Web Newsletter Vol. The year 2000 promises to be exhilarating and memorable as it auspiciously falls on the most revered animal in the twelve animal Chinese lunar new year cycle - the Dragon. The Chinese Calendar uses the stem-branch system to count the day, month and year. There are 10 stems and 12 branches in the system.
Branches use the animal names.
The stem and branch are used together to form a cycle of 60 counting systems which begin with wooden rat and end with water pig. The year 2000 is actually called the Yang Metal Dragon. The Chinese use the same Chinese character for gold and metal, and as gold sounds more valuable, the Chinese like to call year 2000 the Golden Dragon rather than the metal dragon. The electric atmosphere created by the mighty dragon will affect everyone. According to Chinese fortunetellers, business will be good and money will be generated easily.