-- the beast that has a "charismatic character, and is held in high regard in China''.

In oriental countries next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday there will be public holidays as people enjoy sumptuous feasts, offering sacrifices to the gods and giving friends and relatives money in red envelopes symbolising luck and happiness.

Firecrackers explode throughout the night on New Year's eve and at different times throughout the next days. Families dine on various pork dishes such as roast suckling pig, and steamed pork dumplings.

Even though, in Bermuda, we have already celebrated the new year we can still partake in a little oriental celebration at Chopsticks restaurant.

Co-manager of the Reid Street restaurant, Debra Rhoda, said next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday the restaurant will be having a special dinner in celebration of the Chinese New year.

"We have a set meal which our head chef Eddie Luk has painstakingly put together. This includes things like pork with sesame seeds, sweet sticky rice, beggars duck and almond chicken to name a few,'' Miss Rhoda said.

She added: "The restaurant has been decorated to somewhat resemble a Chinese market place, and we will be playing authentic music. The thing we have not been able to do are the firecrackers.

"We also have a tree decorated with red money envelopes which the Chinese would hand to each other as a gift.'' Chef Luk said to create the different dishes for the New Year's dinner he let people taste the end result which is a local taste with a Chinese influence.

"I let co-workers taste the dishes three or four times and each time I improved the taste, then I settled on the dishes we will serve.'' In Asian countries, two weeks before the old year's close, things normally speed up. The stores and market stalls display more goods than usual including toys, clothes, and especially food and drink. But it is also a time when all debts should be paid before entering the new year.

New Year's Eve is celebrated in three days, but sometimes this break lasts up to a week. Movie theatres and major restaurants are essentially the only businesses open during this time.

People return to work between the fifth and the eighth days of the new year, but the holiday atmosphere lasts through the Lantern Festival, on the 15th day of the first lunar month.

Unlike us, Asian countries focus on the lunar year. Because 12 moon cycles take about 354 days rather than the 365 that we know the Chinese New Year can meander a bit when compared to the western calender but it always falls between January 20 and February 20 at the start of the second new moon after December 22, the winter solace.

Each year has a name of an animal, the Chinese philosophers of old developed a system of representing 12 personality types that they identified as animals, and it is these that comprise the basis of the Chinese Zodiac.

The 12 Chinese signs are governed by the elements -- water, metal, fire, wood, and earth -- when these are considered individually each element's sign only appears once every 60 years - calculated by multiplying the 12 signs by five elements.

Philosophers believe the elements gave birth to 12 children and the children represent the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. In sequence they are: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, money, rooster, dog and boar.

Out of all these animals the one celebrated this year is especially significant as the Chinese feel it is "magical''.

According to Chinese Horoscopes by Chris Marshall the tiger is regarded as a creature who can ensure that fire, thieves, and ghosts -- regarded by the Chinese as the three most unfortunate visitations upon a home -- are held at bay.

"Having a tiger in your tank can give you a little extra verve, but it can also give you a little extra swerve that can prove dangerous. That's always the problem with tigers,'' Mr. Marshall states.

"They are very dynamic and brimful of energy and fun but they are also more than capable of making impulsive decisions that prove to be mistaken. When they do go wrong, they can sink into depression they find hard to shake off.'' He added tigers never give less than their all to whatever they are involved in at that moment, be work or play, happiness or even feeling dejected.

Like all big cats, they have a highly developed sense of fun and enjoyment, so they prize a good social life and like to get out as often as possible.

On the other hand, again like all cats, tigers are enormously sentimental and love family life, holding children, particularly small babies, very dear to their hearts.

"This is probably because tigers never grow up to be more than big kids themselves. At sixty, they can retain the same sense of absurd enthusiasm for every aspect of life they had at the age of two.

"This youthfulness and ingenuity make the tiger a very endearing creature to know but, if you get involved with one, expect a roller coaster ride.''