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Private tailor-made journeys of a life time
Sep 8, 2023
By Ms. Minh Thu
Although many Asian countries such as China, Korea, Japan,... celebrate Mid-autumn festival, still, Vietnamese mid-autumn festival has its unique imprints. In this article, the best Vietnam Tour Operator will show you how Vietnamese people enjoy their Mid-autumn festival along with guides and tips for you to experience this authentic traditional Vietnamese Mid-autumn festival as newbies.
Vietnamese Mid-autumn festival, also known as Tet Trung thu or Tet Doan Vien, is one of the biggest holidays in Vietnam. The Vietnamese Mid-autumn festival takes place on the 15th of August according to the Lunar calendar (often in September in Solar Calendar). This is the occasion for Vietnamese people to admire the full moon, gather with family members and enjoy parties.
Once upon a time, there was a kind woodcutter named Cuoi. One time, he got lost in the jungle and encountered a tiger. Here Cuoi witnessed how that mother tiger saved her babies with a kind of special leaves, so he dug up the stump and brought it home.
On the way home, he saw a poor mendicant die on the sideroad, he immediately picked up some leaves to feed the mendicant. Surprisingly, the poor man went alive again and told Cuoi not to water the tree with dirty water because this is a magic plant, otherwise, it would fly back to the sky.
Since then, Cuoi saved a lot of poor people thanks to this fairy plant and won a lot of respect. He got married with a girl, who was his patient that he had saved before. However, she contracted to the absent-mindedness. One time, Cuoi went to another village to save people. When Cuoi was not home, his wife forgot his admonition then peed on the magic plant. As soon as Cuoi went home, the plant flew into the sky as high as 1 meter. He urgently ran to the plant and clingged to it. However, the plant didn’t stop but kept flying higher and higher to the sky. He ended up reaching the moon palace with his magic plant.
From then on, when the moon reaches its full size on 15th August, as people look up at the sky, they can see Cuoi sadly sitting with his homesickness beside the tree. This becomes the day that people on the land choose to gather with family members.
There are many interesting things to do on this special occasion. Even though you are a foreigner in Vietnam, you can still have the best experience to know more about Vietnamese culture.
Admire the full moon
The full moon of August is extremely big, round, and bright. The night sky is also very clear so we can see the moon very clearly. The weather on this occasion is usually extremely cool, so going out and enjoying the "cool moon and wind" is nothing better. If you have heard about the legend of the Mid-Autumn Festival, try to use your imagination to see if you can see the image of Uncle Cuoi sitting by the magic tree.
Making lanterns
Lanterns are indispensable items in the Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam. Vietnamese people often use lanterns to decorate their houses, or let children process the lights on the night of the full moon. There are many kinds of mid-autumn lights such as cellophane lanterns, plastic lanterns and toys of all shapes and colors that can light up even issue music. But the tradition is still the lanterns made from cellophane. Making lanterns from cellophane paper is not too difficult. You can follow your Vietnamese friends to their home. There, you can learn how to make a star-shaped lantern - the most common lantern in Vietnamese Mid-autumn festival. You will not only have a chance to make lanterns yourselves but are able to experience many other activities in an authentic traditional Vietnamese style.
Hanging out at Lantern Streets
It is not an exaggeration to say that lantern streets are places where you can feel the festiveness of the Vietnamese Mid-autumn festival most vividly. Going there, you can see numerous gorgeous colorful lanterns which sellers hung on and light in front of their shops. Besides the sparkling, brilliant scene of lights coming from thousands of lanterns, these streets are also more attractive by the bustling look of shoppers. People come here to buy lanterns for home decoration, some families bring their children here to hang out. Many young people in beautiful outfits also come here to take pictures with these lanterns for virtual living.
Watching the lion dance
The festive atmosphere of the Mid-autumn festival can not lack the gong drum sound from lion dance or dragon dance. Performers put on costumes to transform into extremely colorful and eye-catching unicorns and dragons. In harmony with the sound of drums and gongs, the performers move in a rhythmic and flexible manner that is very realistic. From time to time they will jump up to do some very eye-catching acrobatics. People standing on the side of the road had the opportunity to admire the generous beauty and were constantly applauded and praised for the wonderful performance. Speaking of which, you must have felt extremely excited to see the lion dance, right?
When it comes to the Vietnamese Mid-autumn festival, it would be a great lack if we don’t mention Vietnamese mooncakes. These small, pretty and glossy cakes symbolize the full moon on the 15th of August. There are two main types of mooncakes: baked cakes and sticky rice cakes. The filling of the cake is also extremely diverse. The traditional filling is filled with salted egg mung bean paste, mixed filling, and lotus seed paste. Modern fillings is matcha, tiramisu, taro, chocolate, etc. People eat moon cakes and drink tea on this occasion not only to enjoy the holiday, but also to pray for health and happiness. Vietnamese people also have the habit of wrapping moon cakes in beautiful gift boxes to send to their bosses, colleagues, relatives and friends instead of good wishes.
Mam Ngu Qua ( five-fruit tray)
Offering a tray of five fruits on the altar to worship ancestors is also a beautiful tradition of Vietnamese people on the occasion of the Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Festival. This activity is highly looked forward to, hence this activity is also known as “Pha Co” party, which means party breaking. Thanks to the cool weather, the fruits of this season are extremely sweet and beautiful. Especially the grapefruit. Grapefruit picked on the occasion of the full moon in August is not only big, the peel is not only green, but the grapefruit segment is both pink, succulent and sweet.
Com (green rice)
Com is quite rarely used in the South, but in the North, this dish is a famous typical dish of the Mid-Autumn Festival, no less than the moon cake. Because the best harvest season of nuggets falls in the fall, it is likened to a 'gift' that heaven and earth have bestowed on people on this occasion. The young green nuggets, both flexible and fragrant, blend with the faint, gentle scent of lotus leaves that will make visitors fall in love. Com can be processed into many dishes such as sticky rice, green rice sweet soup,...
Che troi nuoc ( rice ball sweet soup)
Drifting tea is a meaningful dish that is definitely indispensable in the Mid-Autumn Festival, a symbol of the family's solidarity. With quite simple ingredients including: glutinous rice flour, green beans, coconut, ginger, sugar, peanuts... especially the way to make water drifting tea is also very simple. Drift tea delights your senses with round tea balls that are pleasing to the eye and the passionate aroma of warm ginger. The bean paste inside is sweet and tasty, while the outer shell is soft when eaten.
Oc (snail dish)
Snail dish is also a traditional dish on the Vietnamese Mid-autumn festival. Oc isTraditionally, snail dish is also an indispensable dish during the Mid-Autumn Festival. In addition to having a special meaning, at this time snails are usually very tasty, because they do not reproduce, at this time snails are empty and have a lot of meat. So the snail meat is firm, sweet and you will not eat the baby snail. In addition, the ancients believed that eating snails in the autumn could help to brighten their eyes because snails also contain a lot of vitamin A, which has a tonic effect on the eyes.
Hanoi: Hanoi Old Quarter
Hang Ma Street - the most beautiful mid-autumn festival in Hanoi. As its name suggests, Hang Ma Street sells almost all kinds of spiritual papers to worship ancestors according to Vietnamese tradition. The street is part of Hanoi's Old Quarter. Normally, this street is also normal and unremarkable, sometimes it is quite boring because of things that are less attractive to people. But wait, you won't recognize this street anymore during the full moon. Because every year around this time, on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Hang Ma Street will be dressed in a very bright and bustling new shirt of colorful lanterns. The name Hang Ma lantern street also started here and is an interesting mid-autumn entertainment place. Along the street decorated with frescoes and covered with lanterns, this place always attracts photographers, tourists and young people to take pictures.
Hoi An: Hoi An Lantern Festival
If you are traveling in the central provinces of Vietnam on the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival, what are you waiting for, go to Hoi An - Quang Nam, which owns the largest lantern festival. Hoi An has long been famous as the land of lanterns. Whether it's a weekday or a festival, this place is always decorated with colorful lanterns. But if you come here on the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival, you will admire the most complete beauty of Hoi An lanterns. Everywhere is filled with colorful and colorful lanterns. Here you can also experience the release of lanterns, a very interesting activity when you join the Hoi An lantern festival.
Ho Chi Minh city: Cho Lon Chinatown
If you are in Ho Chi Minh City, go to ChoLon Chinatown, where there is a lantern street that is no less than the lantern streets in Hanoi and Hoi An. Located in the Dítrict 5 of Saigon, here, the lanterns bring a little color to Chinese culture. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, people also come here a lot to buy lanterns, have fun and take pictures. The atmosphere is also extremely bustling and worth spending time out experiencing.
- If you have Vietnamese friends who can take you home, you will have the best experience of the traditional Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Festival.
- When participating in the lantern streets, you should pay attention to preserve your belongings well to avoid losing them.
- Moon cakes usually have a fairly short expiration date, so you should pay attention to avoid eating expired cakes.
Above are all useful information from basic knowledge of Vietnamese mid-autumn festival, what to do, what to eat and where to go on this occasion besides helpful advice that you may need. Vietnam Escape Tours hopes that you have already gained yourself a detailed guide for your adventure exploring Vietnamese culture. Thank you for reading!
