Happy Chinese New Year
Today marks the Spring Festival - the official start of the Year of the Pig.
Celebrations for Chinese New Year year began on 28th January with the Little Year and will run until the Lantern Festival on 19th February.
The Year of the Pig is the last of the 12-sign new year zodiac, with each one used to determine fortunes for the year, such as marriage compatibility, best time to have a baby, career prospects and a lot more.
According to myth, the order of the animals in the zodiac were decided by the order in which they arrived at an Emperor's party. The pig overslept and turned up last. However, they 'have a beautiful personality and are blessed with good fortune in life'.
Recent years of the pig are: 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995 and 2007.
Personality traits include thriftiness, energy and enthusiasm, and they are most compatible with those in years of the tiger, rabbit and goat.
Lucky things for pigs, include: the colours yellow and brown; numbers two, five and eight; and facing northeast (if you want to be rich).
If you want to find out more about the culture, celebrations and just how superstitious you can be, you'll find lots more here: https://chinesenewyear.net/