Is Vietnamese New Year the same as Chinese New Year?

[0:00]Happy New Year! Chúc mừng năm mới! Gong Xi Fa Cai! Today, I'm going to answer the most asked questions on my Instagram: What's the similarities and differences between Vietnamese New Year and Chinese New Year? And most importantly, do Vietnamese people get offended when Tết is being called the Chinese New Year? I know it's a controversial and sensitive topic, so I'm going to answer these questions with the best of my knowledge and with my personal observations and experiences as a Vietnamese person. Also, if you want to learn more about Vietnamese culture, food, and travel, don't forget to follow my channel and my social media at vanvu from Vietnam. So for those of you who don't know what Lunar New Year is, it's the celebration of the arrival of spring, and it's based on the Lunar Solar calendar. This is one of the most important and festive holidays for many Asian countries, such as Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Vietnam, et cetera. Fun fact, Japanese people don't celebrate Lunar New Year anymore since 1873. Basically, during this holiday, family members will come home, gather to eat good traditional food, visit temples, and pray for good health and good luck for the new year. Since China and Vietnam are both agricultural countries, historically, Vietnam was influenced by Chinese culture for 1,000 years, so that's why we share a lot in common in terms of traditions and customs, such as giving lucky money, avoiding sweeping the floor on the first day of New Year, or worshipping ancestors. However, time can change culture, so that's why there are many differences in a way that Chinese and Vietnamese people celebrate the Lunar New Year. First is the duration. In Vietnam, people officially celebrate the holiday for the first three days, while in China, people celebrate up to the 15th of the month, which leads to the Lantern Festival. During this holiday, Vietnamese people usually eat Bánh chưng and Bánh giầy which symbolizes Heaven and Earth. While Chinese people eat dumplings which symbolize prosperity, long noodles mean longevity, and fish is a symbol of abundance. And for decoration, Vietnamese people usually buy peach blossom trees in the northern part of Vietnam, and in the southern part, people prefer yellow apricot trees. I have a video about how Vietnamese people celebrate the Lunar New Year right here, so you can check it out. During this holiday, Chinese people would hang the rhyming couplets or the "fú" Chinese character, which means good fortune, upside down in front of their house, believing that the good fortune will pour from the heaven to their house. The fourth fact is actually very interesting and I just recently learned that is that the Chinese zodiac years are different than the Vietnamese zodiac years. Instead of rabbit, Vietnamese people use cat for the fourth zodiac animal. Isn't that interesting? If it is, don't forget to follow my channel so I can update with you all the interesting facts. All right, moving on to clothing. So Chinese and Vietnamese both believe that red is a lucky color, and it can ward off evil spirits. So that's why a lot of Chinese people wear red during the Lunar New Year, or they can wear cheongsam or qipao, which are their traditional clothes. While in Vietnam, people are not very strict on what we're going to wear during Vietnamese Lunar New Year, as long as it's like formal attire, and Vietnamese women can wear áo dài, which I'm wearing right now, which is our traditional clothes. We also watch different TV shows for the Lunar New Year. In China, people watch CCTV Spring Festival Gala. While in Vietnam, people usually watch Táo Quân, which is a comedy show about all the gods reporting social issues in Vietnam to the Jade Emperor. For overseas Vietnamese, I know Paris By Night is one of the most popular shows that they watch. Okay, so the most important question is that do Vietnamese people get offended when Tet is being called the Chinese New Year? Yes and no. I know some of my friends can get offended because of political conflicts, which mainly caused by the Battle of Paracel Islands in 1974. In addition, after gaining freedom from being colonized for such a long time, Vietnamese, generally speaking, are very patriotic. So, it can be offensive to say Chinese New Year to some Vietnamese people, but not all Vietnamese people though. Personally, I'm not offended at all. But I just think you're a bit ignorant. For me, it's equivalent to a stereotype of calling all Asians Chinese, or naming Roman Christmas instead of Christmas. Actually, Chinese New Year, which is English words created by Western countries to distinguish between the Gregorian New Year and Lunar New Year, but it can create misunderstandings while you travel. So to be safe, when you're in Vietnam, you can call it Tết, when in Korea, you can call it Seollal. And if you're not sure, just call it Lunar New Year. With cultural awareness, we can all enjoy the holiday and the traditions. Happy Lunar New Year everyone, and don't forget to subscribe to my channel because it will bring luck to me for the whole year. Thank you everyone. Bye!