The new rice festival in the northern mountainous province of Dien Bien is an occasion for local people to offer their ancestors traditional dishes, invite them to taste rice from freshly harvested crops, and pray for good health and bumper harvests. The Xinh Mun ethnic minority group considers the new rice festival their traditional New Year celebration, as it marks the end of past activities and the beginning of a new cycle of life. They often conduct agricultural rituals, praying to other-worldly forces for good health and bumper crops. Grandparents and parents take the occasion to teach their children to appreciate work and the tradition of ancestor worshipping, for the formation of close-knit family clans./.