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There is a crack in everything, that is how the light gets in.
Grasp what you can and improve yourselves by reading and studying while we wait for things to get better and to stay in peace .
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There is nothing like spring, for a fresh beginning and to follow a healthy lifestyle.
The best thing in the world is to invest in yourself.
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The Pig, Zhū 猪 pronounced as Chu is the last sign in the cycle. 2019 is a Pig Year.
If you’re born in a Pig year, quick read of your horoscope card indicates 2019 is the year to be proactive and act on plans instead of procrastinating. Results will come. Do the deed first.
Personality forecast: Pigs are compassionate, generous and diligent. Their focus and ability to concentrate is their strength. They are relatively calm people.
Generally speaking, best suited career options for Pigs are caterers, doctors, veterinarians and interior decorators.
Career prospects indicate a minor setback but you will bounce back once you start acting on your plans.
Health looks average, play hard but rest equally too.
2019 looks great financially. Investments will be generously rewarded.
Male pigs will be luckier in love this year. For female pigs their relationships will be good, but won’t move forward so don’t expect big changes.
To round up, some famous Pig year people are Henry Ford , Arnold Schwarzenegger and Hilary Clinton!
#猪

The Rabbit 兔 pronounced as ‘thu' is the next in the cycle.
If you’re born in a Rabbit year, quick read of your horoscope card indicates an excellent 2019!
Personality forecast: Rabbits are elegant, quiet, gentle and alert as well as skilful and kind.
Generally speaking, best suited career options for Rabbits are in health care, religion, culture, cultivation and breeding. T
Career prospects look good this year with a possible promotion under guidance of superiors.
Health doesn’t show any serious problems so it’s a good year physically.
Finances look good with an improved salary; all investments are profitable this year.
Love forecast looks rough, there may be no good news for singles in 2019.
To round up, some famous Rabbit year people are Albert Einstein, Michael Jordan and David Beckham!
#牛

The Tiger 虎 pronounced as ‘who’ is the next in the cycle.
If you’re born in a Tiger year, quick read of your horoscope card indicates a year full of self realisation and working on making yourself the best version of you.
Personality forecast: Tigers are brave, confident, have fierce personalities, and are charming leaders.
Generally speaking, best suited career options for Tigers are ones that require leadership skills in a respectable position. Some options are manager, travel agent, actor, writer and pilot.
Career prospects look good this year with a possible promotion. Lots of support from officials or management.
Health doesn’t look great, pay attention to digestive system and health of family around you.
Finances look good with unexpected monetary gain.
Love forecast is 马马虎虎 (ma ma hu hu) which means so so.
To round up, some famous Tiger year people are Queen Elizabeth, Lady Gaga and Leonardo DiCaprio!
#牛

The Ox 牛 pronounced as ‘new’ is the second in the cycle.
If you’re born in an Ox year, quick read of your horoscope card indicates a year full of opportunities to make money. Overall a good year.
Personality forecast: Ox’s are dependable, determined and diligent. They’re honest, ambitious and attach great deal of importance to family and career.
Generally speaking, best suited career options for ox’s are service oriented fields since they are punctual and stick to everything they commit to. They have an admirable work ethic. Engineering, interior design, carpentry and mechanics are also great fields to dabble in.
Career prospects look stressful this year with promotions up for grabs.
Health doesn’t look great, so we say get your check ups done in time, it can’t hurt. Finances look good and improving still. Investments will be rewarded. Love forecast is terrific! Ox’s will easily meet suitable companions this year.
To round up, some famous Ox year people are Van Gogh, Adolf Hi**er and Walt Disney!
#牛

The Rat 鼠 Shǔ pronounced as ‘shoe’ is the first in the cycle.
If you’re born in a Rat year, quick read of your horoscope card indicates a year full of happiness and prosperity in 2019.
Personality forecast: Rats are quick-witted, resourceful, kind and smart.
Quick to respond to changing situations, this sign adapts well. Generally speaking, best suited career options for rats are administrator, director, manager, entrepreneur, writer, broadcaster, musician, performer, politician, lawyer or researcher.
Career prospects look good this year with many opportunities to achieve their goals. Health looks average, so we say stay focussed on diet and exercise, it can’t hurt. Finances don’t look bad either, there’s a possible salary bump too! Love forecast is a little glum so protect your relationships and don’t expect something serious to happen.
To round up, some famous rat year people are Prince Charles, Eminem and Cristiano Ronaldo!
#鼠

New week, new topic ⚠️
This week we learn about
There are 12 Chinese zodiac signs represented by 12 animals chosen to guard the Heavenly Gates by the Jade Emperor.

The story goes to say that long ago, there was no Chinese zodiac. The Jade Emperor wanted to select 12 animals to be his guards. He sent an immortal being into the earthly world to spread the message that the earlier one went through the Heavenly Gate, the better the rank one would have. The next day, the animals set off to race.
The rat and diligent ox being early risers were the first and second. The rat jumped on the ox’s year to cross the river but jumped off right when the ox was about to cross the finish line, surpassing his friend.
Being competitive and fast, the tiger and rabbit placed third and fourth respectively. A mighty looking dragon was fifth and blessed with the emperor’s word that his son could take sixth place- however, unfortunately his son wasn’t present that day. A snake wiggled his way through and said that the dragon is like his adoptive father, and so he was given sixth place.
The horse and goat were up next and were so polite to let each other go first, that the emperor gave each one place. Horse was seventh, goat was eighth.
The monkey had fallen behind in the race but finished ninth. The rooster, dog and pig then finished in that order to round up the 12 animals selected as guards of the Heavenly Gate.

Just like sunsigns or Gregorian zodiacs, the Chinese zodiacs are commonly seen as personality trait identifiers.
The difference though is that traditional sun signs change every month, while Chinese zodiacs change every year. Each sign comes back after 12 years. These signs are also subcategorised with elements of earth, water, fire, gold and wood. Each sub category, repeats every 60 years! However that’s not used commonly unless you go to a chinese astrologer for match making purposes, where birth charts of men and women are matched to see their compatibility.
The Chinese zodiac does not start in January, but rather the first day of the Chinese lunar calendar. It is also said that zodiac birth years are unlucky. Keep checking everyday for your sign 🇨🇳

Long ago in the mountains, there lived a horrible demon creature named Nian. Every year, on the first day of the year, the creature would awaken and descend upon the village. He would eat all the grain and livestock. And if there were any unfortunately children stuck outside, they would disappear.
For years, villagers lived terrified and locked themselves in on New Year’s Day. One day, an old man visits them and says there are so many of you, and only 1 dragon. He definitely cannot eat all of you? However, they still were afraid. So for many moons, this old man kept riding the dragon starving him, the dragon was so tired, he’d just sleep after the ride.
Eventually, the old man said, I can’t do this forever, I have other duties to tend to. He was one of the Chinese Gods. He let the villagers in on a secret- the dragon was easily scared of the colour red, loud noises and strange creatures. So he advised them to hand red signs on every door, burst firecrackers through the day and for kids to wear demon, dragon, mythical creatures masks to scare away Nian. He never returned again.
In Chinese, the word for New Years is Guo Nian. Literally translated it means to "pass over Nian" or "overcome Nian". That is exactly what the villagers did.
This is the story of Chinese New Year or the Spring Festival. It’s the most important 7 day holiday in Chinese culture where families unite. Chinese expats from everywhere in the world travel back home to be with their family.
Popular greetings are 新年快乐 xin nian kuaile! And 恭喜发财！gong xi fa cai
Lots of food is made and the week is spent visiting family and friends. Lamps and lanterns are lit, red decorations are hung all around and money is given out in red envelopes for good luck.
We have also previously shared a post on this festival with

Chóngyáng jié (pronounced as chhong yang G eh!) is popularly called the Double Ninth Festival in China. It is a traditional holiday that falls on the ninth of the ninth month in the lunar calendar.
Chong in Chinese means double. While yang is the symbol of masculinity depicted by number 9. On this day, since the date is 9/9 it is celebrated as double ninth festival.
In 1989, the government of China also declared this as the Senior’s Day after which all government units, organisations and streets communities organise autumn trips for retired personnel. Younger generations will bring elder ones outdoors for travels or send them gifts. Some may go pray at graves.
In one of the myths, it is said that a devil inhabited the Nu River in the Han Dynasty which caused disease to spread in neighbouring villages. A father to a young man named Hengjing died because of the devil’s magic after which he went through great ordeal to learn swordsmanship to kill the devil and disease. He carried dogwood and chrysanthemum wine and on the ninth day of the ninth month, led villagers who each were holding the same dogwood and chrysanthemum, and climbed the nearest mountain. At noon, when the devil came out of the river, he stopped because of the fragrance of dogwood and chrysanthemum wine. At this very moment when the dragon was uncomfortably distracted, Hengjing took out his sword to fight the devil and won.
Since then, the customs of climbing mountains, drinking chrysanthemum wine and holding dogwood on this festival became popular.
People also eat cake 糕 gao as it is a homophone of 高gao which means height.

Zhongqiu Jie or Mid-Autumn Festival is also known as the Moon Festival.
It falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. It is the second most important festival in Chinese culture.
On this day, people offer food and prayers to the moon and longingly miss their distant loved ones.
The story behind its origins is of a beautiful, devoted wife Chang e who swallows the elixir immortality that her husband gave her for safekeeping. The said husband, Hou Yi is celebrated as a local hero for shooting down 9 out of the ten suns that were scorching up the lands and destroying crops. For his bravery and good deed he was awarded an elixir of immortality. His own protege tried to steal it from his wife but instead of letting it go in the wrong hands, she swallowed it and flew to the moon.
Yi returned home and realised what had happened and felt deeply sad and moved for being estranged from his wife. She decided to stay and settle on the moon so she can always be close to her beloved. So he offers her favourite cakes and fruits to the moon.
There on forward, people offer fruits, eat moon cakes and miss their loved ones by sending up prayer lanterns.
It is also a day that people worship the moon to show gratitude for its role in helping tides and favourable climate, for good harvest.
It falls on September 13 this year.

端午节 Duānwǔ jié (pronounced as: dwan woo G eh) is also known as the Double Fifth Festival because it falls on the 5th day of the 5th month in the lunar calendar.
This festival has long standing traditions in China.
This day is celebrated to commemorate one of China’s greatest patriotic poets to ever have lived, Qu Yuan (340-278 BC). Two other greats in Chinese history, Wu Zixu and Cao E also died on the same day.
Qu Yuan was exiled by the king and drowned himself in shame in the river rather than see his country being conquered by the State of Qin. Such was his love for his country.
Legend has it, this is why dragon boat races started. When villagers of neighbouring towns heard of this, they rushed in boats to find him. They also took rice dumplings and threw it in water to feed the fishes as bribe to spare his body. Ever since, the main food consumed on this festival are those sweet rice or savoury dumplings wrapped in dry leaves, 粽子zongzi pronounced as zong zuh
Other traditions include wearing perfume pouches that are said to protect us from evil. People also hang Chinese Mugwort and Calamus both of which are plants used in herbal medicines in China which help prevent diseases and bring good luck.
This is also a three day holiday in China and neighbouring Asian countries with prevalent Chinese influence.
Highlights of this day are going out and watching dragon boat races which are now a sport an annual event especially in southern regions.
This year, this festival will be held on June 7-9.