IT has only been four weeks since the New Year celebrations, but for the Chinese community the big day is still to come.

The Year of the Rooster gets under way on February 9 and York is planning to mark the occasion in spectacular style.

As part of a month-long festival, a colourful Chinese arch has been unveiled in the grounds of the National Centre for Early Music (NCEM), just off Walmgate.

It has been designed by artists from the Chinese Arts Centre, in Manchester, and decorated by young people from Osbaldwick, Fishergate and Lord Deramore's primary schools, in York.

During the work the youngsters had the chance to learn about many different facets of Chinese culture, including architecture, symbolic decoration, colours and the zodiac.

The centre's marketing manager, Melanie Paris, said: "We invited Mei Yuk, a Chinese artist from Manchester, to visit the schools and work with a group of children to provide the decorations for the arch.

"Each school was allocated four animals chosen from the Chinese zodiac and their task was to create a pictorial representation of these animals."

The arch will be on view at the NCEM until February 8 when it will be transported to the city's Coppergate Centre for the Chinese New Year's celebrations, which will include a lantern parade.