The Scout Real Estate team wishes everyone a happy Chinese new year. The Spring Festival is celebrated quite early this year, and this will be the year of the horse beginning. It is the day of the first lunar month in the Chinese lunar calender, and this would be the 4711th Chinese year. Well, actually this is unclear, this would from the first year of reign of the first Chinese emperor, the mythical Yellow Emperor, in 2697 bc.
There are five elements associated to the Chinese zodiac, connected with the famous Yin Yang theory. This is a bit complicated, but the result is that 2014 is the wood horse year, a year also collected to male principle, wood is connected with the vegetation in the system, so that this year is a kind of green Yin wood stallion.
Horse has a lot of good meanings in Chinese culture. This is a quick way of transportation (or at least it was) and means quick success or quick victory, because it was related with war and army in the past. It is considered as a social animal in connection with love. People born the year of the year are supposed to be romantic and natural managers, successful in handling businesses.
For foreigners in Beijing, the Spring festival is the time of the year when their Chinese friends do disappear, back in their families (with the usual transportation strain). Sometimes, anyway, you might get invited to some of the celebration, but unlikely since the calendar is quite overbooked with visits to relatives. You have to see the fireworks on the new year’s eve, and enjoy the temple fairs, in Ditan (temple of earth) and Tiantan (temple of heaven), on the condition that you are not agoraphobic. You’ll be able to see there celebration with a costumed yellow emperor performing ceremonies to the gods of moon and earth.
Anyway, now 2013 is clearly over, a nice 2014 to everyone. 
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