February 9, 2005 is the first day of Chinese New Year. It is the most important holiday in Chinese calendar, which is celebrated around the world.

However, the exact time depends on where you are:
Because this is a new moon day, it is the first day of the first Chinese lunar month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar system. The new moon time is at 06:28 on 9-Feb-05 in China time zone. However, the new moon time is at 14:28 of 8-Feb-05 in the US Pacific Standard Time and also at 17:28 of 8-Feb-05 in the US Eastern Standard Time, so the Chinese New Year day is on February 8, 2005 for USA time zones.

The calendar, which is based on the cycles of the moon, associates each year with one of 12 animals whose personalities dictate the characteristics of each 12-month period. The rooster is the tenth in the zodiac sequence that starts with the rat, followed by the ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and ending with the pig.

Superstitions or not, Chinese calendar does not only record the passage of time, but also provides a tool of fortune telling. The unique feature of such calendar is that all information about time - year, month, day and hour are presented in terms of the five basic elements - metal, water, wood, fire, and earth, which are believed to be the basic components of everything in the Universe.

This year of the Rooster is symbolized by two elements - with wood sitting on top of metal. According to the cycle of birth and destruction, which governs the inter-relationship between elements, metal will destroy wood. Therefore, wood sitting on its destroyer - metal, is a symbol of disharmony and this may lead to international conflicts.

If it is still not enough, the history of rooster years has proven to be bloody. It is marked with the Japan invasion to Korea in 1909; Hitler came to power in 1933; and the World War II which was ended in 1945 with the atomic bombing of Japan.
Chinese believe that prophecy is the repetition of history. Despite the communist teachings against superstitions, they cannot wipe away their beliefs.

To sum up, Chinese would do just about anything to avoid the jinx of the rooster year:
Women have sought to have babies in the Year of the Monkey (2004) in order to avoid bad luck in the upcoming Year of the Rooster. “Every hospital has seen 20 percent more pregnant women this year because the Monkey year is considered better,” said Han Tianjun, director of south China’s Guangzhou City Women and Children’s Hospital.

The nouveau riche are willing to pay heavily for the privilege of being the first to burn incense at temples for good luck, and fortune tellers report brisk business. Gao Jie, a businessman, paid 66,000 yuan (7,951 dollars) at a recent auction to be the first to light incense and pray at Beijing’s Tanze Temple on New Year’s Day.
The bad luck is presumably affected marriage as well. Many couples rushed to get married just a few days before the monkey year ended in order to avoid the rooster year which has earned its dubious definition as widow year. So far before the New Year, 18,000 local couples have registered for marriage, four to five times more than in past years, according to the marriage management division of the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau.
Yet, in Hongkong, people are more worried of the possibility that SARS and flu bird might return.

Anyhow, prophecy is not true until it’s happened. If you are still curious about your luck this year, you might want to try this one. Happy Chinese New Year to those who celebrate it! Gong Xi Fat Choi!

This has been originally posted here on February 9, 2005