Sheer Lunar-cy: Tet in Ho Chi Minh City Part 1
N o sooner have we finished celebrating (Gregorian) New Year, then we swiftly move on to the next (Lunar) New Year in a mere matter of weeks. Or Tet (Tết Nguyen Dan) as it's officially known here in Vietnam. So that means another round of year-end parties and celebrations (good or bad, whichever way you look at it), but this time ramped-up on steroids - of the two New Year’s Eve’s, the biggest party is reserved for Tet. But Tet is so much more than merely heralding the start of the Vietnamese Lunar New Year and first lunar month. For those not familiar, or just plain confused, what exactly is Tet? More like, what isn’t Tet? For the Vietnamese, Tet (literally translating as "festival") is the biggest, most important celebration in the Vietnamese calendar and an extremely auspicious time to boot. Tet is a sort of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve all-in-one combo. In Vietnam, it's a tradition...