Happy New Year - It's the year of the Horse!
Photographs on this page are by Patrick Trollope.

THIS year is the year the Chinese New Year calendar, which fell on 31 January 2014, and it brings in their year 4712!  The Chinese calendar is divided into 12 months of 29 or 30 days following the lunar cycle. Chinese believe believed the animals in the Chinese zodiac calendar originated from the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) and this year's animal is the Horse. Liverpool's Chinese Community is the oldest in Europe. Every year they put on displays and this year's New Year Celebrations were no exception. The Chinese New Year celebrations in Liverpool bring in people from all over the world and are a fantastic example of intercultural integration as you can see on these photographs and on our video footage. If you missed this year's celebrations which took place in spectacular style across the weekend (1 February and 2 February 2014), you should not miss next years! The colourful celebrations started on the Saturday, a day after Chinese New Year's Day, but the activities  were in full swing on Sunday, 2 February 2014. On New Year's Eve, as we have been told, the Chinese people light up their houses and gather together for a family dinner, just like we do at Christmas and special foods are served. Most people stay up late and set off fireworks late at night, like we do on our New Year's Eve, but they do it to scare away evil spirits. Another tradition is the handing out of red packets which are decorated paper envelopes called Red Envelopes containing Lucky Money or "Lai See". These packets are also offered to the Chinese Lions during the lion dancing in a dance called:- "Choi Chang" or Greens, meaning Lettuce or Cabbage. The dance sees the lion eating the lettuce or "green" and then throwing out the shredded lettuce from its mouth, thus indicating the lion has indeed eaten. That and other examples of the tradition were demonstrated to the public via activities that included:- Traditional Chinese Lion, Dragon and Unicorn Dance, workshops, puppets and more! The City's display was so big we did not get the chance to see all of the activities taking place. So what has this year got in store for us according to the Chinese Zodiac; fortune in all aspects of life will fluctuate. It will be a rock and roll year, with many highs and some very big lows. You will have to take great care and treat people around you in a friendly way and behave righteously, should you wish to make it a smoother year. But we will all face many big difficulties and we should stay strong to overcome them all. We will feel more stressed out and should talk more to close friends and take part in group activities. The media will do well this year as will all businesses that thrive on gossip and difficulties. So what are your views for the year ahead? Also if you went to any of the celebrations, do let us know what you thought of them by emailing our newsroom today, via:- news24@southportreporter.com with your views and thoughts. Happy New Year:- "xin nian kuai le"...

Did you know that the latest years of the Horse have been over:-

25 January 1906 to 12 February  1907 (Fire)
11 February 1918 to 31 January 1919 (Earth)
30 January 1930 to 16 February  1931 (Metal)
15 February 1942 to 04 February  1943 (Water)
03 February 1954 to 23 January 1955 (Wood)
21 January 1966 to 04 February 1967 (Fire)
07 February 1978 to 27 January 1979 (Earth)
27 January 1990 to 14 February  1991 (Metal)
12 February 2002 to 31 January 2003 (Water)
31 January 2014 to 18 February  2015 (Wood)

Also click on here to use our 'True Love Checker' and also find out your Chinese Zodiac Sign!