Celebration of Mong’s New Year right in Hanoi

Life developments, mass tourism in a destination often seem as the threats to the nature and cultures themselves. Especially in developing countries like Vietnam, the preservation was insufficiently effective. However, in the recent years, the government has focused more on developing sustainable tourism. At the lower level, there have been many inspiring projects with great effort to preserve the culture. One of them is “Tet Mong Xuong Pho” or “Celebration of Mong’s New Year on the street”

This is an annual event runt by Action for Hmong Development (AHD) in which the participants will have a chance to immerse in culture and experience the most important holiday of the Mong.

Celebration of Mong’s New Year in Hanoi

As soon as the peach and plum flowers bloom to celebrate the arrival of the spring, in many Northern mountainous villages, the Mong community also starts to celebrate their New Year. Unlike Lunar New Year of the Kinh, “Tet” of the Mong falls on the 1st of December in the lunar calendar. Traditionally, the celebration is to give thanks to ancestors and spirits as well as to welcome a new season, a New Year. However, this tradition has faced the threat of being lost due to the insufficient awareness.

This is when the event was found. And just like the first year in 2016, it was all about sharing the festive atmosphere as well as cultural exchange. The event has attached the Mong community in Hanoi as well as those who were interested in learning the Mong culure.

I was stunned by the colorful traditional costumes representing some of the ethnic minority groups in Vietnam, such as Mong, Black Hmong, Flower Hmong and Tay. To help the participants have an overview about the Mong community, the event has started with 2 debates of college students about Mong’s language and traditions being vanished with life development.

After that, the culture elements of the Mong and other ethnic minorities were further explained with interesting performances such as singing, dancing, acting, local instruments. Each song tells a story about their daily life and the beauty of the mountainous regions. Do you know that there are a total of 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam? Does it make you realise just how many amazing diversity can be?

I had a chance to talk with an artist – Mr. Ho A Tu about his love for music. He has learned to play the Mong’s traditional bamboo flute and “Khen” since he was 15 years old. Flute is made of bamboo with finger holes and metal reed or “lưỡi gà”. While the sound of the flute is sweet like a whisper, “Khen” is stronger and rather full. Traditionally, dancing goes along with playing “Khen”, making it more enjoyable and fun to watch.

Traditional games of the Mong were also stimulated during the events. This was exciting to join in the lines of boys and girls and play ball tossing, “đánh yến” (similar to badminton), “đánh quay” (spinning top).

There was too much fun in the event that made me to linger a bit longer. Then, they started to prepare the foods to whet my appetite. One of the must-have foods during New Year of the Mong is Giay cake which symbolises the sun and the moon.

Action for Hmong Development (AHD)

We really appreciate their efforts and commend them for their dedication to honour the cultural values of the Mong. Most of the team members of AHD are college students from various ethnic minority groups. With the support of iSEE and Plan International Vietnam, hey have shown their confidence in organizing the event.

“I always believe that every culture has its own beauty and value in united and diversified culture of the nation”

Proudly spoken by a team member of the group – Hang A Sua

Author: Hong Anh

Hong Anh is a true story-teller. For her, travelling is about stepping out of your comfort zone. Each of her stories is a unique travel experience that is told and illustrated by her own distinctive style.