The Year of the Pig: The Chinese New Year story that has just begun

There will be music and dancing, parties, fireworks; people will wear costumes for the occasion, meet their family and hang red lanterns to receive the pig's year.

This is what you need to know about this great festival and what the tradition says about people born during the Year of the Pig.

When is it?

The Chinese New Year will begin on Tuesday, February 5, 2019.

The day coincides with the beginning of the Lunar New Year, which marks the beginning of the new moon.

Since this calendar depends on the moon, the Chinese celebrate the new year each year on a different date, but always between January 21st and February 20th.

In 2020, for example, it will be January 25th.

China has been using this calendar for nearly 5,000 years and, although in everyday life it is governed by the Gregorian calendar we use in the West, it is still used in the agricultural sector.

How do you celebrate?

Before the festivities begin, people clean and arrange their homes for celebrations.

But then, when the day of the New Year arrives, there is a tradition of not taking a broom, to avoid sweeping the good luck that comes with the new year.

They also take the traditional noodle soup which, according to tradition, attracts good fortune. Long noodles, moreover, are the sign of a long life. They also eat small cakes that represent gold and fortune.

In China, some schools and businesses close their doors during the first few days of the year, so that everyone can spend time with their family.

In the streets, parades and shows are organized with artists dressed in traditional costumes.

Fireworks are also essential because, according to tradition, the sound of explosions and the lights scare bad spirits.

Adults usually give red envelopes filled with money to children.

The color red is also an important part of the tradition, because according to legend, it was used to scare Nian, a beast that appeared every year to cause chaos.

In fact, the word Nian, in Chinese, means "year".

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The festivities continue for two weeks and end with the lantern festival, which marks the end of the holiday season.

The Chinese horoscope

The Chinese New Year is also known as the Spring Festival.

In the Chinese tradition, each year takes its name from one of the 12 animals listed in the Chinese horoscope: rat, beef, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

So, the Chinese horoscope works like a cycle in which animals are given a year every 12 years.

2018 was the year of the dog, and this year will be the year of the pig. 2020 will be the year of the rat.

The next year of the dog will be in 2030.

The year of the pig

This year that begins will be that of the pig.

According to the Chinese horoscope, people born in 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007 and 2019 belong to this sign.

In Chinese culture, if this year is your year, there is a popular belief that something important is going to happen to you.

The Chinese tradition says that those born under the sign of the pig are badiduous, enthusiastic and optimistic, but also a little naive, materialistic and stubborn.

They get along well with those born years of goat, tiger or rabbit and their lucky colors are yellow, brown and gold.

Woody Allen, Hillary Clinton, the Dalai Lama and Kendall Jenner are some of the famous characters born in the year of the pig.

So happy new year! Or, as the Chinese say: Xīn nián kuài le!

BBC