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Chinese New Year 2013 - Year of the Snake

Chinese New Year 2013 - Year of the Snake

The date for the Chinese New Year in 2013 is February 10th.

• The Chinese Calendar 2013
• Significance of the Chinese Snake
• Interesting Trivia for the Year of the Snake 2013
• Chinese New Year Jokes

The Chinese Calendar 2013

Unlike western calendars, the Chinese calendar has names that are repeated every 60 years.  Within the 'Stem-Branch' system is shorter cycle of 12 years denoted by animals:

2013 is the year of the Snake.  It is the guĭ-sì  癸巳 year (Water Snake).  Guĭ (Yin Water) is the tenth of the ten celestial stems and Sì (Snake) is the sixth of the twelve terrestrial branches and marks this 10/6 the year of the Snake.

   Rat    Ox    Tiger Rabbit  Dragon Snake Horse Sheep Monkey Rooster Dog  Pig
2008 2009  2010  2011  2012  2013   2014  2015   2016    2017   2018 2007

Calculating 'When is the Chinese New Year in 2013'

The fact that the date of Chinese New Year varies within about a month is a clue that it's linked to the new moon.  A rough, and almost infallible guide is that the Chinese New Year falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice.  The winter solstice always falls on December 22nd, the next new moon is on January 11th 2013, and the second new moon is on February 10th 2013.

Will and Guy admit that the precise rules for determining 'When is the Chinese New Year', are far more complex.  For example, one problem with any lunar calendar system is that some years there are 13 new moons.  The Chinese deal with this by slotting in an extra intercalary month.

The Chinese New Year Calendar - With Its Associated 12 Animals

The lunar Chinese New Year (CNY) calendar below shows which of 12 animals you are!  Naturally the animal depends on the year in which you were born.  Note: if you were born in January or February you need to check if your birthday was before or after the date of that Chinese New Year. (If it was before this day your animal is the one shown for the previous year).

60 Year Cycle of the Chinese New Year Calendar

Unlike western calendars, the Chinese calendar has names that are repeated every 60 years.  Within the 'Stem-Branch' system is shorter 'Celestial' cycle of 12 years denoted by animals.  Furthermore, the Chinese believe that people born in a particular year take on the characteristics of the animal associated with that year.

   Rat    Ox   Tiger  Rabbit Dragon Snake Horse Sheep Monkey Rooster  Dog   Pig
2008 2009  2010  2011  2012   2013  2014   2015   2016     2017   2018 2007

Another dimension of the Chinese zodiac is the 5 'Terrestrial' elements of metal, water, wood, fire and earth.

If the year ends in 0 it is Yang Metal.
If the year ends in 1 it is Yin Metal.
If the year ends in 2 it is Yang Water.
If the year ends in 3 it is Yin Water.
If the year ends in 4 it is Yang Wood.
If the year ends in 5 it is Yin Wood.
If the year ends in 6 it is Yang Fire.
If the year ends in 7 it is Yin Fire.
If the year ends in 8 it is Yang Earth.
If the year ends in 9 it is Yin Earth.

Start date for the Chinese New Year Calendar 2011 and other years

The lunar Chinese New Years dates are:
2011 - Feb 3;  2012 - Jan 23;  2013 - Feb 10;  2014 - Jan 31;  2015 - Feb 19

See more on the Chinese New Year

Dates for Chinese Valentine's Day

'When is the Chinese Valentine's Day in 2013?', is sure to be a mean question in pub quizzes.  So prepared, know the date, and remember the rule, 7th day of the 7th month of the Chinese calendar.

• Year 2013 - 13th August, 2013.

Some Interesting Trivia For The Chinese Year of the Snake - 2013

Since Snakes are born under the same Animal Sign, they often share likes and dislikes. Following are similar likes and dislikes of the Snake personality.

Snakes Likes:

• Colour Preference: Red
• Gems and Stones: Topaz, Jasper, Bloodstone
• Suitable Gifts include: binoculars, Tarot cards, oils and lotions, stamp collection
• Hobbies and Pastimes: Astrology, painting, touring, photography

Snakes Dislikes:

• Being interrupted, being mislead personally or professionally, failure.

Five Further Thoughts from Will and Guy

1. If a rich man ate a snake, they would say it was because of his wisdom; if a poor man ate it, they would say it was because of his stupidity. - Saudi Arabian Proverb
2. Kill the snake of doubt in your soul, crush the worms of fear in your heart and mountains will move out of your way. - Kate Seredy
3. Snake is a sign in the Chinese Zodiac. People born in the Year of the Snake tend to be calm, determined, passionate. [1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013]
4. Native Americans associate the shedding of a snake's skin with rebirth.
5. Chinese Zodiac Snakes are rich in wisdom and charm, are romantic and deep thinking and your intuition guides you strongly. Avoid procrastination and a stingy attitude towards money. Keep a sense of humour about life. The Snake would be most content as a teacher, philosopher, writer, psychiatrist and fortune teller.

Chinese Phrases

搞笑清洁笑话 in Chinese roughly translates into clean funny jokes.

干净免费笑话,故事图片、视频剪辑 means clean free jokes, stories pictures and video-clips.

Will and Guy's Amusing and Funny Chinese Fishing Story

Wang Chien-Ming, (王建 in Mandarin), having settled down to fish at the edge of the river in Guangdong province, soon realized that he had forgotten to bring any bait.

Slightly annoyed with himself, Wang noticed a little snake passing by who had caught a worm.  Knowing it was the year of the snake, Wang grabbed the snake and robbed him of his worm.  Then later, feeling sorry for the little snake with no lunch, he snatched him up again and poured a little beer down his throat.  Then he continued happily with his fishing.

An hour or so later Wang felt a tug at his trouser leg. Looking down, he saw the same snake with three more worms in his mouth..................

Chinese New Year Jokes, Proverbs and Stories

Chinese Proverbs

• Wife who put husband in doghouse soon find him in cathouse.
• War doesn't determine who is right, war determines who is left.
• A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.
• He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
• Chinese 'Cracked Pot' parable

How To Speak Chinese Funny

• I thought you were on a diet................Wai Yu Mun Ching?
• This is a tow-away zone......................No Pah King
• Our meeting is scheduled for next week......Wai Yu Kum Nao?
• Staying out of sight............................Lei Ying Lo
• See more funny Chinese speak

20 Number 6

It was Chinese New Year.  Bill and Jackson had just staggered back home from a hard night's drinking when they noticed that a menu from the new restaurant next door had come through the letter box.  On a whim they decided to celebrate the Chinese New Year with a take-away.  Jackson, was just off out of the door to fetch their meal when Bill turned to him and said, 'Please get me 20 number 6 while you're at the take-away.

Jackson returned with their chicken Chou Mein, sweet and sour pork and 20 portions of egg fried rice.  Bill said, 'Where's me fags'. Jackson said, 'What cigarettes, you asked for 20 number 6 and that's what you've got, enough egg fried rice to feed a Chinese Junk from Shanghai to Hong Kong'.

Bill said, 'When I was last in England Embassy No 6 was a packet of fags.'

It's a Dog's Life

Meanwhile, Bill and Jackson's wives decided to dine out a new Chinese Restaurant.  Jackson's wife Julie was inseparable from her Pekingese dog called 'Pepe'.  So they took Pepe along with them to the restaurant.   Whenever they went to their usual restaurant the manager's wife looked after Pepe while they ate, and they thought it would be no different this new restaurant.

Julie and her friend Rachel, gave Pepe to the owner and went to their seats.  They ordered their meal, had a few drinks and eventually their meal arrived.  They were mortified when it turned out to be their beloved Pepe surrounded by Chop Suey.

As the owner explained the next day to Bill and Jackson, they thought that Julie and Rachel wanted the chef to cook the dog, not look after it while the women dined.

One-liners

• How did an embarrassed panda get mistaken for a newspaper?  They are both black and white, and red all over!
• What's purple, 10,000 km long and 12m high?
  The grape wall of China.

Traditional Chinese Sense of Humour

Prime Minister Chang was happy enough to write, but he didn't put in a lot of care into his brush strokes. Everybody sneered at his bad handwriting, and the Prime Minister himself really didn't care.

One day Chang thought of a beautiful sentence and at once wielded his writing brush to write it down, indeed, there were dragons flying and snakes dancing all over the paper. Then he ordered his secretary to write it out neatly.

When beginning to copy, his secretary stared tongue-tied and did not know where to start. The young man had to take the manuscript back to the Prime Minister.

'Prime Minister Chang, I can't read your handwriting, please tell me what words they are.'

The Prime Minister read his cursive hand a long time, and did not know what Chinese characters they were, either. He then turned to blame his secretary. 'Why didn't you come earlier to ask me? I myself have forgotten the words which I've written.'

Footnote:
Please write to Will and Guy if you have any interesting stories about the Chinese New Year 2013.

See More About the Chinese New Year Calendar, also Jokes and Funny Stories:

• Chinese New Year 2011   • Chinese Day October 1st   • Chinese New Year jokes   • What New Year

• Chinese New Year 2012   • Interesting Chinese facts   • Chinese traditional foods   • Chinese food

♥ Chinese Valentine's Day   • Chinese Moon Festival Zhongqiujie   • Chinese New Year Lantern Festival

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