How is Christmas in Vietnam celebrated?

Despite a Buddhist country, Christmas in Vietnam is considered one of the four main religious festivals, including the Lunar New Year, the mid-autumn festival, and Buddha’s birthday.

At the beginning of December, every major church such as the Notre Dame Cathedral in Ho Chi Minh City or Saint Joseph Cathedral (the Big Church) in Hanoi is beautifully decorated with the nativity crib scene or “creche”. The nearly life-sized statues of Mary, Joseph, Jesus, the shepherds, and typical animals are things not to be missed for this special occasion.

The streets are also sparkling with colorful lights. Shops and stores have Christmas trees colorfully decorated, along with the advertising sales for Christmas season. Business centers are brilliant and sparkling with Christmas items and beautiful decorations. You can easily feel the cozy Christmas atmosphere on crowded streets. Christmas is around the corner.

Christmas Eve is regarded as more important than Christmas Day in Vietnam, when people whether being a Christian or not enjoy a special meal with the family, pray for blessings. In main cities, the streets are more crowded with people, particularly couples, youngsters. It’s great and memorable to admire the cozy vibe and take sparkling photos of Christmas Eve.

Especially, on Christmas Eve, the Christians in Vietnam usually attend a Midnight Mass as in the western countries, and then return home to a spectacular Christmas dinner with chicken soup, instead of the turkey and Christmas pudding.

In Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, people tend to gather at the city centers where are the most beautiful and cars are not allowed for the night. Children in Vietnam are greatly excited because they believe that Santa Clause will put gifts or candies in their shoes or socks in front of the doors on Christmas Eve, expecting to have his special presents on the morning of 25th December.

On Christmas, people often give each other nice wishes, popularly “Merry Christmas!” or ” Chuc mung Giang Sinh!”, ” Giang sinh vui ve!”, “Giang sinh an lanh!”, etc. If you are in Vietnam this special time, learn some Christmas wishes. You certainly feel happy and amazing to say those in Vietnamese