Year of the Pig

This is my year!  It is the first time that I have been cognizant of the zodiac years as they specifically pertain to me.

I have been in China during the Festival of Lights or Spring Festival on two occasions, and I am very impressed by how ubiquitously celebrated this is.  The whole country is on the move for two to three weeks during this time period, visiting family and friends, celebrating the year that has finished and hope for a healthy and prosperous new year.  There are many food traditions that surround the celebration, but what is striking as a visitor is that literally everywhere you go there is evidence of the celebration.

We are now in the year of the pig.  There are a number of theories that surround the origin of the China zodiac.  Animals found in the zodiac have been found on pottery going back to 500 BCE.  There is likely a connection between the zodiac with the Silk Road, and the fable about the animals and the order of the years relates to a banquet that the emperor held, and when each of them arrived.