By the Chinese Calendar 2008 is the Year of the Rat , which is also known by its former name of Wu Zi. The Chinese year 4706, the Year of the Rat, February 7, 2008 is the first day of the Chinese new year. Just you don't forget 2007 is the Year of the Pig . Something similar use to operate in the old days in NIgeria too if i'm not wrong a week used to be 11 days but its all lost now.

Chinese calendar has been in continuous use for centuries, which predates the International Calendar (based on the Gregorian Calendar) we use at the present day which goes back only some 425 years. The calendar measures time, from short durations of minutes and hours, to intervals of time measured in months, years and centuries, entirely based on the astronomical observations of the movement of the Sun, Moon and stars.