Lunar New Year in Vietnam

I guess, similar to how some of you celebrate Christmas, Vietnamese people normally spend weeks before the 1st preparing. As far as I remember, in my hometown, the festive atmosphere starts when people visit and tidy their ancestors' graves. Since they have to go to work in the morning so at 3 pm or 4 pm, people have already started the ritual. Roads are busy with vehicles and chit-chat. Sometimes, such simple things remain unforgettable. The next thing is to tidy up and clean our houses. We buy pots of colourful flowers from annual flower markets to decorate our houses. We also love the red color, which represents Luck in our belief so we wrap special red paper around these pots. And then food. Special sweet preserved fruit is totally non-omissible and traditionally (as the majority of us do not have an oven), it requires weeks to dry it out under natural sunlight. There are also other types of food, featured by each region in Vietnam.

One of questions I have been frequently asked by friends and people from over the world is which the biggest celebration in Vietnam is. Since that celebration is going to take place in less than 2 week time so I think today is a good opportunity to introduce the most festive Vietnamese occasion to all of you. Welcome to Tet- or Lunar New Year celebration!

 

As some of you may have already known, in most of South East Asian countries, there are two calendar systems: the Solar (Western) calendar and the Lunar calendar, and they never overlap each other. Usually, the Lunar calendar runs behind the Solar one and there are other differences about the length of each month as well. Consequently, we celebrate the universal New Year Eve just like other countries and we also celebrate the 1st day of the year based on the Lunar calendar. The latter one is the most important celebration. This year, it will be on 8th February (the Western Calendar).

 

What do we do to celebrate it?

 

How long does it last?

I may say the last 3 days of the old year and the first 3 days of the new year are the most important days. But usually, officers and normal workers have 8 days off while students normally have 14 days off.

 

What do we wear?

Colorful and new clothes, preferably those in red! Ah, it is also a good opportunity to wear our traditional dresses, Ao Dai as well.

Anything specials?

Junior family members will say "wishes" to the seniors and in return, the junior will be given "Lucky Money" in red pockets. Traditional games also are worth mentioning. The festive atmosphere is further enhanced by lion dancing performances.

 

What do we say?

Chuc mung nam moi - Happy New Year ( the yellow flower on the left hand side is our traditional flower for this celebration, normally for the Southern region. The alternative in the North is a pink flower)