I was scratching my head trying to understand why the Chinese calendar states that 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit when Vietnam is celebrating 2011 as the Year of the Cat.

I understand that Vietnam was under the Chinese rule over a thousand years before the French came, and therefore, their traditions and cultural heritage is greatly influenced by the Chinese.  So what’s this discrepancy between the cat and the rabbit?

As it turned out, the Chinese symbol for rabbit, when translated to Vietnamese sounded like “meo” which means our furry friend, cat in Vietnamese.  So there you go!  It’s the Year of the Cat!

Another quick fact is that TET means Tet Nguyen Dan which translates to “Feast of the First Morning” or “The Dawning Period” of a new lunar year.  This year, Tet begins on February 3 and ends on February 5.

Thanks to Santa Fe Relocation Service Services for this very useful info.