Preparing for the Pig

The Year of the Pig begins Saturday, February 18^th, 2007.

This means that 12/20 lunar (Wednesday, February 7, 2007) should be set aside for the annual housecleaning and 3 days later on Saturday, the kitchen god will be going up to report, and that February 28^th ‘should’ find you preparing for the Lantern festival, which begins on the 15^th night, which is 29th this year. (This two-week period includes Valentine’s Day and if you plan on ‘teaching’ the holiday, you may want to consider that in your plans.)

I may be eyeing those candy pigs that sometimes show up around Christmas to see if they would last.

I like this origami pig for children to try. You can download the directions there.

As we get closer to the date, you should be able to a Chinese calendar for February 2007, at China the Beautiful: February 2007 calendar . It was not ready yet in September 2006. There is a special name for the first day of the new year - but you should be able to see the character for 2 (二), on February 19^th, and for 3 (三) on February 20^th.

If you would like a one-page 2007 calendar overlaid with the phases of the moon, email me at mus-mandarin@wubison.com and ask for my "lunar calendar".

For more on Chinese calendars see:
China the Beautiful's Introduction to Chinese Calendars
Scotland Online's Chinese New Year page