Lunar new year gains in status

I always like to send my wishes to friends on their birthdays, as our birthday is the only day out of 365 that belongs to us in a very special way. My Western friends used to ask me, "Could you check what my Chinese sign is?" or "I was told I'm a Horse, what are the features of that zodiac sign in China?"

Through the 20 years I have spent in China, I have seen a growing interest among Western people for the Chinese 12-year cycle, each year attributed to an animal, for chunjie which is the Chinese lunar new year's day, and for all kinds of symbols and activities related to the Chinese zodiac system. Among those details are the red fabric belt that one wears during benmingnian (or the year of "your animal"), the story of why these animals were chosen and why in "this order", the reason why the Chinese pay so much importance to the year of a person's birth and the way to ask a person's age in Chinese, and the long noodles that one should not miss on a birthday for a long life.

There are paper cuts, too, featuring the 12 animals, so light and easy to include into a letter that I have sent more than 200 around the world during my time in China.