MC Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Heritage

Watch the video to learn some fun facts about the Lunar New Year.

Vietnamese Lunar New Year, known as “Tết”, is the biggest celebration of the year for Vietnamese around the world.

During Vietnamese Tết, Bánh Tét (or the original Bánh Chưng) is a must-have traditional food. It demonstrates the importance of rice in the Vietnamese culture as well as historical value. The Tết holiday must have “Bánh Chưng” which was invented by Prince Lang Lieu from Hung King Dynasty to symbolize the earth. Bánh Tét or Bánh Chưng is often served with pickles including white radish, chili peppers, carrots, and leeks.

The ingredients for Bánh Tét and Bánh Chưng are mostly the same: sweet rice, mung beans, and pork and wrapped in banana leaves and tightened up with strings. Bánh Tét is a cylindrical-shaped rice cake while Bánh Chưng is a square-shaped rice cake. In addition, Bánh Tét is made in two ways with these core ingredients: 1) Sweet rice with banana (banana Bánh Tét) for vegetarian is made with shredded coconut and red/black beans; 2) Sweet rice with pork (pork Bánh Tét) is made with pork and red/black beans or mung beans. 

Depending on how you have prepared the ingredients prior to wrapping them up with banana leaves, the banana Bánh Tét usually takes about six hours while the pork Bánh Tét could take over eight hours. The process of making Bánh Tét provides an opportunity for family members to bond and come together to celebrate the holiday spirit.

Watch a video to see how the Banh Tet is wrapped.

During Lunar New Year, it is a Chinese tradition to give out red envelopes (known as 紅包, hóngbāo), which is a gift of money inserted into an ornate small red pocket of paper. The significance of red envelopes is the red paper, rather than the money inside. The red color symbolizes good luck, happiness, and prosperity in Chinese cultures. The red envelope (money) is also called “压岁钱 ya sui qian”, which translates to “suppressing the folktale demon, Sui’s money”. Thus, wrapping money in red envelopes means to bestow peace, happiness, and blessings on the receivers in the year to come. 

As a custom, only new and crisp notes are used in the red envelopes signifying a new beginning in a new year. Today in China, red envelopes are going digital with people sending digital red envelopes through smartphone apps. The amount given in red envelopes usually includes the number ‘8’, such as $8, $18, or $28,  because the pronunciation of ‘eight’ in Chinese sounds like luck and prosperity, and never ever includes the number ‘4’ which sounds like death.

Usually grandparents and parents gift their children and grandchildren red envelopes with money on Chinese New Year’s Eve or New Year's Day. Red envelopes can be given out during first 16 days of Chinese New Year (from New Year's Eve to the Lantern Festival). Always receive a red envelope politely with both hands and return with the New Year greeting 恭喜发财 (gōng xǐ fā cái, meaning 'happiness and prosperity'). Lastly, never open your red envelope in the presence of the giver, but only in private. Remember the significance of red envelopes is the red paper, not the money inside. 

恭喜发财, Gōng Xǐ Fā Cái, in the Year of the Tiger.

Learn more about the tradition on the Red Envelopes: Red Envelopes in Chinese New Yearnew window | Red Envelopes Symbolism in Chinese Culturenew window

세배 (sebae) is the most important of all the Korean Lunar New Year traditions. Sebae is the act of kneeling on the ground and bowing deeply so that your hands are also on the ground. Younger adults/children must bow deeply to their elders and wish them a happy new year. This deep traditional bow signifies respect. People often wear 한복 (hanbok), traditional Korean clothes, whilst performing sebae.

To describe the act of sebae, the verb 드리다 (deurida) is used. For example 세배 드렸어요 (sebae deuryeosseoyo) would mean ‘I did the sebae bow’. When bowing, you can say 새해 복 많이 받으세요 (saehae bok mani badeuseyo), which means ‘Have lots of luck in the new year’.

After receiving a bow from the younger adults/children, the elders then say something along the lines of ‘I hope you stay healthy this year’ or ‘I hope you get married this year’. Elders typically reward the younger adults/children with money, known as 세뱃돈 (sebaetdon). This money is often given inside an envelope.

Learn more about Korean Lunar New Year - Seollal(설날) traditionsnew window.

In 2023, the Lunar New Year will have two different zodiacs (animals). For the Chinese zodiac, it will be the Year of the Rabbit. Meanwhile, for the Vietnamese zodiac, it will be the Year of the Cat. The Chinese/Vietnamese zodiac is a traditional classification scheme based on the lunar calendar that assigns an animal and its reputed attributes to each year in a repeating twelve-year cycle.

In 2023, Lunar New Year begins on Sunday, January 22 and ends on Sunday, February 5. The first day of Lunar New Year is called the Spring Festival, and the final day is the Lantern Festival. Lunar New Year date changes annually, but falls between mid-January and late February.

During Lunar New Year, it is a tradition to give out red envelopes (known as 紅包, hóngbāo in Chinese and Bao lì xì in Vietnamese), which is a gift of money inserted into an ornate small red pocket of paper. The significance of red envelopes is the red paper, rather than the money inside. The red color symbolizes good luck, happiness, and prosperity.

In Chinese culture, the red envelope (money) is also called “压岁钱 ya sui qian”, which translates to “suppressing the folktale demon, Sui’s money”. Thus, wrapping money in red envelopes means to bestow peace, happiness, and blessings on the receivers in the year to come. 

For the Vietnamese culture, the red envelope represents good luck, happiness, prosperity, health at Tet. It shows the love of older people to younger people. The money in the envelope is not for spending but considered a special part of Vietnamese Tet, love and care.