Chinese New Year 2021: Year Of The Ox Explained

The Chinese New Year will be celebrated across the world on Friday. The festival marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year and follows the lunar calendar.

The Chinese New Year is also called the Spring Festival. Each year has an animal sign assigned to it in the Chinese Zodiac – Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. These are based on the Moon and have a 12-year cycle. From Feb. 12, 2021, to Jan. 31, 2022, it will be the Ox year -- also known as the xin chou year.

The recent zodiac years of Ox sign are: 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021, 2033, etc. An Ox year occurs every 12 years, according to China Highlights. The ox is the second animal in the Chinese zodiac cycle.

In Chinese element theory, each zodiac sign is associated with one of the five elements: Gold (Metal), Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. This year is the Metal Ox year.

The zodiacs most compatible with the Ox are Rat, Snake and Rooster. The lucky colors for Ox include blue, yellow, green and the lucky numbers are 1 and 4. The lucky flowers are lily of the valley and lucky bamboo.

"The year of xin chou will have a strong emphasis on the yin metal element," Thierry Chow, a Hong Kong-based feng shui master, told CNN. "The metal element represents anything sparkly from jewelry to the needle of a syringe. So we can see a bigger emphasis on industries related to metal in 2021.

"The ox, in Chinese culture, is a hardworking zodiac sign. It usually signifies movements so, hopefully, the world will be less static than last year and get moving again in the second half of the year," he added.

According to China Highlights, those born in the Metal Ox year (1961, 2021) are hardworking, active, always busy, and popular among friends.

Every year China and several other countries ring in the new year with grand celebrations, which include special shows and fireworks. However, this year several restrictions are in place due to the Covid-19 pandemic.