Believe me or not, you may never want to limit yourself planning to visit Vietnam only in summer time because our biggest spring festival – Tet a.k.a the Lunar New Year Eve would give you some of the most unique experiences about our culture.
Many Asian countries share the same lunar calendar using for New Year countdown, and the Vietnamese has still conserved their best of this event until this day, with plentiful traditional customs including both daily activities and gastronomy. If you have a chance being invited to visit a Vietnamese family during the Tet holiday, especially those international students who may have a few local friends at schools, do not miss it ;). Otherwise, at least you can give it a try to ask for this amazing experience and being surprised by the hospitality of locals here.
Usually, Vietnamese workers start their holiday season from 28th Tet (2 days before Lunar New Year because the Lunar calendar has only 30 days for every month) and the number of day leave depends on the government official announcement each year. However we often begin preparing for Tet even further days before that you can easily feel the special atmosphere when walking on every hustle and bustle street corners.
The main customs for many Vietnamese family begin with the ritual of ancient Vietnamese worship called "Ong Cong - Ong Tao" on the 23th Tet (1 week before Lunar New Year Eve). The next few days is about tidying routine and house decorating which we believe in a neat and clean house would bring more luck and joy in the upcoming year. The father would go to the flower market to buy a branch of cherry blossom (Northern Vietnam), a pot of yellow apricot flower (Southern Vietnam) and/or a pot of kumquat tree for decoration. The reason behind this difference in flower selection comes from the distinct weather along Vietnam terrain and we will see you again with further details on this cultural diversity in next chapters of the Tet series.
“Tet comes, she gently puts on a silk cloak woven from elegance, charm and shyness.”
In the 1st and 2nd day of Tet, you may want to prepare for your daily meals carefully because you will hardly find any restaurants or food shops open during this time.
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(to be continued)
The upcoming "Tet" series:
Tet - a spring cloak of Vietnam (Ep. 2)
Tet - Past & Present
Tet - On the dining table
Tet - North & South
Tet - The meaning of 12 Vietnamese zodiac