1. Eating sticky rice wine and fruits from early morning
According to folk beliefs, the early morning of the 5th day of the 5th lunar month is a suitable time to "kill insects" in the body. Many families eat sticky rice wine, rice wine, and fruits such as plums, lychees, peaches... as soon as they wake up to purify the body and pray for health.
2. Offering to ancestors
Families often prepare offerings to worship ancestors including incense, flowers, fruits, sticky rice wine, banh tro (banh u tro) and some traditional dishes. This is an opportunity for children and grandchildren to remember their ancestors, express their respect and pray for peace for the family.
3. Fragrant leaf bath
Many localities have the custom of boiling water from leaves such as lemongrass, codonopsis, perilla, grapefruit leaves to bathe during the Doan Ngo Tet. People believe that bathing in fragrant leaves helps to ward off evil spirits, prevent diseases and bring health.
4. Picking medicine at noon
According to folk beliefs, grass plants harvested at noon (around 11am - 1pm) on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month have the best medicinal properties. Therefore, many people have a habit of picking traditional medicine plants for use or drying for storage.
5. Examining the tree to get fruit
In some localities, people practice the "kảo cây" custom, which means using sticks to gently tap the fruit tree trunk or shake the tree branches in the hope that the tree will bloom more flowers, bear more fruit, and have a bumper crop.
