Building Families Through The Miracle Of Adoption

Jan 21, 2009

Tet celebration coming up!

This Saturday we will be attending a Tet celebration in NC. Here's some information I received from another CAS AP...

One of the most popular Tet traditions is the Cay Neu, or Tet pole.
Immediately before Tet, families will choose or plant a bamboo tree in
their front yard, usually a very, very tall one. As tall as 5 or more
meters tall! Most of the branches are stripped, so that the tree is a
single pole, with leaves only at the very top. The cay neu is
decorated with items such as bows, arrows, bells and gongs, to chase
away bad luck and ensure a good new year. Other popular decorations
include colored paper (especially red) on the trunk, origami fish, a
cactus branch and small porcelain plagues that strike each other in
the breeze. In short, anything that symbolizes good luck for coming
year will do
.

Now, can you imagine what our neighbors would think if we put a cay neu in our front yard with all the decor hanging from it! LOL