The full name of the Vietnamese New Year sounds like Tet Nguyen Dan and literally translates as “first morning festival”.
This holiday is special and the most important in Vietnam. Often, Tet is also called the festival of spring, since it is considered the beginning of spring. The date of the New Year in Vietnam is different every year, but falls on the period from January 20 to February 20, according to the Eastern calendar. The Vietnamese celebrate Tang for 4 days.
Since China is considered the founder of Eastern culture, Tang can also be called the Chinese New Year. Moreover, the New Year in China and Vietnam, as a rule, coincide.
Features of celebrating the New Year in Vietnam
Although the country is small, there are still differences in the festive rituals and traditions in its different parts.
For example, in the northern part of the houses, as a symbol of prosperity, a blossoming peach branch is placed, and in the southern part, an apricot is used for this. In addition, the inhabitants of the south bring watermelons to the altar, the pulp of which is a symbol of good luck.
The evening before the onset of the New Year is the time of the universal dragon dances. But the most impressive events take place at night. With the onset of dusk, bonfires are lit in the streets, near which people gather.
It is a good omen to celebrate the New Year with a gray-haired man, if he is at least 70 years old.
On the days of the holiday, people come to visit each other with gifts, packing them in small red bags.
There are also clothing requirements. When Vietnam celebrates the New Year, men wear all black, while women wear yellow or red.
The festive program for the New Year in Vietnam consists of 3 stages:
- 1. New Year's Eve, or Tatnien. This is, in fact, a preparatory period. People buy food and new clothes, clean the house, and sometimes even make repairs.
- 2. New Year's Day or Zyaothya. On this day, children put on their new clothes, and parents give them money in a red envelope.
- 3. Directly New Year or Tangnyen. The day is marked by colorful fireworks, after which everyone goes home to spend time with the family.
When celebrating the Tang New Year, people in Vietnam try to make as much noise as possible, as they believe they will ward off evil spirits.
Rooster fights, puppet theater performances, flower festivals - these are the usual events of New Year's days.
If you want to change the usual environment, plunge into an unusual atmosphere, then you are right here, for the Vietnamese Tang New Year.
New Year food in Vietnam
Special goodies are cooked in Vietnam on coals. Their main ingredient is rice.
In the northern part of the country, on New Year's Eve, people indulge themselves with pork legs with bamboo sprouts, jellied meat, carps with sauce. During the Tang, southern residents eat pork in pots boiled in coconut milk, pieces of carrots, and turnips. The main feature on the New Year's table is rice cake.
A feature of the Vietnamese New Year's feast is that some dishes are consumed exclusively on New Year's Eve. Each dish symbolizes something, it is desirable that the table be crowded.
If you are a fan of exotic oriental food, then here you will find something that will delight and surprise you.
Where is the best place to celebrate the New Year in Vietnam
Vietnam is a country located near the South China Sea, so the weather in Vietnam for the New Year will help you remember the warm summer and immerse yourself in its beauty for a few days. Which city of Vietnam you would not visit, in any case, bright, unforgettable emotions await you.
Although Vietnam is not yet popular and in high demand among tourists, the country really has something to see. Prices in Vietnam for the New Year are not much different from prices at any other time of the year. Tours to this country are quite expensive, but in the country itself you won’t spend much, because the prices for food, souvenirs, clothes are very democratic.
Among the minuses there is the possibility of encountering theft, but observing the elementary rules of caution will help to avoid such unpleasant episodes in your vacation.
Where is the best holiday in Vietnam for the New Year? Local hotels offer tourists a very wide range of entertainment services. The price range is also very different. But not always a lot of stars means a high class of service. Therefore, before you go to Vietnam, be serious about choosing a hotel, read the reviews of those who have already been there.
If you decide to celebrate the New Year in a restaurant, it is also advisable to take care of its choice ahead of time. Moreover, their choice is not so great.
If you want to celebrate our traditional New Year in Vietnam, then the country also offers such an opportunity for tourists. The Vietnamese even decorate the streets in the scenery familiar to us.
In December, the rains just end, so you can even treat yourself to a beach holiday, as the air and water temperatures allow it.
