According to the Chinese calendar, January 24 marks the Chinese new year and the transition from the Year of the Dragon to the Year of the Snake.

Although the Gregorian calendar was adopted in China in 1912, the Chinese people on the mainland and the island of Taiwan, as well as those abroad, continue to regard the date given in the old Chinese lunar calendar as the beginning of the new year.

According to the calendar, the year has 354 days and 12 lunar months, about half of them with 30 days, the other half with 29. In order to make the months correspond with the movements of the Earth around the sun, a 13th month is inserted every two or three years. The new year begins on the new moon and may occur at any time between January 1 to February 19 inclusive.

The years are named for the animals of the Chinese Zodiac -- the rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig, and repeat as a cycle.

According to Chinese horoscopes, the Year of the Snake is a year for reflection, planning and searching answers. It is a good year for shrewd dealings, political affairs and coups d'etat.

People will be more likely to scheme and ponder over matters before acting upon them, and it will be an auspicious year for commerce and industry.

Solutions and compromises can be arrived at, but not without some mutual distrust at first. The snake likes to resolve his differences one way or another. If he fails and things cannot be peacefully settled, then he will declare war.

Looking back into history, we find that the Year of the Snake has never been tranquil. Perhaps this is because it is the strongest negative force in the cycle and it follows the Year of the Dragon, which is the strongest positive year. Many disasters which had their beginning in the year of the Dragon tend to culminate in the Year of the Snake.

These two signs are very closely related and the calamities of the snake years often resulted from excesses committed during the dragon's reign.

This will be a lively time for romance, courtship and scandals of all sorts.

It will be a good year to pursue the arts and fashion will become more elegant and fluid. Music and theatre will blossom and people will strive for a more sophisticated life. Notable contributions will also be made by science and technology.

The venerable wisdom of the snake will be evident in many facets of our life, particularly in those requiring decisions. Although everything may look refreshingly quiet on the surface, the Year of the Snake is always unpredictable.

The snake's cool and collected front hides the deep and mysterious ways of his nature. It should be noted that once the snake uncoils to strike, he moves like lightning and nothing can stop him. Similarly, changes that occur during the Year of the Snake can be as sudden as devastating.

Tread lightly and be more cautious this year. Gambling and speculation is strictly taboo and the consequences will be overwhelming. The snake is not merciful.

Whatever else happens, the snake will give us faith in our convictions and coerce us to act forcefully during his reign.

This is not a year for fence sitters.

The Chinese New Year is energetically marked by the Chinese in the US and there are likely to be major celebrations in the Chinese communities of Houston, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Philadelphia.

One of the Island's Chinese restaurants will be holding a special Chinese New Year Celebration Dinner on January 24, 25 and 26.

Famous people born in the year of the snake include, Picasso, Brahms, Mao Tse-tung, Greta Garbo, Schubert, Henry Ford II, John F. Kennedy, Indira Ghandi, Abraham Lincoln, Edgar Allen Poe, King Hussan of Morocco, Jacqueline Onasis and Princess Grace.

Past Years of the Snake have been from February 10, 1929 to January 29, 1930; January 27, 1941 to February 14, 1942; February 14, 1953 to February 2, 1954; February 2, 1965 to January 20, 1966; February 18, 1977 to February 6, 1978; February 6, 1989 to January 26, 1990; and this year will run from January 24, 2001 to February 11, 2002.

The next Year of the Snake will be from February 10, 2013 to January 30, 2014.

Next year is the Year of the Horse which begins on February 12, 2002, and ends on January 31, 2003.