(Taiwan Immigrants’ Global News Network) – The Lunar New Year is an important festival in Taiwan every year. For Vietnam, the Lunar New Year is also the most important traditional festival. During the New Year, people return to their hometowns for family reunions. Nguyễn Thu Hằng (阮秋姮), a new immigrant from Vietnam, and her Taiwanese husband run the "Hang TV - Vietnam, Taiwan" (Hang TV - 越南夯台灣) channel on YouTube, sharing the culture and life in Taiwan and in Vietnam. Their videos have Chinese and Vietnamese subtitles, so people from both countries can learn more about both Taiwan and Vietnam and understand the differences between the two cultures. This episode of "New Immigrants in Taiwan" was filmed by Nguyen Thu Hang in 2019. She shares how the local Chinese New Year is celebrated in Vietnam.
On the first day of the new year, Nguyen Thu Hang and her family go to the temples to worship, and afterwards, everyone would distribute candy to each other. Photo provided and Authorized by Hang TV Vietnam Hang Taiwan
On New Year’s Eve, Vietnamese people will prepare many dishes such as chicken, grilled chicken feet, beef, spring rolls, and many other dishes to enjoy with their families. Nguyen Thu Hang said that the whole family will gather in a circle and sit on the floor to eat, which symbolizes that the hearts of the family members are “linked" together. After dinner, the family will watch the comedy show "Kitchen God" (灶君) and every household is very lively. Some people will sing KTV, and some will play with fireworks to celebrate. Nguyen Thu Hang said that the door must be kept open on New Year's Eve, "Yinglu" (迎祿) symbolizes welcoming blessings and good luck to enter the home.
There is a Chinese New Year custom in Vietnam that each household will send a male representative to different homes to send New Year greetings. (Photo/Hang TV - Authorized by Vietnam Hang Taiwan)
Nguyen Thu Hang said that Vietnamese people would go to temples in the morning to pray for blessings and visit relatives and friends’ homes for New Year greetings in the afternoon. She also shared an interesting custom. Vietnam has a traditional Chinese New Year custom, wherein the family will send a male representative, and take turns to visit homes to send New Year’s greetings. Some families have many relatives and friends, and this keeps the Vietnamese males busy sending New Year's greetings throughout the New Year holidays.
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