Preparations for Tet
A week before Tet……
According to legend, seven days before Tet every year, the Kitchen God returns to Heaven to report to the Jade Emperor on the activities of each household and these report will determine the fate of each household for the coming year. In preparation for the Kitchen God's departure, families sometimes place cookies by the fireplace or altar to sweeten the god’s journey in hope of a favorable report that would endow them with fortune and happiness for the coming year.
Upon the departure of the Kitchen God, follows the week long period called “Tet Nien” – (which literally means to extinguish the year). During this time, people celebrate the end of schooling or work activities and many take the opportunity to visit and clean the graves of relatives. Weeds are cleared, incense is burnt and flowers and a fruit tray or Mam Ngu Gua are offered in remembrance and respect for the dead.
By now, the city streets are lined with vendors selling an abundance of fresh fruits and flowers, and colorful decorative paraphernalia. Exuberant shoppers bustle and jostle amidst calls for sales and the familiar tunes of traditional Tet music. In nearly every household, crucial purchases for Tet include the peach "hoa dao" and kumquat plants. Each of these plants are carefully chosen by discerning shoppers so that the flowers and fruits are prominently displayed, vibrant in color, and remain healthy throughout the celebrations.
At home the cooking, decorating and cleaning for Tet heightens. Since it is traditional that all cooking and housework are avoided during the first three days of Tet, many spend Tet Nien preparing Tet delicacies, preening and decorating the houses with symbolic plants such as cay neu, hoa dao and kumquat, and decorative red banners called cau doi in preparation of the arrival of the esteemed guests and relatives during the coming days of celebrations.