Gung Hei Fat Choy

Gung Hei Fat Choy is the English transcription of the Chinese phrase "Happy New Year".
Today is the first day of the Chinese lunar new year 4707. It is the Year of the Ox.

The ox is one of the twelve lunar astrology signs. It is also the one I was born under (some 48 years ago). So this is my year!

Other oxen (more famous than I) include

• Diana, Princess of Wales
• Walt Disney
• Vincent van Gogh
• Bruce Springsteen
• politicians: Barack Obama, Margaret Thatcher, Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolph Hitler and Saddam Hussein
• actors: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Clark Gable, George Clooney, Charlie Chaplin, Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, Dustin Hoffman, Jane Fonda, Anthony Hopkins, Rock Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, Meg Ryan, Whoopi Goldberg, Peter Sellers and Bill Crosby

The Ox is a benevolent symbol of quiet, even tranquil strength and kindness. Almost universally, the ox is revered as one of mankind's most valuable helpers with power to pull plows to level fields to grow agricultural crops. In Buddhist thought, the Ox became a symbol of the mastery of human nature and of contemplative learning. In the Chinese zodiac, people who are born in the Year of the Ox are considered to be as calm and dependable as their animal symbol. They are modest and able to bear nearly any amount of hardship without complaint. They are logical and systematic. An ox person with their mind made up is rarely dissuaded from their course. Because of their honesty and patience, these people are always welcome and typically have many friends who appreciate their quiet but relaxed sociability.