TL;DR: The Chinese in Chợ Lớn (the old districts 5, 6 and 11 of Ho Chi Minh City) welcome Tết Nguyên Đán on the same days as the Vietnamese, but with many distinctive features: they send ông Táo off on the morning of the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month instead of the evening of the 23rd, their offering trays include mandarins, bánh bao, bánh tổ and a hen, and on the first day they eat Tết mẹ before Tết cha. On New Year's Eve many families go to guild halls such as Tuệ Thành, Nghĩa An and Hải Nam to exchange community new year greetings, and Tết usually lasts until the end of the full moon of the first lunar month with the Nguyên tiêu festival.
How is the Lunar New Year of the Chinese community in Chợ Lớn different from the Vietnamese Tết?
The Lunar New Year of the Chinese community in Chợ Lớn falls on the same day as the traditional Tết of the Vietnamese, but differs in many stages: the time for seeing off Ông Táo (the Kitchen God), the way homes are decorated, the offering tray, the cakes, the order of New Year greetings during the first three days, and the role of the hội quán (community hall) on New Year's Eve. This is the most densely concentrated community of Vietnamese of Chinese descent in Ho Chi Minh City, mainly in the former District 5, District 6 and District 11 (before July 2025)[1][5].
According to the 2009 Population and Housing Census, the Hoa ethnic group numbered 823,071 people, one of the 54 officially recognised ethnic groups[3]. The local subgroups include Cantonese, Guangxi, Hainanese, Teochew, Hokkien and several others[3]. The term "ngũ bang" (Quảng, Mân, Tiều, Hẹ, Hải Nam) is a grouping by dialect and place of origin, not five separate ethnic groups[5].
How do the days before Tết differ?
The most visible difference lies in the ritual of seeing off Ông Táo. Vietnamese people usually worship and send Ông Công, Ông Táo back to heaven on the evening of the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, while the Chinese in Ho Chi Minh City usually see off Ông Táo on the morning of the 24th of the twelfth lunar month[1][5]. The offerings for Ông Táo of the Chinese usually include sweet items such as thèo lèo candy and mandarins. In Chinese, "mandarin" is homophonous with "cát" (cát tường means good fortune), so people hope that Ông Táo will report good words[1][5].
Before that, after the full moon of the twelfth lunar month, many families choose an auspicious day to clean the house and hold a ceremony of thanks to the deities, called the ceremony of repaying Heaven, Buddha and the ancestors for giving the family a peaceful year[1][5]. After the worship, people bring the offerings to share with relatives and neighbours, called a small fragrant gift; one house brings offerings to another, and then that house worships in return[1][5]. This custom helps bind family ties within the neighbourhood.
As for decoration, the Chinese in Chợ Lớn paste new parallel couplets on the 30th of Tết, red paper with gold characters, with auspicious content such as "Xuất nhập bình an" (peace going out and coming in), "Kim ngọc mãn đường" (gold and jade fill the hall), "Tân xuân đại cát" (great fortune in the new spring). For households doing business from home, the couplets are usually "Nhất bổn vạn lợi" (one capital, ten thousand profits), "Khai trương hồng phát" (Opening a business, prospering greatly), "Sinh ý hưng long" (business thriving)[1][2][5]. In addition, people also paste the characters "Xuân" (Spring) and "Phúc" (Fortune) upside down on the door, because the word "upside down" in Chinese is read as "đáo", meaning Spring arrives, Fortune arrives[1][5].
- Dominant colours: red and yellow, associated with the notion of good luck and happiness[3].
- Tết market atmosphere: the streets Hải Thượng Lãn Ông, Phùng Hưng, Nguyễn Trãi, Lương Nhữ Học concentrate stalls of couplets, lanterns, lion heads, lucky money envelopes[2][4][5].
- Phùng Hưng Market (District 5) is where the Tết peak is recognised through the opening of stalls selling ceremonial cakes[4].
How does the New Year's Eve offering tray and Tết food differ from the Vietnamese?
The New Year's Eve offering tray is the clearest difference in cuisine. Vietnamese people in Saigon usually have a five-fruit tray consisting of soursop, fig, coconut, papaya and mango, with the meaning "cầu vừa đủ xài" (praying for just enough to spend) and prosperity and happiness[1]. The Chinese usually have mandarins, bánh bao, bánh tổ. In Chinese, bánh bao is called "phát bao", bánh tổ is called "niên cao", both carrying the meaning of wishing for good luck and prosperity in the new year[1][5].
The Cantonese in Saigon also offer pig's trotters and fresh green lettuce at the New Year's Eve ceremony. The names of these items, when spoken, usually have auspicious meanings: pig is read as "trư", homophonous with "châu", meaning "châu long nhập thủy", treasures filling the house; lettuce in Cantonese is read as "phát soi", homophonous with "phát tài" (prosperity)[1][5].
| Dish | Chinese in Chợ Lớn | Vietnamese |
|---|---|---|
| Offering fruit | Mandarins (homophonous with "cát")[1][5]; another source explains the name as sounding close to "đắc", to gain[3] | Five-fruit tray of soursop, fig, coconut, papaya, mango[1] |
| Characteristic cakes | Bánh tổ (niên cao), bánh bao (phát bao)[1][5] | Bánh chưng, bánh tét[1] |
| Savoury offerings | Pig's trotters, fresh lettuce, fish, dried squid, eggs[1][2] | Varies by region, usually bánh chưng, braised meat, pickled onions |
| Offering chicken | Hen[4] | Usually rooster |
| Meaning | Homophony praying for wealth and prosperity[1][5] | Praying for just enough to spend, prosperity[1] |
The family meal tray of the Chinese cannot be without a dish made from fish, carrying the meaning of abundance. In addition, the Tết meal tray must have at least three more dishes including pork, dried squid and eggs, carrying the meaning of "tam sinh" (three living things)[2].
One point few people know is that the Chinese offering tray uses a hen rather than a rooster as the Vietnamese do; the stalls of offering chickens at Phùng Hưng Market are mainly hens that have been boiled and pre-shaped[4]. Bánh tổ in the Chợ Lớn area has a bright yellow colour, without sesame sprinkled on top, only stamped with red Chinese characters with the content "vạn sự như ý" (may all things go as wished), unlike the bánh tổ of central Vietnam which is usually dark yellow tending to brown and has sesame sprinkled on top[4].
As for dried foods, shops such as Lý Hòa Trân sell roast pork, roast duck, Chinese sausage, pork sausage, duck sausage, which are items the Chinese often use during Tết[4].
What is special about the hội quán and the temple visits at the start of the year?
New Year's Eve in Chợ Lớn is tied to the hội quán. The hội quán is a place of worship and community activity for the Chinese. Ho Chi Minh City has many hội quán with a long history such as Tuệ Thành Hội Quán, Nghĩa An Hội Quán, Hải Nam Hội Quán[2]. On New Year's Eve, many families go together to the hội quán; young children come to receive lucky red envelopes, adults wish each other good wishes and together welcome the sacred moment[2].
People's Artist and painter Trương Hán Minh says this is a long-standing tradition of the Hoa community, and in each work where the artisan paints pictures and writes couplets, they "embed" the aspirations for the new year[2].
After welcoming the New Year's Eve moment, the Chinese go to the temple for cầu an (prayer for peace and safety) in the new year[3]. Most women go to Bà Thiên Hậu Temple to pray for blessings, pray for wealth, and "đánh tiểu nhân" (beating the petty person) to drive away the bad luck of the old year. The Chinese visiting temples at the start of the year usually offer cooking oil, with the meaning of praying for brightness, smoothness and ease[5].
One source also records the custom of releasing birds for phóng sinh at the start of the year among the Chinese[3].
How do the 1st, the 7th and the full moon of the first lunar month take place?
The order of New Year greetings during the first three days is the difference most often mentioned. On the morning of the 1st of the Lunar New Year, Chinese daughters who are married and live separately will, together with their husbands and children, return to the maternal home to wish Tết, meaning they celebrate "Tết with the mother" first. After that they celebrate "Tết with the father", then visit relatives and close ones. This point is not the same as the Vietnamese custom of "mùng 1 Tết cha, mùng 2 Tết mẹ" (the 1st is Tết with the father, the 2nd is Tết with the mother)[1].
On the 4th, the Chinese welcome Ông Táo back. By the 7th, they eat seven kinds of vegetables cooked together. In the old agricultural society, eating a rich variety of vegetables expressed the hope for a bountiful harvest in the new year, and this culinary feature is still maintained[1].
The Chinese usually celebrate Tết until the full moon of the first lunar month, that is, the day of Tết Nguyên tiêu (the Lantern Festival). Tết Nguyên tiêu is a major festival in the life of the Chinese[1]. On this day, everyone bustles to temples to pray for blessings; in Chinese residential areas there are ceremonies such as processions parading through the streets, traditional music bands, resounding trumpets and drums, brightly decorated flower lanterns[1].
In a year, the Chinese have many festival days: Nguyên đán, Nguyên tiêu, Thanh minh, Đoan ngọ, Trung nguyên, Trung thu. The Nguyên tiêu festival is the characteristic Tết festival of the Chinese, and the most concentrated activities of traditional belief and culture are all expressed on this occasion[3].
How are the lion, unicorn and dragon dances and community activities?
The lion, unicorn and dragon dance is a characteristic custom of the Lunar New Year in the Chợ Lớn area. During Tết, lion, unicorn and dragon teams are usually invited by merchants and families of Chinese descent to dance in front of their houses to pray for luck and to serve the public. Lion dancing in the Chợ Lớn area takes place from the day of seeing off Ông Táo until the end of the full moon of the first lunar month[5].
On the morning of the 30th of Tết, almost all lion teams in the Chợ Lớn area gather at the Quan Đế shrine of Nghĩa An Hội Quán to worship the lion and "khai quan điểm nhãn" (open the eyes) for new lions. There is a custom that all new lions have their foreheads or tongues dotted with vermilion by the Head of the Hội Quán, as a ritual for the lion to "come alive" and begin dancing[5].
In addition, at the hội quán, the Chinese community organises social activities such as auctioning paintings and couplets to raise funds to support the poor and give Tết gifts. The Chinese fine arts club coordinates with the District 5 Cultural Centre to organise exhibitions displaying paintings and photographs; painters draw pictures and write characters at the hội quán for people to come and "thỉnh chữ" (request characters), "thỉnh tranh" (request paintings)[2].
Parades and lion, unicorn and dragon dances are no longer a characteristic activity taking place only within the Chinese community, but have long become an identity that spreads throughout the locality[2].
Points to note when researching
The press sources cited here record the customs of the Chinese community in the Chợ Lớn area, Ho Chi Minh City, mainly around the 2010s to 2020s. One should not generalise this into a common custom of all Chinese across the country, because the local subgroups Cantonese, Teochew, Hokkien, Hainanese and Hakka may differ in offerings, dishes and the time of worship.
The figure of about 500,000 Vietnamese of Chinese descent in Ho Chi Minh City is the one given by press articles from 2017 and 2022 at the time of reporting[1][3], not census data. The figure of 823,071 people is from the 2009 Population and Housing Census, calculated for the whole country[3].
Some details such as the Chinese being "very careful with taboos" and asking a person whose zodiac sign is compatible to perform xông đất (the first visitor of the lunar new year), or the custom of carrying a bucket of water into the house because "water is money", are recorded by one source[5]; other sources do not mention them. This is a record from a specific community, not a general rule for every Chinese family.
Conclusion
The Lunar New Year of the Chinese in Chợ Lớn and the Vietnamese Tết share the same point in time but differ in many practical details: the ritual of seeing off Ông Táo is offset by one day, the offering tray leans towards homophony praying for wealth, bánh tổ and bánh bao replace bánh chưng, a hen replaces a rooster, and the central role of the hội quán on New Year's Eve. The Tết of the Chinese here usually lasts until the full moon of the first lunar month with the Nguyên tiêu festival, while the Vietnamese usually end at the latest on the 7th with the Khai hạ ceremony[5].
