Halong Bay
Cruise Trips
Other Junks
Sights
Vietnamese Lunar New Year
Vietnamese Lunar New Year (Tet)
As many TTers asked if they should visit
Vietnam over Tet
or not, what is the meaning of Tet, here is some
information about our traditional customs:
The meaning of “Tet”
Similar to Christmas and (Solar) New Year celebrations,
Tet is an occasion for family reunion and merriment
after a long year of hard work. For an agrarian
community like Vietnam, it is also a short rest period
before the hustle and bustle of the coming-on spring
harvest. People’s rejoicings also symbolize a warm
welcome to the awakening of the mother-soil from her
hibernation.
Tet’s customs
A crystallization of a curious mixture of the people’s
superstitious beliefs and practical wisdom, Tet’s
customs reflect the mentality of our people. The
family’s altar must be painstakingly set up with an
abundance of offerings perpetually aglow with candle
light and wrapped in incense. Our ancestors’ manes are
invited home to share with the living of the fruit of
the family’s labors.
Luck money
As tokens of well-wishing intentions, some newly-issued
bank notes in red envelops are given to children and
teenagers on this occasion. Quite a few thrifty children
will hoard them in brightly-painted piggy-banks to
induce luck throughout the year.
Peach and plum boughs
Peach flowers (in North Vietnam) and plum flowers (in
South Vietnam) brighten most living rooms during these
days as the embodiment of youth and vitality and hope at
the very beginning of a new and thus, hopefully
propitious year ahead.
The Kitchen Gods
Residing under the same roof with mortals are 2 gods and
1 goddess who make up a family of their own as 2
husbands and a wife. This odd family pattern might have
been conceived as a humorous criticism leveled at
polygamy – a common practice in an agrarian society. The
Kitchen Gods – as these family gods are called – are
believed to be the household guardians protecting the
family and keeping a record of its deeds, good and bad
alike, to report annually to the Jade Emperor (the Asian
counterpart of Greece’s Jupiter). They set off on their
heaven-bound mission as early as the 23rd of the 12th
lunar month so as to return to their hearth on the New
Year’s Eve in time for resumption of their guardianship.
On this occasion, householders never fail to burn a
paper carp as a “means" of transportation for the gods.
Strings of fire-crackers
Exactly at the stroke of midnight of the New Year’s Eve,
fire-crackers everywhere concurrently boom out the old
year, warding off evil spirits and bad luck, and
clearing the way for a warm welcome to the prosperous
and fortunate new year.
(Now fire-crackers were banned, we enjoy the fireworks
on the New Year’s Eve)
Red parallel scrolls
On red paper and in gilded characters (Sino or
Sino-Vietnamese calligraphy) parallel scrolls are either
hung on both sides of the ancestors’ altar, or pasted on
the wall to express the owners’ wishes or aspirations
for the new year.
Tet’s special foods
Special occasions call for special foods to celebrate.
For Tet, a highly seasoned glutinous rice cake (“Banh
Chung” in the North, and “Banh Tet” in the South) is a
must for the new year feasts. Square in shape to
represent our earth, this cake is to be accompanied by
another kind of plain rice cake (called “Banh Day”) in
round shape to suggest the universe. Even trivial things
like foods and drinks are imbued with our ancestors’
cosmic concept.
Water melon
Water melon, which is said to date back to the Hung
dynasty (the Hungs being the country’s founding fathers
from its misty prehistory), is another must for desserts
of the occasion. With its red (the color of good luck),
sweet (the taste of success), and juicy (the sign of
abundance) pulp, it heightens the merriment of the time.
Some taboos
Watch your language! – Bad, angry words are strictly
prohibited for fear that they might bring bad luck
throughout the new year. Oddly enough, even the names of
some animals are taboos, such as monkey, dog…
Dust not, sweep not! Sweeping the floor, dusting
furniture during the period from midnight of the New
Year’s Eve to midnight of the New Year’s Day may bring
poverty to the family, as money may take leave on the
heels of the discarded rubbish.
Behave yourself! For at least 4 days of the New Year
celebration, try to put on a smiling face, which happy
appearance is most likely to bring good tidings to
yourself and those who meet you as well.
Being the first visitor
It is widely believed that the first person to cross the
threshold of your house at Tet can somehow determine how
you will fare in the new year. Some people are welcome
warmly as carriers of good luck while others are
invariably stigmatized as unlucky creatures. This has
resulted in some people going to great lengths to
pre-arrange for the “right person” to be their first
visitor of the year – by all standards a risky job
indeed.
All in all, Tet is a time for the hard-working
Vietnamese to forget – even temporarily – the harsh
realities of life, and to give and receive joy and
happiness. It is an invigorating break from the grey
monotony of routine.
And it will certainly be observed as long as people are
still sentient.
Other tips
Useful sites
1. Red Dragon
Junk, Cruise Halong Bay: 5 cabin boat on
Halong Bay
All cruises on
Halong Bay Online,
Halong bay
travel guide, Hanoi Halong Bay Tours, Maps to Halong,
2. Prince
Cruise Halong Bay Vietnam: 4 cabin cruise on Halong
Bay
3. Jayavarman
Cruise on Mekong River Vietnam Cambodia: luxury
cruise on the Mekong River
4. Hanoi Airlines:
book flight tickets to Hanoi
5. Halong Bay
Cruise: list all cruise boats on Halong Bay & Bai Tu
Long Bay
6. Hotel
Vietnam, Vietnam Hotels: book hotels and resorts in
Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia
7. Laos Travel
Guide: book tours in Laos with the New Road Tour
8. Cambodia
Travel: useful guides, hotels, flights, tours in
Cambodia
9. Phu Quoc
Travel Guide: useful information on Phu Quoc Island
Vietnam
10. Travel Sapa
Vietnam: tours, hotels, maps to Sapa Vietnam
11. Mekong
Delta Tours: cruise, hotels, tours in Mekong, Saigon
Other new travel sites
1. Vietnam Travel
Company: First Choice Tours in Vietnam
2. Hue Travel Guide:
guide, maps, tours in Hue Vietnam
3. Sapa Travel Tips:
Sapa guides, tourist information
4. Mekong River
Tours, Mekong Amalotus Cruise, Amalotus Cruise,
Amalotus Boat Mekong River
5. Amalotus.com,
Amalotuscruise.com, Amalotus Indochina Sails Mekong
River
6. Mekong
River Boats: Mekong Tours, Mekong River Tours
7. Hoi An Travel
Guide: Tours, maps to Hoi An
