Each year, new predictions are set according to traditional Chinese astrology. This Lunar Year is dedicated to the Monkey, the Ninth Zodiac Sign, so predictions can give you an indication of what may happen to you this Fire Monkey year and which signs will be lucky or unlucky. Wondering what this Year will be like? Let’s see what’s in store for you, this year.

Why the Fire Monkey?

As you perhaps are aware, there are 12 signs in the Chinese Zodiac. Each birth year corresponds to one of these signs. According to the year you were born in and your Zodiac animal, your fate is supposed to be different. Five natural elements also define your personality and fate: fire represents moral decency, wood is associated with benevolence, water with wisdom, earth with honesty and metal represents righteousness. Each year is also associated with one of the Five elements: for example, 2013, 2014, 2015 were are all in the fire cycle and so is 2016. This is why this year is a Fire Monkey year: a combination of the Monkey sign, and the Fire Element.

To find what your element is, head here. And for those who don’t know what their zodiac sign is, try here.

Will the Fire Monkey year be a Good Year for You?

According to the forecasts, this new Lunar Year will be an amazing year for Rats, Dragons and Monkeys. It will bring you charm and confidence. It’ll be, however, an unstable year. Tigers, Snakes, Boars and Dogs, you’ll have to hold on a bit, the Monkey Year will be a little complex to navigate for you. You’ll do better next year! 2017 will be the Rooster year and 2018 the Dog year, hopefully more auspicious years for those signs. In the meantime, stay highly focused and do your best to remain objective; it should help; Goats, Rabbits, Oxs, Roosters, Horses, the Monkey sign shouldn’t have any special effect on you.

A year of personal changes!

What shouldn’t happen this year: In spite of the current news, political and economic revolutions were not foreseen. Wouldn’t that be nice if it were true? It won’t be a time for collective efforts either but on the individual level, efforts and ambition will be rewarded. In comparison, the last time Chinese people celebrated a Fire Monkey year was in 1956, and a lot of things happened ithat year; so we’ll see!

What this year will be:

This year is said to be all about innovation and creation. The Monkey allows us to be wiser and to take risks so more adventurous experiences await you. Let’s get rebellious! :)The Year of the Fire Monkey is also a great time to be brave and experiment new things. Time to act on that bucket list you’ve been making for yours?

Predictions also announce the Lunar Year of the Monkey is and will be a great period to make business. Risk-takers and ambition will be rewarded. So be creative, embrace riskiness and don’t look back on the past! This is the way to succeed in this unstable year full of opportunities.

Whatever you choose to do in the Year of the Monkey, the Nincha Team wishes you all the best for the year to come! As for me, Pauline, the Nincha Team’s newest Intern Nincha, as I am born under the Dog sign, I’ll try my best this year and wait eagerly for better previsions next year!

Source for illustration: You Zhang

The Nincha Team

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The post What’s your prediction for the Fire Monkey year? appeared first on Ninchanese.

Happy Horned ruminating mammal year!

羊 in Chinese has a fairly broad meaning, and is a generic term for “various horned ruminating mammals”. Helpful, huh? As 羊 covers the whole “goat, sheep, ram” category and both male and female species, there’s no perfect translation in English for the new Lunar year we’re entering, 羊年.

In fact, different nationalities use different terms: the Chinese are rumored to use mostly sheep, and sometimes ram, the Koreans say “Year of the ram” and the Vietnamese mostly use “The Year of the Goat”. That being said, even within a nationality, there’s no real consensus on what to use.

It’s a matter of personal choice

So here’s what we suggest:
Year of the ram, year of the goat, year of the sheep, year of the “羊”… Just pick the one you like best and have a wonderful lunar year celebration!

P.S: If you’re wondering what a ram is, like I was, it’s a un-castrated male sheep.
So, it’s usually more associated with males. But then, again, it’s all a matter of personal choice!

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Click through to see The Big Picture’s cool (and always visually awesome) selection of Lunar New Year preparations and celebrations in China and elsewhere.

The post Lunar New Year celebrations across Asia appeared first on Ninchanese.