Chinese New Year or Spring Festival is one of the most important traditional Chinese holidays. It is sometimes called the Lunar New Year, especially by people outside China. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first lunar month (Chinese: 正月; pinyin: zhēng yuè) in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called Lantern Festival. Chinese New Year's Eve is known as Chúxī. It literally means "Year-pass Eve".
Celebrated in areas with large populations of ethnic Chinese, Chinese New Year is considered a major holiday for the Chinese and has had influence on the new year celebrations of its geographic neighbours, as well as cultures with whom the Chinese have had extensive interaction.[citation needed] These include Aboriginal Taiwanese people, Koreans, Mongolians, Nepalese, Bhutanese, Vietnamese, and formerly the Japanese before 1873. In Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and other countries or regions with significant Han Chinese populations, Chinese New Year is also celebrated, and has, to varying degrees, become part of the traditional culture of these countries. In Canada, although Chinese New Year is not an official holiday, many ethnic Chinese hold large celebrations and Canada Post issues New Year's themed stamps in domestic and international rates.
Although the Chinese calendar traditionally did not use continuously numbered years, its years are now often numbered from the reign of Huangdi outside China. But at least three different years numbered 1 are now used by various writers, causing the year beginning in 2008 to be 4706, 4705, or 4645.[2]

A reunion dinner is held on New Year's Eve where members of the family, near and far away, get together for the celebration. The venue will usually be in or near the home of the most senior member of the family. The New Year's Eve dinner is very sumptuous and traditionally includes chicken and fish. In some areas, fish (simplified Chinese: 鱼; traditional Chinese: 魚; pinyin: yú) is included, but not eaten completely (and the remainder is stored overnight), as the Chinese phrase "may there be surpluses every year" (traditional Chinese: 年年有餘; simplified Chinese: 年年有余; pinyin: nián nián yǒu yú) sounds the same as "may there be fish every year."
In mainland China, many families will banter whilst watching the CCTV New Year's Gala in the hours before midnight.
Red packets for the immediate family are sometimes distributed during the reunion dinner. These packets often contain money in certain numbers that reflect good luck and honorability. Several foods are consumed to usher in wealth, happiness, and good fortune. Several of the Chinese food names are homophones for words that also mean good things
Buying a pair of shoes is considered bad luck amongst some Chinese. The character for "shoe" (鞋) is a homophone for the character 諧/谐, which means "rough" in Cantonese; in Mandarin it is also a homophone for the character for "evil" (邪).
Getting a hair-cut in the first lunar month puts a curse on maternal uncles. Therefore, people get a hair-cut before the New Year's Eve.
Washing your hair is also considered to be washing away one's own luck (although modern hygienic concerns take precedence over this tradition)
Sweeping the floor is usually forbidden on the first day, as it will sweep away the good fortune and luck for the new year.
Saying words like "finished" and "gone" is inauspicious on the New Year, so sometimes people would avoid these words by saying "I have completed eating my meal" rather than say "I have finished my meal."
Talking about death is inappropriate for the first few days of Chinese New Year, as it is considered inauspicious.
Buying books is bad luck because the character for "book" (書/书) is a homonym to the character for "lose" (輸/输).
Avoid clothes in black and white, as black is a symbol of bad luck, and white is a traditional Chinese funeral colour.
Foul language is inappropriate during the Chinese New Year.
Offering anything in fours, as the number four (四), pronounced sì, can sound like "death" (死) in Chinese. See tetraphobia.

Fanstastic animals

My favourite domestic animal is the dog.The dog were first domesticated from wolves at least 17,000 years ago,but perhaps as early as 150,ooo years ago based upon recent genetic fossil and DNA evidence.In this time,the dog has developed into hundreds of breeds with a great degree of variation.For example,heights at the withers range from just a few inches (such as the chihuahua) to roughly three feet (such as the Irish Wolfhound),and colours range from white to black,with reds,grays,and browns occurring in a tremendous variation of patterns.

Dog training is the process of teaching a dog to exhibit certain desired behaviors in specific circumstances. Some examples are:

a) Teaching a dog basic obedience commands (part of obedience training) b) Teaching a dog to perform tricks casually or for circus acts c) Teaching a guide dog to lead the blind d) Teaching a rescue dog to find victims of a disaster e) Helping a hunting dog learn to perform its instinctive behaviors at appropriate times
The specific behaviors taught in each case are different, but the underlying principles are similar.

In the wild as pack animals, canines have natural instincts that favor training. These instincts are manifested when the dog lives with humans as a desire to please a trainer as a dog would please senior members in a pack in the wild.

Dog breeding, at its best, is a blend of science and art. The skilled breeder has at least a general knowledge of genetics and health, and and in-depth knowledge of the breed standard and conformation points of his chosen breed. Most breeders are fiercely loyal to their dogs, and are concerned about each individual animal.

At its worst, breeding can be a slipshod enterprise in which the major concern is profit, with little regard to the health and welfare of the dogs involved. These often take the form of so-called ‘backyard breeders’ (the term for random or ignorant breeding conducted on a small scale), and ‘puppy mills’ or ‘puppy farms’ (larger businesses). It must be pointed out, however, that many excellent breeders run small-scale programs in their homes, barns, or back yards, and there are profitable large-scale operations run with knowledgeable staff and superlative veterinary care, so size and motive alone are not indicative of the quality of the breeding program.