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The Chinese New Year is a special occasion that the Chinese celebrate to welcome a good New Year and also to welcome in the Animal of that Year.

It is also an occasion whereby the Chinese will follow a custom of family reunion, respect & forgiveness for each other and the removal of the old to welcome the new. You will also get to see the favorite color of that occasion on most of the Chinese Red, as it's believed to ward off evil spirits!

If you have never celebrated Chinese New Year before and would like to understand this wonderful culture a little better so as to be more involved with your Chinese counterparts, this article will help to answer some of the questions like the different dates, the Animal of the Year and it's significance to you in this new and following years.

The Different Dates

We have celebrated Chinese New Year 2008 on the 7 February 2008, the year of the Rat and we'll be welcoming Chinese New Year 2009 on the 26 January 2009, the year of the Ox.

So why the different dates for each year? The answer is simply that the Chinese are following the Chinese Lunar Calendar, the first calendar that the Chinese used to follow the Moon Phase Cycle. The Calendar that you and I are having in the computer desktop belongs to the Gregorian Calendar.

The reason that the Chinese uses the Moon Phase Cycle has something to do with its rich agricultural history whereby farming activities depend much on the seasons.

The Animal Of The Year

If you are curious to know what are the twelve Animals involved in the Chinese Zodiac Sign, they are in the order of: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.

A small interesting legend that you can learn from is that there was once a heavenly race and these twelve animals took part in it. The ranking came about as listed above. The Ox was supposed to be the first in the race but the Rat, being witty, rested on the back of the Ox throughout the race and eventually took the first place.

An additional version of the legend is that there was supposed to be a 13th animal that should be listed in the Zodiac Sign itself The Cat. And that the Cat and the Rat are good friends, but on the day of the Race, the Rat forgot to wake up the Cat and that caused the Cat a place in the Zodiac Sign. That also became part of the myth on why Cats hate Rats.

Characteristics Between the Animals and You

The Rat (Year 2008, 1996, multiples of 12). Known to be ambitious but power-driven.
The Ox (Year 2009, 1997, multiples of 12). Known to be responsible but petty.
The Tiger (Year 2010, 1998, multiples of 12). Known to be brave but selfish.
The Rabbit (Year 2011, 1999, multiples of 12). Known to be sensitive but nave.
The Dragon (Year 2012, 2000, multiples of 12). Known to be powerful but ruthless.
The Snake (Year 2013, 2001, multiples of 12). Known to be charming but calculative.
The Horse (Year 2014, 2002, multiples of 12). Known to be intelligent but fickle.
The Sheep (Year 2015, 2003, multiples of 12). Known to be generous but insecure.
The Monkey (Year 2016, 2004, multiples of 12). Known to be witty but careless.
The Rooster (Year 2017, 2005, multiples of 12). Known to be talented but vain.
The Dog (Year 2018, 2006, multiples of 12). Known to be loyal but restless.
The Pig (Year 2019, 2007, multiples of 12). Known to be caring but vulnerable.

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