From Zoom to Venmo, Minnesotans make the most of another pandemic Lunar New Year

In before times, Willy Lee and their wife would ring in the Lunar New Year with a rollicking food extravaganza.

"At the peak of this party, a year or two before the pandemic, we'd invite pretty much everyone we know in Minneapolis," Lee said. "We'd probably send out 300 invites, and about 100 of those people would stop in sometime during the day."

Lee would cook up a tsunami in the kitchen, skills imparted by immigrant parents who ran a Chinese restaurant in Florida. The must-taste dishes included char siu bao — barbecue pork enveloped by a steaming fluffy bun — one of the first dishes Willy's father taught them how to make.

For Lee, 46, the Lunar New Year offered an opportunity to connect with and celebrate their heritage at least once a year. That's why this year's holiday, which falls on Tuesday amid the era of omicron, is tinged with sadness.

Lee and their wife, Kacia, are scaling back to what will likely be an eight-course meal serving just six people.

"It won't feel like the pandemic is over until there's a Chinese New Year party at our house," Lee said.

We can't count down to the Year of the Tiger with the rip-roaring festivities of years past. But we can cling to rituals that still imbue us with the familiarity of home.

A very Zoom Tet

UyenThi Tran Myhre's parents are close to 80 and were the first to suggest the family skip the in-person gathering this year. So instead of flocking to her childhood home, Tran Myhre and her five siblings in Minnesota and on the East Coast will ring in the New Year with their parents via Zoom.

"I have so many different feelings," she said. "I feel grateful I can still see my parents and celebrate with them. But there's also a sense of grief because I can't help but think: How many more Lunar New Years do I get with my parents?"

Tran Myhre says the traditions will still find a way to come alive on a video call. And even though she speaks Vietnamese "at the level of a third-grader," she will delight in seeing her nieces and nephews practice a few key sayings. "My guess is my parents will still ask their grandchildren to recite the traditional greeting" of Chúc mừng năm mới, she said.

Eating lucky foods

That means eating long noodles for a long life. A whole chicken symbolizes wholeness in life.

For some southern Chinese people, "shrimp is always a good dish to have," said Pearl Lam Bergad, who was born in Vietnam, raised in Hong Kong and is executive director of the Chinese Heritage Foundation. She says that's because the Cantonese pronounce it ha, the sound of laughter, signifying happiness.

Another popular dish is fish, which in Chinese sounds like the word for "surplus" and represents abundance coming in year after year.

Lucky money

Lam Bergad said she looks forward to her grandchildren spending the night at her house. Under each of their pillows, she'll place a red envelope containing a crisp $20 bill to guarantee safe passage into the New Year.

But in a blink of an eye, you become the elder.

Tran Myhre found herself in this baffling situation years ago when she, in her late 20s, showed up empty-handed at a Lunar New Year gathering with her relatives. "I felt very silly — I was supposed to be the grown-up," she recalled. (I laughed in recognition, having once made the same mortifying flub.)

Determined not to repeat her mistake, Tran Myhre says this year she will still give cash to her nieces and nephews. But since they won't gather in person, the transaction will be probably through PayPal or Venmo.

"I'm sure they'll appreciate a little 'ping!' saying they got some lucky money," she said.

Red everything

One of her favorite traditions is dressing up her home with festive red and gold decorations. That includes the lanterns she likes to hang up outside that serve up a pop of joy against the white Minnesota snow.

Some #VeryAsian dumplings

You may have heard about the social media movement created to support St. Louis TV news anchor Michelle Li, who received a racist rant from a viewer disparaging Li for being "very Asian" and urging her to "keep her Korean to herself." Li's offense? She mentioned that she would be eating dumplings to celebrate the New Year.

Out of the ugliness came the #VeryAsian awareness campaign, including a new clothing line launched by Li and KARE 11's Gia Vang. I ordered my own Very Asian dumpling T-shirt and sent one to my childhood bestie in Chicago. Fans like Ong are taking stock of this colossal swell of Asian American pride.

"I definitely take heart that our community members are standing up, showing up strong, and being present and visible in the face of such hate," said Ong.

Ong and her husband are not visiting relatives in her native Malaysia, which is how they usually celebrate the holiday. But she's taken the day off work and is planning to cook dishes that remind her of her family. She'll abide by the rule of tidying up the house ahead of time so one can truly enjoy the first day of the New Year.