Tet revelry looks ahead and links a generation to its past

Her parents, uncle, aunt and siblings lived under one roof, and the entire country was caught up in the spirit of Tet -- sweeping out the sorrows of the past and welcoming in the new year.

Tran, 52, and her family are now scattered across Southern California, but like thousands of Vietnamese who came to America after the fall of Saigon, they have clung to the memories and tradition of a country they left decades ago.

On Thursday, 19 of Tran's sisters, brothers, in-laws and nephews will squeeze into her mother's living room in Westminster to mark the arrival of the lunar new year.

Tran will hand out li xi, the red envelopes stuffed with crisp dollar bills, to her young nephews in exchange for wishes of luck, prosperity and happiness. The family will feast on banh chung, the tasty rice cake wrapped in banana leaves. And they will probably play bau cua, a gambling game of dice etched with roosters, crabs and fish.

Such multigeneration gatherings will play out across the nation as thousands of Vietnamese make their way to places like Little Saigon to celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Mouse -- or Tet Mau Ty -- with relatives and friends.

Tet gatherings in the United States are also viewed as an opportunity to teach children born here what it means to be Vietnamese.

The festive nature of the holiday, with lucky money, family gatherings and colorful foods, makes it easier for parents to pass along deep traditions that could otherwise get lost in America.

Tran, who doesn't have children of her own, tells her young nephews what Tet was like in Vietnam. "Tet lives with me forever," she says.

Restaurants and markets in Little Saigon order twice as much food in anticipation, the sweet aroma of steaming rice cakes hangs in the streets, and under canopies set up in parking lots merchants sell blossoming flowers and red-cellophane-wrapped gifts of candies and dried fruits.

In Garden Grove there will be a three-day festival with a replica of a Vietnam village, traditional dances and a beauty pageant. And after an absence of three years, a cultural parade, complete with lion dancers, will stream down Little Saigon's main street.