2026 Lunar New Year Collection
2026 Lunar New Year Collection by Zhi Wen Design
The 2026 Lunar New Year collection comprises of two designs, the Vietnamese bánh chưng and blooming florals that represents the Spring Festival.
This year we wanted to design greeting cards for the Vietnamese Tết, which led us to discover a traditional dish called the bánh chưng along with auspicious florals that embodies symbolic meaning to the festival. We posted a sneak peek of the photoshoot on Instagram and some of our followers wanted a design of the Chinese auspicious florals too so we included it. Below are each card design along with the traditions behind the illustrations.
Vietnamese Bánh Chưng
Vietnamese Bánh Chưng Greeting Card by Zhi Wen Design
The Vietnamese bánh chưng is a traditional dish made from glutinous rice, mung beans, and pork belly, seasoned with salt, pepper, and fish sauce. It is usually wrapped in large green lá dong or banana leaves, tied with strings to shape like a square packet or bundle and cooked by boiling for hours. Based on a legend, its origin traces back to the Hùng dynasty where Lang Liêu created it to symbolize the earth in his participation during a competition by the emperor, his father, to choose a successor among his sons. The emperor found his dish as a fine representation of respect for ancestors and ceded the throne to him. Thus, Bánh chưng has been deeply rooted in the Vietnamese culture because of the cherished memories of family participations during the preparation and the feast, which led to its essential place at the family altar during the Tết festival to honor family ancestors and pray for support for the new year.
Images of the Vietnamese bánh chưng by Vietnam Escape Tours, Vin Wonders, and The Food Network
Vietnamese Tết Florals
Vietnamese Tết Florals Greeting Card by Zhi Wen Design
The auspicious florals of the festival symbolizes luck, prosperity, and new beginnings with the most iconic being the yellow apricot blossoms, Hoa Mai for wealth and joy; pink peach blossoms, Hoa Đào for good fortune; chrysanthemums, Hoa Cúc for longevity; and kumquat, Cây Quất for abundance and prosperity. During Tết, flowers are more than a decorative aesthetic. They bring warmth to the home while welcoming guests. In this design, I wanted to depict all the best wishes for the new year nicely tucked in a red money envelope.
Images of Vietnamese Tết flowers by Google Images
Lunar New Year Florals
Lunar New Year Florals Greeting Card by Zhi Wen Design
When we release teasers and sneak peek of the floral card design for Tết, a few of you wanted another version featuring Lunar New Year florals. So I designed a separate card with auspicious blossoms symbolizing good fortune, prosperity, and new beginnings with popular choices such as peonies (love and wealth), plum blossoms (perseverance), chrysanthemums (longevity), pussy willow (growth), kumquat (good luck and wealth), and narcissus (prosperity). These blossoms are also tucked in a red money envelope (angpau/ lai see) as a lovely blooming bouquet.
Images of Lunar New Year flowers by Google Images
I hope you all enjoyed this year’s design with the stories and traditions they represent. As always, the cards are available on here, Etsy and Faire wholesale to purchase as a single card or a box set of 5 cards. They come with matching red envelopes and don’t forget to add wax seals to complement the envelope.
