Do you know which Southeast Asian country has the most festive atmosphere? The answer you’ll never guess is: Vietnam! Not only is the Lunar New Year a legal holiday in Vietnam, but every household also makes rice dumplings on New Year's Eve. The elders make plans for a spring break, pay New Year greetings to each other, visit each other’s houses, and “collect red envelopes” from relatives and friends’ homes!
In addition to the lively New Year, Vietnam does not have the taboo of "a daughter-in-law cannot return to her parents' home on the first day of the new year", and the social atmosphere of "confinement at her parents' home after giving birth is king."
Vietnamese children go from door to door to pay New Year greetings and take red envelopes to ask for good luck
Vietnam and China have many similar customs, but there are also differences. In Vietnam, not only the elders in the family will give out red envelopes, but as long as you are not married yet, you will receive red envelopes when you visit your neighbors and friends to pay New Year greetings. You don’t need to give a lot of money. If you don’t know someone, just give them a small red envelope. Everyone is just asking for good luck. The younger generations plan together with their elders which days to visit relatives and friends, and which days to prepare meals at home to entertain guests. Everyone chatted, ate candies, said some blessings and exchanged red envelopes. The New Year was very joyful and lively.
Vietnamese "New Year Rice Dumplings"
During the New Year in Vietnam, local people will send gifts to the Kitchen God and worship ancestors. After the reunion dinner on New Year's Eve, everyone will stay up late, which is said to make parents live longer. After 12 o'clock, people will go to various temples to worship, welcome the blessings from the gods, and bless us with peace throughout the year.
During New Year's Eve in Vietnam, in addition to having a reunion dinner with family, rice dumplings are also indispensable. Zongzi are made to worship ancestors and to worship heaven.
Vietnamese rice dumplings are filled with glutinous rice, mung beans and pork, which means "the sky is round and the earth is round". Long-shaped rice dumplings are made from the southern method, symbolizing "Heaven"; square rice dumplings are made from the northern method, symbolizing "Earth". Eating rice dumplings as a family also expresses unity, because rice dumplings are made of many pieces of rice and are tied together very firmly.
html There are several different ways to eat three-year rice dumplings. They can be steamed and eaten hot on the first day, and fried on the second day. They can also be eaten with preserved eggs, dried shrimps, or pickled buckwheat , pickled radish and other pickles. Vietnam also eats rice dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival, but it is not limited to the long and square rice dumplings used during the New Year, but there are various types of rice dumplings such as banana rice dumplings, alkaline rice dumplings, triangular rice dumplings, and pentagonal rice dumplings.
Can’t go back to your parents’ home on the first day of junior high school? Vietnamese parents welcome their daughters home anytime!
There is no custom in Vietnam that "you cannot go back to your parents' house on the first day of the new year". As long as you agree to celebrate the New Year at your husband's house or your parents-in-law's house, you can cook more dishes from either side. If the daughter-in-law wants to go back to her natal home to see her family, she can go back at any time.
Not only that, Vietnam also has a special habit: most Vietnamese people go back to their parents’ homes for confinement! The parents-in-law encouraged the daughter-in-law to return to her parents' home for confinement, and the parents' parents were of course willing to let their daughter go home. If you are confinement at your husband's house and the child needs a bath, you will be embarrassed to trouble your parents-in-law. But when you go back to your parents' home, you will have brothers and sisters to help take care of you, and your mother will know what you like to eat, so it will be relatively comfortable.
Vietnam Spring Festival Gala: A cultural feast for the Vietnamese people to celebrate the New Year
When you arrive in Vietnam, you will find that except for the words, Vietnam and China are almost exactly the same. It is simply a little China! The most important cultural feast of the Chinese Spring Festival is of course the Spring Festival Gala, and so is Vietnam! The Vietnamese Spring Festival Gala started in 2003 and was hosted by Vietnam Central Radio. It is called: Meet the Kitchen at the End of the Year - Zaojun. The content of the party is similar to that of the Chinese Spring Festival Gala, both in the form of a grand party, with sketches, singing and dancing, and displays of traditional culture. Every New Year’s Eve, people of all ages in Vietnam gather together to watch the party!
