Taipei, Jan. 16 (CNA) More than 3,000 Vietnamese celebrated the upcoming New Year last Sunday with traditional Vietnamese song-and-dance showcases, flamingo dances and lucky draws in one of the largest Vietnamese gatherings in Taiwan.
The "Vui Don Xuan Moi 2006" at the Armed Forces Cultural Center in downtown Taipei provided these Vietnamese who work in northern Taiwan with a taste of the New Year's atmosphere back home. Vietnamese share the same Lunar New Year tradition with the Taiwanese and Chinese.
"It gives me sadness and nostalgia that I can't be home with my family for the new year, " said a 26-year-old girl who only identified herself as Dao. "We can't even make our way into the hall, but it feels good to be able to see all my compatriots and chat a little bit. It's good enough for me."
The Vietnamese have almost the same New Year traditions and rituals as the Chinese, Dao said. "The whole family has dinner on New Year's Eve and worships their ancestors. It's almost the same as (the Chinese)."
Over 1,000 jammed the hall, which has a capacity of 810, and enjoyed a series of Vietnamese traditional songs and dances performed by a group of volunteers. Some of them were lucky enough to win prizes provided by sponsors, including digital cameras and pre-paid telephone cards, in a quiz on foreign labor regulations or in a lucky draw.
For those who couldn't get in, chatting on the sidewalk with friends was all they asked for. "Usually we don't have a chance like this to meet so many Vietnamese and talk, " said Nguyen The Ahn, who, like Dao, comes from Hao Binh, a two-hour drive south of Hanoi, and works at an electronics company in Sin Jhuang, Taipei County.
About 70 percent of the Vietnamese in the crowd were female, with many of them wearing traditional Vietnamese dresses called "Ao Dai."
Trihn Ngoc Hoa, who has been working in Taiwan for four years as a housekeeper, was all smiles when she accepted a trophy on stage. "It was a call-in Mandarin-speech competition. ortunately I won, " she said.
"We expected 1,000 people to show up -- 2,000 at most. But the feedback is tremendous and surprising, " said a staff worker of Western Union, which was one of the sponsors of the event.
Crowds went crazy when the organizers started distributing Vietnamese calendars outside the hall. "It's a wonderful afternoon. Being able to take a break from work, talk to friends and meet all these people from Vietnam really relaxes us, " Nguyen, 27, said.
The event was jointly organized by the Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, the Council of Labor Affairs (COA) , the Taipei City Government. It was hosted by Taiwan Radio.
Currently there are 85,528 Vietnamese workers in Taiwan, according to the latest statistics released by the COA, with 42 percent of them working in Taipei City, Taipei County or Taoyuan
County.