<Li> Pig (Haishi): 21: 00 to 22: 59 . This is the time when Pigs are sleeping sweetly . </Li> <P> An ancient folk story tells that Cat and Rat were both very bad at swimming . Although they were poor swimmers, they were both quite intelligent . To get to the meeting called by the Jade Emperor, they had to cross a river to reach the meeting place . The Jade Emperor had also decreed that the years on the calendar would be named for each animal in the order they arrived to the meeting . Cat and Rat decided that the best and fastest way to cross the river was to hop on the back of Ox . Ox, being kindhearted and naive, agreed to carry them both across . </P> <P> Midway across the river, the Rat pushed the Cat into the water . Approaching the other side, the Rat jumped off the Ox and rushed to the Jade Emperor . It was named as the first animal of the zodiac calendar . The Ox, came in second . The third one to come was the Tiger . Even though it was strong and powerful it explained to the Jade Emperor that the currents were pushing him downstream . </P> <P> Suddenly, from a distance came a thumping sound, and the Rabbit arrived . It explained how it crossed the river: by jumping from one stone to another in a nimble fashion . Halfway through, it almost lost the race, but it was lucky enough to grab hold of a floating log that later washed him to shore . For that, it became the fourth animal in the zodiac cycle . In fifth place was the flying Dragon . The Jade Emperor was wondering why such a swift airborne creature such as the Dragon failed to come in first . </P>

Who came first in the chinese new year race