White moon. New year. Three days of visiting elders, a thousand buuz in a single family, and the most important holiday of the Mongolian calendar.
Chingun O.
Tsagaan Sar is the Mongolian lunar new year. ‘White’ refers not to snow but to dairy — the white food that symbolises purity and good fortune. The date shifts with the lunar calendar; in 2027 it falls in mid-February.
For weeks beforehand, families make buuz (mutton dumplings) by the thousand. 1,000 is not an exaggeration. 3,000 for a large household is common. They are frozen outside in the cold.
New Year's Eve. The family eats together. Nothing is left on the table — to leave food is to invite hunger in the new year. A silver coin or a piece of coal may be slipped into a dumpling for luck.
Dawn. Put on the dell (traditional overcoat). Visit the oldest living relative first. Greeting is performed with both hands under the elder's elbows — zolgolt. Exchange small gifts. Drink milk tea. Eat buuz. Move to the next house. Repeat for three days.
A table in the place of honour with stacked layers of boortsog (fried biscuits) in odd numbers — 3, 5, 7 depending on family seniority — topped with dried curd, candy, and a boiled sheep's back (uuts).
If you are invited to a family for Tsagaan Sar, accept. Bring a blue silk khadag (offering scarf) and a small gift — tea, chocolate, a bottle of something good. Eat at least three buuz. Compliment the grandmother.