According to Chinese astrology all the 12 animals have individual characteristics and each of them rule a year. If you are born in the year of the rat your personality trait will match with that of the rat. The year 2007, for example was the year of the pig hence all those who were born in that year had more or less the same characteristics as that of the pig.

All the 12 animals are placed in a particular order or each animal is ranked respectively. The rat comes first then second is the ox then next tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and finally the pig. Your Chinese zodiac sign is based on your date of birth and if you want to find out under which animal sign you were born then your date of birth is calculated to determine the same. The internet has many astrological sites where you can type in your date of birth to get your Chinese zodiac sign.

Each Chinese zodiac sign has affinities which are of two types. These are known as the affinity group and the affinity pair. There are four groups of animals in Chinese astrology and each is known as an affinity group that consists of three animals. On the other hand there are six affinity pairs namely the rat and ox, tiger and pig, rabbit and dog, dragon and rooster, snake and monkey and lastly the horse and goat. For compatibility you have to choose your partner either from the affinity group or from the affinity pair. If you can do that you are sure to develop a harmonious relationship with your partner. For instance a person born in the rat year would gel well with a person born either in the dragon or monkey year because all of them belong to the same affinity group. Similarly that person can also have a compatible relationship with someone who is born in the ox year as both of are under the same affinity pair. You can also consult any Chinese zodiac compatibility chart for further insight on this aspect.

Just as compatible signs, there are also incompatible signs in Chinese astrology called clashing signs. These signs are opposite to each other and have the tendency to clash often. The most incompatible signs in Chinese astrology are the rat with horse, ox with goat, tiger with monkey, rabbit with rooster, dragon with dog and snake with pig. Chinese astrologers suggest that you should not choose a partner whose birth sign clashes with yours.

All this knowledge and information about Chinese astrology and zodiac signs would come in handy when you entertain new friends or when you want to liven up social get togethers.