January 22, 2012 marks Chinese New Year's Eve and ushers in Year of the Dragon. The Year of the Dragon is actually the year 4709 according to the Chinese calendar. The dragon is considered to be the most powerful of the 12 signs of the zodiac, and is associated with high energy and prosperity. It's also the only mythical creature in the Chinese astrological chart that includes horses, rats and snakes. This year of the water dragon sign only comes around once every 60 years and those born during a dragon year are thought to be especially innovative, brave, and passionate. The Year of the Dragon is also thought to bring very good luck.
Chinese New Year, also called the Spring Festival in China, starts on January 22 and ends with the Lantern Festival on the 15th day, this year it falls on February 6th. The Chinese New Year is a time for families to be together and the festival is an important public holiday celebrated all across the country. Starting on the first day of the New Year running through the 15th day, the Chinese visit their friends and relatives as New Year greetings are exchanged and money is given to children in the hope that it will bring them good luck in the coming year.
Following a traditional holiday reunion dinner held on New Year's Eve, the festival is celebrated with various activities including fireworks as well as traditional performances of dragon dancing and lion dancing throughout the parks and streets in the cities and towns across China. Every family performs an extensive house cleaning at the New Year in order to drive away bad fortune and bring good luck in the coming year. Millions of homes across China are also decorated with red paper decorations on the windows and doors to welcome a new year of wealth, longevity and prosperity and to get rid any past negativity.
Thousands of Chinese couples have been waiting to have their children born in the Year of the Dragon. As a result, the year 2012 should result in a bumper crop in new, and hopefully lucky Chinese babies born in this important time. At the same time, the Year of the Dragon also comes with hopes that the Chinese economy as well as the world economy both fare a little better. This 2012 Year of the Dragon follows a Year of the Rabbit in 2011, and because the rabbit is a symbol that represents instability in Chinese lore, the potential for a true economic rebound and a lucky year overall is high. In general, in the dragon years, some mixed predictions the world economy does a little better. And with this year of the dragon coming after 2011's year of the rabbit, a symbol which usually represents instability, the potential for an economic rebound similar to the pattern that emerged in 1987 (a bad — and rabbit — year), followed by a better (and dragon) year in 1988
Although the Chinese New Year offer travelers the unique opportunity to celebrate traditional cultural festivals as locals do, the New Year period is the busiest travel time of year in China and trains and plane flights can be very difficult to book. If your plans include traveling to China during the time of the New Year Festival, be sure to make full preparations as early as possible.
Dragon Year Facts:
Children of the Dragon includes those born in the years 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, and 2012.
2012 is a year marked specifically by the Water Dragon, which is thought to have a more calming influence than other types of Dragons..
The lucky color for those born in Dragon years is yellow.
Those born in Dragon years are very passionate and tend to fall in and out of love very quickly.
This Year of the Dragon is expected to bring good luck to anyone starting a new business this year.
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