Some may call it Lunar New Year, others may prefer the name Vietnamese New Year but we Vietnamese proudly consider the most crucial festival of our nation as Tet.

Unlike most of the western world, the Vietnamese celebrate the new turn of the year in the lunar calendar and the New Year usually takes place someday in January or February. On this special occasion, people often gather around with their family, cleaning, preparing traditional food, and participating in festival activities. It's kinda like the Vietnamese version of Thanksgiving or Christmas.

In fact, Tet is not a day of celebration, but weeks of getting ready and immersing in the joyous atmosphere of Vietnam's most notable occasion.

Prior to Tet, families across the country engage in traditional ceremonies to pay homage to the ancestors and religious beings that shielded the family from misfortune. As a rule, every household is cleaned in preparation for the upcoming year in hope of bringing prosperity and shoo bad luck away. Making "bánh chưng" and "bánh tét" in the pre-Tet period is also a significant part of Vietnamese culture.

After the clock strikes midnight on the last day of the Lunar year, people take part in a variety of new year activities. First and foremost, the young give adults good blessings in exchange for "lucky money" encased in a red envelope. Cards or other forms of betting games are frequently played at this time of the year. Also, visiting pagodas on the first day of the year is considered sacred and it is supposed to bring good luck for the entire year.