Happy Lunar New Year!
Traditionally, the last day before Chinese New Year families head off to flower markets in search of auspicious plants and blooms to bring good luck to their homes or offices. Kumquat trees, narcissus and peonies bring prosperity; peach blossoms add fire to romance, while tangerine plants with leaves intact help ensure long-lasting relationships and "fruitful" marriages.
So, mingle with the huge, happy crowds, eat some traditional food like rice cakes and New Year dumplings and enliven your senses for the Year of the Pig!
Did you know why the twelve zodiac animals are rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig?
A legend explains the sequence in which the animals were assigned. The 12 animals fought over the precedence of the animals in the cycle of years in the calendar, so the Chinese gods held a contest to determine the order. All the animals lined up on the bank of a river and were given the task of getting to the opposite shore. Their order in the calendar would be set by the order in which the animals managed to reach the other side.
The rat finished the race first. The lazy pig came to the far shore in twelfth place. And so the rat got the first year named after him, the ox got the second year, and the pig ended up as the last year in the cycle.
For more information about the Chinese Zodiac, please refer to this link.
Happy Lunar New Year!
Due to Lunar New Year’s holidays our DACHSER Offices will be closed:
- in Hong Kong from 17 to 20 Feb
- in China from 18 to 24 Feb
- in Taiwan from 17 to 25 Feb
For more information about public holidays in 2007 please click here.
