The traditional Chinese Farmer's or Agricultural Almanac uses astological and feng shui data to determine the most and least auspicious days on which to do important things such as starting a business or getting married.

The almanac is still taken seriously by millions of Chinese people today: for example, Vanessa started running the Golden Dragon on an auspicious day, as determined by one version of the almanac! (Her maternal grandfather was also a professional feng shui diviner and geomancer until the communist revolution - after which such traditional practices were outlawed and suppressed in favour of Chairman Mao's "little red book," which was fortuitously the Chinese colour of good luck as well as being the colour used by communists from the time of the 1871 Paris commune!)

We have similar almanacs in the UK, the most famous being Old Moore's Almanack, although (unlike in Chinese communities) these have faded in popularity with the increase of post-computer rationalisation in Europe. 

We hope to go into more detail about the Chinese almanacs at some point. But in the meanwhile, if you want to check what today is - or even the two hour periods within the day are - good or bad for, then this website gives a clear listing:

• The Dragon Gate Online Chinese Almanac

Please note, however, that it doesn't necessarily agree in its judgement with other almanac websites or printed almanacs! So you may want to cross-check with a few others before investing in a new share portfolio or getting on a jet for Nicaragua...