Chinese Zodiac
十二生肖
shí èr shēng xiào
There are many versions of how the 12 animals came to be symbols and guardians of different years. Here is my favorite one. I have a playlist on my YouTube channel with many different zodiac stories. Click here for a good website all about Chinese New Year.
The hardest concept for most non-Chinese is the change of the Zodiac animal for each year does not happen on January 1st on our calendar. The change is according to the coming of Chinese New Year which comes on different days each year. It is important to look up the Chinese New Year's date to determine the correct your Zodiac animal if your birthday is in between January 20/21 to February 19/20. I have seen different dates from different websites. I am not an expert and can not verify the information. It is easier to use online converter to find your Chinese Zodiac animal.
To express your Zodiac animal, you will say
"我属 wǒ shǔ (animal).”
It literally means that you belong to the animal. The Zodiac in order are: