The Year of the Ox: What should we expect?

02:05

This year the Chinese New Year will begin on February 12, bringing in the Year of the Ox.

It marks the first day of the Chinese lunar calendar, which starts as the first new moon appears, usually between January 21 and February 20 each year. A full moon occurs in the middle of the month.

Here is what you need to know about the Year of the Ox:

1. The new year of the Ox will start on February 12, 2021 and end on January 31, 2022.

2. There are 12 zodiac signs in the Chinese lunar calendar, Ox being the second. The last year of the Ox was 2009.

3. The Ox represents hard work, diligence, kindness, honesty and stubbornness.

4. Lucky numbers for those born in Year of the Ox are 1 and 9.

5. Red, blue and purple are their lucky colors.

6. North, South and Southeast are the directions that are deemed lucky for them.

7. The flowers that bring them luck are tulips and peach blossom.

Louis Armstrong, the King of Jazz, was born in 1901, the Year of the Ox. /AP/Werner Kreusch

Margaret Thatcher, former UK Prime Minister, was born in 1925, the Year of the Ox. AP/Gerald Penny

Former U.S. President Barack Obama was born in another Year of the Ox, 1961. /AP/Andrew Harnik

Malala Yousafzai, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, was born in 1997, another Year of the Ox. /AP/ Susan Walsh

Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festival, is the most important holiday in China, celebrated with delicious meals carefully prepared for the annual family dinner and many other traditions including putting up spring decorations, exchanging red envelopes and offering a sacrifice to ancestors.

This year, the festivity will be celebrated virtually as the Chinese government has asked its citizens to avoid traveling back home to prevent new COVID-19 outbreaks.

The Chinese Zodiac is a repeating cycle of 12 years, where each year is assigned to an animal among Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig. /VCG

This year's Spring Festival Gala, a Chinese New Year special show aired by the China Media Group (CMG) and the world's most watched television program, is expected to be particularly grandiose, presenting a host of performances from dance routines and medleys of popular songs to comedy sketches, acrobatic stunts and much more.

"After a year of hardship, we can understand more than ever the significance of a community with a shared future for mankind," said China's President Xi Jinping in his 2021 New Year address, acknowledging the challenge ahead – globally defeating the pandemic.

"We still have a long way to go in pandemic prevention and control. People from all over the world should join hands and support each other to early dispel the gloom of the pandemic and strive for a better "Earth home," he added, wishing Chinese people a better year than the previous one.

Animation: James Sandifer