Goodbye ground pig, hello metal rat

Next January 25, we leave the year of the earth pig to enter that of the metal rat according to the Chinese zodiac.

The first of the 12 signs in the Chinese lunar calendar, the rat begins a new 12-year cycle. In 2020, it was associated with the metal element.

The lunar calendar has 12 signs that change every year. Each sign that returns every 12 years is represented by an animal, starting with the rat and ending with the pig. The 12 signs are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. With these signs are associated 5 elements which last 2 years each. The 5 elements are: Earth, Metal, Water, Wood, Fire.

The year of the Metal Rat will end on February 11, 2021 and will be followed by that of the Metal Ox. During the first week, festivities take place, this is called « Golden Week ». The Spring Festival is celebrated in China, in Hong Kong, in Singapore, in Vietnam, in Thailand, in Vietnam in Malaysia and in the Philippines but also in all the Asian communities of the diaspora. This is an opportunity to organize parties and festivals with parades of dragons, lion dances and to burst the firecrackers to chase away evil spirits. Golden week is in China the occasion to reunite with family, people travel from far to celebrate together the lunar new year, it is a national day of 7 days which this year begins on January 24 and ends on January 30 This is also the case in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia. It is a public holiday in Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines but in Thailand it is only a 3 day regional holiday.

The end of the festivities is marked by the Lantern Festival on the 15th day following the Chinese New Year, it falls this year on February 8.

Several parades are planned in Paris as every year, the most popular being that of the 13th arrondissement on February 2. Other festivities will take place in the 3rd and 4th arrondissement but also in the 10th, 11th, 12th and 20th arrondissements, districts with a high Asian population. The suburban and provincial towns also comply with this custom.

What does the year of the Metal Rat hold in store?

As the rat is a far-sighted animal that accumulates for its future, the year 2020 should be a year conducive to savings and investments that will bear fruit in the future. Politically and socially, we should expect twists and turns and disappointments. The year of the Rat is also favorable to literature.

What is the personality of the rat?

Charming, sociable, resourceful, lively, ambitious, cunning, the native of the rat will feel good in professions related to finance or art like financial advisor, broker, pawnbroker, lawyer, detective, antique dealer, auctioneer , songwriter, pathologist.

Its equivalent astrological sign is the sagittarius and in the Chinese horoscope, it is compatible with the Dragon or the Monkey.

Among the celebrities of the Rat sign, we meet Alizée, Anne-Sophie Lapix, Antonio Banderas, Avril Lavigne, Barbara Hendricks, Ben Affleck, Benny Hill, Bernard-Henri Lévy, M, Bono, Cauet, Cameron Diaz, Carmen Electra, David Duchovny, Diego Maradona, Eminem, Évelyne Dhéliat, Garou, Gerard Depardieu, Grace Jones, Gwyneth Paltrow, Gérard Darmon, Hugh Grant, Jean Reno, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Jean-Luc Reichmann, Jean-Michel Jarre, Jennifer Garner, Jude Law, Julie Gayet, Katy Perry, Kendji Girac, Laurent Voulzy, Louane, Louis Armstrong, Mark Zuckerberg, Marlon Brando, Maradona, Michèle Laroque, Nathalie Baye, Natoo, Olivia Newton-John, Passi, Prince Charles of Wales, Prince Harry of Galles, Ramzy Bédia, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Sean Penn, Thierry Ardisson, Vanessa Paradis, Yannick Noah, Zinedine Zidane …

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VERONIQUE YANG

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