YEAR OF THE PIG
The Lunar New Year(Spring festival) is the second New Moon after the winter solstice.It is based strictly on astronomical observations, and has nothing to do with animals or myths. But what is the story about the animal of the year? In Chinese calendar, one of the scheme for counting years is a 12-year cycle. One counts from Year 1,2,3,... up to 12. Then starts over from Year 1. For practical purposes, 12 animals are used to represent these 12 years. For instance, 2005 is Year of Rooster; 2006 is Year of Dog; and 2007 is the Year of Pig, the last animal in the cycle. Chinese calendar has been in use for centuries and predates the Gregorian Calendar which goes back some 425 years. The 12 animals of the Chinese calendar are widely adopted and used in Chinese, Japanese and Korean Zodiacs:RAT, OX, TIGER, RABBIT,DRAGON, SNAKE, HORSE,SHEEP, MONKEY,ROSTER,DOG,BOAR (or PIG). The Vietnamese adopts the Chinese calendar, with the exception of the 4-th animal, the rabbit replaced by the cat. PIG year actually begins on 1911, 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007.
February 18, 2007 is the first day of the Lunar new year.
Traditional celebrations slated for all 15 days of the New Year for the Chinese and 3 days for the Vietnamese such as foods, decorations, Lai see, gift exchanges, the dragon and lion parade taboos and superstitions.
The year of the Fire Pig is meant to bring prosperity and good fortune. There used to be a run to get married to have children born in the year of the Fire Pig. For pigs in 2007, any recent setbacks or obstacles can be overcome. So look forward to a year in which you really shine, either personally or professionally.
Year of the Pig will bring renewed culinary inspiration to Asian restaurants everywhere since Pigs love food as they would truly enjoy a culinary experience on vacation, dine at the finest restaurants.
"Gung Hay Fat Choy" translated verbatim, the greeting is "congratulations on prospering in money" and is a precursor to money.
Lai see(Lì Xì) or money in red envelopes used to be given out by adults of the younger generation to their children. They in turn receive lai see from older folks in exchange for Gung Hay Fat Choy compliments.
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