Dirty Harry, TV's Jerry share a sign
| • | Chinatown astrologers share their predictions |
| • | Chinese traditions persist, yet evolve |
| • | Events in honor of the New Year |
By Tanya Bricking
Advertiser Staff Writer
As Chinatown erupts in shouts of "Kung Hee Fat Choy" (loosely translated as "happiness and prosperity in the New Year"), others among us whose calendars already marked a new year on Jan. 1 may have some things to figure out.
While it's 2002, the lunar new year of the Chinese Year 4700 officially begins Tuesday.
Firecrackers, fruit-bearing bushes, good-luck charms, lion dancing and red money envelopes all are symbols to usher in the change as the year of the Snake slithers out and the Horse gallops in.
The Chinese zodiac is based on 12 animals that cycle through the elements of metal, water, wood, fire and earth. The Horse is the seventh sign of the zodiac. The last year of the Horse was 1990, but the last year of the Horse combined with the element water was 1942.
If you were born in 1906, 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978 or 1990, this is your year. If you're turning 60 this year, it's also your element. People born under the sign of the horse are believed to be hard working and strong-willed.
Singers Aretha Franklin and Barbra Streisand, who will turn 60 this year, are water horses. Actors Clint Eastwood, Jackie Chan and Ellen Barkin, and comedian Jerry Seinfeld, also were born under the sign of the horse.
