Choose a place that doesn't celebrate Lunar New Year, or only lightly, to avoid shop closures and price hikes.
- Thailand: business as usual, great weather; Bangkok's Chinatown hosts celebrations.
- Japan: no Lunar New Year holiday; early February has the Sapporo Snow Festival, late February early plum blossoms.
- Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Penang): a Chinese New Year atmosphere, but easy to get around.
- Europe: low season with cheaper rooms and fewer crowds; cold, with short days.
- Australia: summer, ideal for beach lovers.
Note: flights out of and back into Vietnam around Tet are very expensive; avoid flying on the 27th–29th of the last lunar month and the 4th–6th of the new year.