Contents Welcome to Vietnam 4 Lunar Calendar Celebrations 6 Family Gatherings 8 Celebrating Weddings 10 Vietnamese New Year 12 Perfume Pagoda Festival 14 Hung Kings Temple Festival 16 Thay Pagoda Festival 18 Reunification Day 20 Buddha’s Birthday 22 Remembering the Dead 24 National Day 26 Mid-Autumn Festival 28 Christmas in Vietnam 30 Glossary and Index 32
Welcome to Vietnam Vietnam is a country in Southeast Asia located on a peninsula People began living in Vietnam more than 4,000 years ago when the Lac peoples arrived there from China Over its long history Vietnam’s culture has been greatly influenced by China and France The capital city of Vietnam is Hanoi More than 7.5 million people live there 4
Vietnam’s population is more than 92 million people The largest ethnic group in Vietnam is the Kinh people but there are many other ethnic groups such as Hoa Khmer and Tay Nearly half the population in Vietnam is Buddhist The first Vietnamese people settled at the Red River Delta below Did You Know Vietnam has more than 54 different ethnic groups 5
