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Q: What is the Chinese Zodiac?
It's composed of 12 animals, each with their own traits and characteristics. A new animal year begins on Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) so your animal will come around every 12 years. It's usually considered bad luck if it's your year, which is why many people wear something red, which is said to improve your luck. There's a cute story behind the origin of the twelve animals in the zodiac but that's too long to recount here.
The Chinese zodiac, or sheng1 xiao4, matches each year to an animal and rotates on a 12-year cycle. It’s used in astrology to predict a person’s personality and a couple’s compatibility. There are many fun legends about the Chinese zodiac if you get the time to look up some. The order typically begins with the Rat, followed by Ox, Tiger, Hare/Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep/Goat/Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. 2010 is the year of the Tiger.
Everyone else is bumping ancient posts
Stiggs:
Some of the old ones are actually interesting. More so than some recent posts, that's for sure.
philbravery:
agreed maybe we need to bring the good ones back more often
It is kind of fun to know your chinese zodiac sign.
But, as a rule I would never divulge mine to local (i.e. mainland) chinese. Once they know the year they can easily figure out your age. The sneaky ones always ask indirectly, i.e. your zodiac sign, to work out your age.
Many would ask, "so what?" With mainland chinese it is not just their invasive, spying mentality that is detesting, it is dangerous. During the Cultural Revolution, their favorite "pastime" is to spy and pry, whatever tinnny weenny bit of info about you, like your relative from Macau visits you and leave you a pack of Marboro cigarette, that would be construed against you in the process of framing you as a Western evil capitalist...etc. The rest reaalllyyy is history. :) Cigarettes do kill, a horrible death too! 
This "fine tradition" still runs.......
The following diagrams shows the order of the 12 chinese zodiac sign, meaning from rat to pig, it is a 12 years cycle. It is dead easy to figure out someone's age once you memorize the animal zodiac order and any animal corresponding year. Any "animal-year would do". Take 1950 (mid century mark, easy to remember), the year of the tiger. This means 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010 ....etc. are all "tigers". So if they know you are a "tiger" it is pretty easy to tell how old you are. And once you know the "tiger years", provided you memorized the order of the chinese zodiac signs you can mentally work out the rest effortlessly.
earthizen:
Start from left to right, zigzag down. The 12 years cycle starts with rat, ends with pig.
You learn something everyday.
According to my wife, I was born in the Year of the Donkey. She thinks she is funny 
Chinese Zodiac is about the year. Western Zodiac is about the month? They call it horoscope.
