display indoors, but the fragrance of pomelo blossoms is also preserved in refined culinary dishes.Dishes with the fragrant scent of pomelo blossoms.Notable examples include cassava starch infused with pomelo blossoms, longan and lotus seed dessert infused with pomelo blossom fragrance, and sugarcane infused with pomelo blossoms… This shows that people have thousands of ways to preserve the delicate and captivating scent of this flower.
Every year, around March, people eagerly await the blossoming of pomelo trees, as if it were something very familiar, something they would feel incomplete and restless without. And so, without knowing exactly when, the pomelo blossom has become an indispensable flower in Hanoi's 12-month calendar. A simple flower whose fragrance, even a fleeting whiff, makes people smile and realize: "The scent of Hanoi."
Every year in March, people eagerly await the blossoming of pomelo trees, as if waiting for something very familiar.
