Vietnam Welcomes in the New Year February 7th

Vietnamese people throughout the world will be celebrating the New Year, which is being hailed as the Year of the Rat this year, Thursday, February 7^th.

The Vietnamese New Year, known as Tet Nguyen Dan or simply Tet, shares some of the same customs and taboos as the Chinese New Year, which coincidentally falls on the same day as Tet; except in rare cases when the one-hour time difference between Vietnam and China results in the Chinese New Year occurring 24-hours later.

Unlike most countries where New Year festivities lasts for a day, Vietnam's can last anywhere from three to ten days. The Vietnamese believe the first day and the first week of the New Year will determine the fortunes or misfortunes they will receive throughout the year. For this reason special attention is given to cleaning and decorating the house, settling debts and purchasing new clothes and traditional holiday food items in the weeks preceding the actual holiday.

Traditional decorations include the Tet tree or cay neu, which is a bamboo pole stripped of its leaves except for a tuft on top that is set up outside the home as a guardian of the house to ward off evil spirits; in the north, flowering branches of rose-colored dao flowers are spread throughout the house as symbols of life and good fortune while the bright golden yellow branches of the hoa mai are used in the south; and kumquat bushes, which have been pruned symmetrically to reveal it's orange fruits are prominently displayed in the home in the hopes that wealth and good fortune will be forthcoming.

Traditionally, the New Year is celebrated with a special rice cake, known as bánh chung in Hanoi, and bánh tet in Ho Chi Minh city. The tradition of serving these rice cakes is believed to have gotten its start over 3,000 years ago during the reign of King Hung.

Vietnamese legend says when the time came to choose a successor the King, who had 22 sons, directed each to search out recipes and foods that he had yet tasted. The son to bring back the best dish would be named ruler of the kingdom.