This year the Chinese lunar New Year falls on February 9, 2005. It is the yi-you (yi is the second of the Ten Celestial Stems and you is the tenth of the Twelve Terrestrial Branches and signifies the year of the rooster). To welcome the year of the rooster, Chunghwa Post has chosen the work of Miss Wu Jen-feng (who won a competition for drawing the animals of the Chinese zodiac) for a set of two New Year’s Greeting Postage Stamps (Issue of 2004). The two stamps will have denominations of NT$3.50 and NT$13. In addition, a miniature sheet painted by Mr. Hung-tu Ko will also be released along with the two stamps, with a denomination of NT$5. The stamps have been printed in color deep-etch offset by Cardon Enterprise Co., Ltd., and are scheduled to be released on November 10, 2004. The Chinese have traditionally used double-revolving combinations of the Ten Celestial Stems and the Twelve Terrestrial Branches to designate years. The full 60-year cycle is called a jia-zih, for the first stem and first branch. The Twelve Terrestrial Branches also have animal representations: zih (rat), chou (ox), yin (tiger), mao (rabbit), chen (dragon), sih (snake), wu (horse), wei (sheep), shen (monkey), you (rooster), syu (dog) and hai (pig). Each year Chunghwa Post issues New Year’s Greeting Postage Stamps, commonly called the Chinese Zodiac postage stamps, taking the upcoming year’s animal sign as the theme. This year, the designs of the stamps combine lanterns and roosters: “Big Red Lantern” conveys the festive atmosphere of the Chinese New Year; “Rooster Crows at Break of Day,” which features a rooster with his chest puffed out, symbolizes the start of the year. The miniature sheet proclaims: “Hoping for luck (a homonym for rooster in Chinese) during festivals and harmony at home brings prosperity.” It aims to encourage people to pay attention to family values and relationships between parents and children and also to encourage harmony in personal relationships so as to improve the general mood of society. The miniature sheet features a symmetrical wood block print design with two chickens.