Year of the Rabbit or Year of the Cat? In Houston, both celebrated on Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year celebrations vary across Asian communities, but usually cultures are aligned on the zodiac animal that provides the framework for the occasion. That's not the case this year, though, as two of Houston's largest immigrant groups will diverge in their observations of Asia's biggest holiday. Vietnamese families will celebrate Year of the Cat, while their Chinese counterparts celebrate the more widely recognized Year of the Rabbit. Both will use the occasion to spend time with family, and Houstonians of all stripes can learn about each at festivals across the city over the weekend. "We Vietnamese have a big community here too ... so that's why we want to have a huge Lunar New Year, to promote our culture," said Anh Tran, 52, who is organizing a celebration at Railway Heights Market on Saturday and Sunday. With nearly 137,000 residents in the Houston metro area, according to census data, Vietnamese people make up the city's second-largest Asian ethnic group, trailing Indians. The Chinese community, with over 94,000 residents, is the area's third largest Asian population. It's unclear, exactly, how the Vietnamese and Chinese zodiac calendars came to differ on Year of the Cat and Year of the Rabbit. The prevailing theory is that "mǎo," the Mandarin pronunciation for "rabbit," sounds similar to "mèo," the Vietnamese word for cat, according to Teresa Trinh, executive board president of the Vietnamese Culture and Science Association in Houston. Tran prefers a simpler explanation: that cats are more common in Vietnam than rabbits. While each culture will celebrate different animals this year, many of their practices will remain the same. Community members said they will gather with family, pay respect to elders and departed loved ones, wipe away unwanted remnants from the previous year and enter the new one with a clean slate. Some will sweep their homes before the new year, and then leave the house untouched for at least a day or two, to let the good luck linger. Lunar New Year, known as Tết in Vietnam and Chūnjié in China, falls on Sunday this year, but festivities are already well underway. On Bellaire Boulevard, red and gold ribbons lined storefronts on both sides of Beltway 8, the informal divider between the Chinese shops, to the east, and Vietnamese, to the west. The economic hub for Houston's Asian community was especially active in the days leading up to Lunar New Year, as residents hurried to buy decorations, clothes and ingredients for holiday feasts. "When we celebrate, we feel like we are back in Vietnam," said Kim Dang, owner of K-Fashion & More at the Hong Kong City Mall, as shoppers streamed into her store looking for colorful, floor-length Vietnamese dresses to wear at their family feasts. At the Chinese Community Center, on the east side of Beltway 8, staffers were busy this week preparing for the center's annual Lunar New Year Festival on Saturday. Light blue T-shirts with cheerful white rabbits on them were piled high, and the hallways were lined with red paper lanterns. This year's festival will feature an array of food vendors representing various Asian cuisines, martial arts performances and, of course, lion and dragon dances, said Elaine Yuan, the community center's marketing manager. Afterward, Yuan plans to visit her husband's family, who are Taiwanese, for dinner. The evening before the Lunar New Year is the time for the biggest feast; dumplings and seafood are the most prominent dishes at their table, she said. Some Lunar New Year ties between cultures are spiritual. The Chung Tai Zen Center of Houston, a Taiwanese Buddhist temple, has served people from over 40 countries, according to Abbott Jian Tan, and will host a Lunar New Year blessing ceremony for Guan Yin, Bodhisattva of compassion, on Saturday morning. On Thursday afternoon, the Vietnamese Civic Center invited six Thai monks to bless their space in preparation for the new year. Another commonality is that in China and Vietnam, most people get extended time off from work in observation of Lunar New Year — up to two weeks in China, according to Yuan. No such luck here in the United States. "I do miss that," Yuan said with a chuckle. sam.kelly@chron.com

Year of the Rabbit or Year of the Cat? In Houston, both celebrated on Lunar New Year

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