Cuisine of Vietnamese people for the New Year festival is a crystallization of abundant and specific dishes. A traditional banquet must have square sticky rice cakes (bánh chưng), round sticky rice cakes (bánh dày), cylindrical sticky rice cakes (bánh tét), steamed momordica glutinous rice (xôi gấc), chicken, grilled pork rolls (nem), lean pork paste-sausage (giò lụa), fried pork sausage (giò xào), frozen pork (thịt đông), salted onion, and soup of bamboo sprout and pig skin. During the New Year festival, people also enjoy different kinds of jam made of ginger, coconut, kumquat, and lotus seed, together with pumpkin seeds, gourd seeds, and peanut candies. In the past, the New Year festival was the occasion when people throughout the country donated their local specialties to the king, especially phục linh cakes (made of tapioca and coconut milk), lotus/chrysanthemum liquor.
Traditionally, after the New Year’s Eve ceremony, people would burn firecrackers. According to folk belief, bad devils are afraid of big noises, so the sound of firecrackers at the moment of the New Year’s Eve will help to drive evil spirits and bad luck of the old year away and signal the start of the New Year. If firecrackers explode loudly and produce fine rubbish, it means a good omen of the New Year. However, due to the risks of fire, physical damages and environmental pollution, the practice of burning firecrackers has been banned by the State since the 1990s.
The Lunar New Year festival isthe occasion of family reunion. In the first morning, husbands and wives, children, siblings will pay visit and congratulate their parents, grandparents and relatives of the paternal family; the second day is spent for the maternal family; and the third day for teachers. This is also the occasion for children to wish their parents and grandparentsgood health. In their turn, grandparents and parentsgive lucky money (tiền lì xì, mừng tuổi) kept in red envelops to their young children, hoping that the latter are always healthy, obedient and study well. The practice of saying New Year’s greetings and giving luck money show people’s filial duty, respect, and love.
Starting a New Year handwriting (khai bút) is a cultural tradition reflecting Vietnamese people’s fondness of learning. At the royal court, the King started his New Year writing on dragon paper in order to pray for good weather and happiness for all of his subjects, dignify courtiers’ loyalty, and admonish himself. In the society, Confucian scholars and students, in neat costumes, burned incense sticks at their desk and wrote some essay on flowery or red paper with a new pen-brushand good ink. Each of them tried to sincerely write down sentences and words that convey their good expectations in the New Year; and they believed that with good handwriting, everything would be successful all the year.
The custom of asking for and giving handwritings (xin chữ, cho chữ) at the beginning of the New Year symbolizes the tradition of respecting teachers and fondness of learning. People usually asked for handwritings from honest mandarins, scholars, and teachers who were famous for their talent, righteousness, good knowledge, and good handwriting. The person who asked for handwriting not only wanted to get the characters of their aspiration but alsohoped to be able to share the blessing and talent of the people who gave handwriting. Depending on his age andsituation, a person would ask for a different character each year. A student often asked for such characters as Tuệ (Wisdom), Trí (Intelligence), Tài (Talent); young people wanted Danh (Fame), Duyên (Love); merchants expect Vượng (Wealth), Thịnh (Prosperity), Lộc (Fortune).
For a long time, spring sightseeing has becomea popular activity of Vietnamese people. Formerly, kings and their courtiers usually organized spring sightseeing tours in the early days of the New Year to pray for peace and happiness; the king, wearing dragon tunic, went first, followed by his officials and mandarins. Nowadays, after paying visits to their relatives, many families will go to the sites of beauty, attend spring festivals or visit Buddhist pagodas.Spring sightseeing takes place in a joyful ambiance, full of spring vitality.
During the New Year festival, folk games are indispensable, especially swinging, playing chess, tug-of-war, and smashing earthen pots. Through these funny and interesting folk games, a useful playground for children is formed, enriching their life skills andhelping them to better understand and appreciate the nation’s cultural traditions and values. In recent years, the Heritage Site of the Thăng Long Imperial Citadel has become a favourite destination of young children.