Just two days before the Year of the Pig begins, the scene at Moscow's Pig Pavilion was decidedly low-key.


Some 50 porkers, ranging from sprightly piglets to mammoth boars, had the day off at the VDNKh exhibition center's pavilion, where the pigs' human attendants declared Thursday a "sanitary day" and closed the exhibit to the public for repairs to the lobby.


While nothing special was planned at Russia's showcase of swine, elsewhere in Moscow the pig's profile is rising quickly as the Year of the Pig approaches. Kiosks and bookstores are peddling pig paraphernalia, including photos, candles and, above all, calendars -- calendars with romping cartoon pigs, pigs nuzzling each other and pigs in less flattering poses involving mud and slop.


The Year of the Pig, based on the Chinese zodiac, does not actually begin until the new Chinese year in February, but in Russia, perhaps to simplify matters, the pig's big day will be Jan. 1, when it will supplant the dog.


The Russian press hasn't been ignoring the occasion. On Thursday alone, two newspapers published articles on past years devoted to the pig, the history of the pig as an animal and the similarities between man and pig.


Vechernyaya Moskva explained that in each year of the pig the animal has a different character. The 1995 version, the first Year of the Pig since 1983, is known as the Year of the Pig Walking By. Those born in 1995, according to Chinese astrology, "will suffer much in childhood" but eventually get what they want.


In Krasnaya Zvezda, an article headlined "The Pig is Coming -- Happily" discussed the ancestry, eating habits and remarkable intelligence of modern swine. In defense of the animal, the newspaper went to some length to dispel the most pernicious of pig-related stereotypes -- that the animal is dirty.


"Despite everything people say, pigs are really clean animals. They will never lie on dirty bedding if clean bedding is available," the newspaper said.


Despite the public attention, officialdom does not appear to have caught on. Alexander Krupin, director of the Moscow city department overseeing municipal celebrations, said Thursday he did not know of any upcoming swine-related New Year's festivities.


Public New Year's Eve celebrations will taking place all over the city, with big events planned for the square opposite the Moscow City Duma building, at the Theatrical Union on Tverskoy Bulvar and in most of the city's larger parks, said Krupin. Nothing special is planned at the Pig Pavilion, where one worker said the staff's only request is that people refrain from eating pork on New Year's Eve as a sign of respect for the pig's special status.