Ho Chi Minh City Local Custom Tips by Blatherwick

Tet Nguyen Dan (Feast of the First Morning), more commonly known by its shortened name Tet, is the most important holiday in Vietnam. It is the Vietnamese New Year which is based on the Chinese calendar. Tet shares many of the same customs of its Chinese counterpart. It is celebrated from the first day of the first month of the Chinese calendar (around late January or early February) until at least the third day. Many Vietnamese prepare for Tet by cooking special holiday foods and cleaning the house. Vietnamese people usually return to their families during Tet. Some return to worship at the family altar or visit the graves of their ancestors. Others return to where they grew up.

Saigon is particularly fun during the eve of Tet. Thousands of people make their way to the city centre to celebrate the coming of the new year and to watch the fireworks that will go off at midnight. Remember the traditional greeting for Tet which is "Chuc mung nam moi." There are other sayings but keep it simple and have fun.

Preparations for Tet start months before the actual celebrations. People try to pay off their debts in advance so that they can be debt-free on Tet. Parents buy new clothes for their children so that the children can don them when Tet arrives. Because a lot of commercial activity will cease during the celebrations, people try to stock up on supplies as much as possible. In the days leading up to Tet, the streets and markets are full of people. Everyone is busy buying food, clothes, and decorations for their house.

The first day of Tet is reserved for the nuclear family. In Saigon, the streets are pretty much empty as most people stay at home or leave the city to visit their close relatives in the countryside. Children receive li xi (lucky money) from their elders in red packages.

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