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Chinese New Year 2024
Saturday, 10 February 2024. It opened the Year of the Wood Dragon, 甲辰, which ran until 28 January 2025.
- New Year's Eve9 February 2024
- New Year's Day10 February 2024
- Lantern Festival24 February 2024
- Animal and elementWood Dragon 木龙, Yang
- Year ends28 January 2025; the next new year is 29 January 2025
What the Dragon year carries
The Dragon
Confident, ambitious and generous. The only mythical animal in the cycle, the Dragon brings rain and good harvests; emperors took it as their emblem.
Dragon years see a rise in births across the Chinese-speaking world: parents plan for them.
Wood 木
Wood years are associated with growth and flexibility: spring, bamboo, new shoots. Wood years favour growth and beginnings: planting, building, the first steps of long projects.
The pairing of stem and branch, 甲辰, returns once every sixty years; the last Wood Dragon year was 1964, the next is 2084.
The 2024 festival calendar
Fifteen days from the eve to the first full moon; the dates below are for 2024 only.
| Day | Date in 2024 | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Little New Year 小年 | 2 February 2024 | The Kitchen God is sent off with sweets; the house cleaning begins. |
| New Year's Eve 除夕 | 9 February 2024, Friday | Reunion dinner, red couplets on the door, staying up to see the year in. |
| New Year's Day 初一 | 10 February 2024, Saturday | The Year of the Dragon begins; red envelopes, visits in order of seniority, no sweeping. |
| Day 2 初二 | 11 February 2024 | Married daughters visit their parents. |
| Day 5 初五 | 14 February 2024 | Shops reopen and the God of Wealth is welcomed with firecrackers. |
| Lantern Festival 元宵 | 24 February 2024, Saturday | First full moon: lanterns, riddles, sweet rice balls. The season closes. |
In mainland China the public holiday usually runs from the eve for seven or eight days; Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia each keep their own, shorter, holiday. How the days are kept, in more detail: the traditions.
What is particular to 2024
2024 is a Wood Dragon year, 甲辰, the 41th of the sixty stem-and-branch pairs. The same pairing last fell in 1964 and comes again in 2084; the previous Dragon year was 2012, the next is 2036. Its 纳音 "sound" in the old almanacs is 覆灯火.
New Year's Day fell on a Saturday, so the reunion dinner on 9 February 2024 landed on a Friday evening. The festival landed on 10 February in the Western calendar, near the middle of its range.
The Dragon is the only sign that reliably moves the birth rate: in Chinese communities from Hong Kong to Singapore, Dragon years such as 2000 and 2012 saw a visible rise in births, as parents timed children for the luckiest animal. 2024's Wood Dragon is the growing, spring-coloured form of the sign; the Wood Dragon before it was 1964.
Born in 2024?
Between 10 February 2024 and 28 January 2025 you are a Wood Dragon.
Anyone born from 10 February 2024 to 28 January 2025 is a Wood Dragon (甲辰) and turns 2 in 2026. Confident, ambitious and generous. The only mythical animal in the cycle, the Dragon brings rain and good harvests; emperors took it as their emblem. Wood years favour growth and beginnings: planting, building, the first steps of long projects.
Born in January or early February 2024, before the 10 February 2024 new year? Then the previous animal, the Rabbit, is yours: the zodiac follows the lunar calendar, not 1 January. The zodiac calculator settles it from the exact date.
Your zodiac years (本命年, when the Dragon comes round again) are 2036, 2048, 2060; the next one is 2036. Tradition has you wear something red through a 本命年 for protection. The signs said to suit a Dragon best are the Rat, the Monkey and the Rooster: the compatibility table has every pair.
Chinese New Year in other years
The second new moon after the winter solstice, so it moves between 21 January and 20 February. Every year from 1924 to 2050.
- 202529 January 2025, Wood Snake
- 202617 February 2026, Fire Horse
- 20276 February 2027, Fire Goat
- 202826 January 2028, Earth Monkey
- 202913 February 2029, Earth Rooster
- 20303 February 2030, Metal Dog
- 203123 January 2031, Metal Pig
- 203211 February 2032, Water Rat
- 203331 January 2033, Water Ox
- 203419 February 2034, Wood Tiger
- 20358 February 2035, Wood Rabbit
Questions
When was Chinese New Year 2024?
Saturday, 10 February 2024. New Year's Eve was 9 February 2024, and the Lantern Festival that closed the celebrations was 24 February 2024.
What animal is 2024 in the Chinese zodiac?
The Dragon. From 10 February 2024 to 28 January 2025 it was the year of the Wood Dragon (甲辰). Before 10 February 2024, the year still belongs to the previous animal, the Rabbit.
How old is someone born in 2024?
Someone born in the Year of the Dragon 2024 turns 2 in 2026. Their zodiac years (本命年) are 2036, 2048.
Why does the date change every year?
The festival falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice, so it moves between 21 January and 20 February on the Western calendar.
How long does Chinese New Year last?
Fifteen days, from New Year's Day to the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth of the first lunar month. Most people have a week of public holiday in mainland China.
Born in a Dragon year?
Your animal depends on the exact date, not the calendar year.
Find your animal
Enter your birthday and we count it by the lunar calendar: the animal, its element, your lunar birth date and your next zodiac year.
Chinese zodiac calculatorWant the Dragon in ink on your wall? The zodiac poster sets the animal above your name and lunar birthday. Giving a Chinese name this new year? Three real names, free.