Some tips for New Year in Vietnam
Lunar New Year will be celebrated on 1st January (lunar month) and usually last 3 - 5 days. However, few days before Tet are also hustle days and bring interesting things. Many families renovate houses in the days before Tet, adding even more noise to the already raucous streets of Vietnam.
The years are represented by 12 zodiac animals: rat, buffalo, tiger, cat, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. These animals rotate through 12-year periods. Each animal has different strengths and weaknesses that they are believed to pass on to any person born in their year.
Ancestor worship is also a key part of Tet, and nearly every home in Vietnam contains a family shrine where the spirits of deceased relatives are kept. Gifts, including Li Xi (lucky money) and food are placed in the shrines to keep ancestors content in the afterlife. On Tet holiday, people are also supposed to say best wishes to others.
The following are some ways that most Vietnamese people use to say on Lunar New Year day:
• Chúc Mừng Năm Mới: Happy New Year
• Cung Chúc Tân Xuân: Gracious wishes of the new spring
• Vạn Sự Như Ý: May all your wishes come true
• Năm Mới dồi dào sức khỏe: I wish you a healthy new year
• Năm mới tấn tài tấn lộc: I wish you a wealthy new year
• Năm mới thăng quan tiến chức: I wish that you will get promoted in the new year
• Năm mới toàn gia bình an: I wish that the new year will bring health to all your family
• Năm mới thắng lợi mới: New year, new triumphs (often heard in political speech)
• Chúc hay ăn chóng lớn: Eat more, grow rapidly (for children)
• Chúc mau chóng tìm được người yêu: New lover will come in the new year (for single people)
• Tiền vào nhu nước sông Đà, tiền ra nhỏ giọt như cà phê phin: Money influx is as strong as Da's river; expenditure is as little as dripping coffee