Began February 17, 1950 · 354 days long
1950: year of the Metal Tiger
The Tiger year started on February 17, not on January 1 — so anyone born in 1950 before that date is an Ox.
- Opening new moon
- Feb 16, 1950 10:54 PM UTC
- In Beijing
- 6:54 AM Fri, Feb 17 · sets the date
- Year of the Tiger
- 354 days 12 lunar months
- It ends
- Feb 6, 1951 7:54 AM UTC
New moons: NASA JPL DE440. New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory.
Exact times
Chinese New Year 1950: the new moon in your city
The Metal Tiger year opened with the new moon at 10:54 PM UTC on February 16, 1950 — 6:54 AM on February 17 in Beijing, the time the calendar reckons by, and 5:54 PM on February 16 in New York, 10:54 PM on February 16 in London and 8:54 AM on February 17 in Sydney.
| City | New moon that opens the year |
|---|---|
| UTC | Thu, Feb 16, 1950 |
| Honolulu United States | 12:54 PM Thu, Feb 16, 1950 · UTC−10 |
| Anchorage United States | 12:54 PM Thu, Feb 16, 1950 · UTC−10 |
| Los Angeles United States | 2:54 PM Thu, Feb 16, 1950 · UTC−8 |
| Phoenix United States | 3:54 PM Thu, Feb 16, 1950 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 3:54 PM Thu, Feb 16, 1950 · UTC−7 |
| Chicago United States | 4:54 PM Thu, Feb 16, 1950 · UTC−6 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 5:54 PM Thu, Feb 16, 1950 · UTC−5 |
| New York United States | 5:54 PM Thu, Feb 16, 1950 · UTC−5 |
| Toronto Canada | 5:54 PM Thu, Feb 16, 1950 · UTC−5 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 5:54 PM Thu, Feb 16, 1950 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 5:54 PM Thu, Feb 16, 1950 · UTC−5 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 6:24 PM Thu, Feb 16, 1950 · UTC−4:30 |
| Santiago Chile | 6:54 PM Thu, Feb 16, 1950 · UTC−4 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 7:54 PM Thu, Feb 16, 1950 · UTC−3 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 8:54 PM Thu, Feb 16, 1950 · UTC−2 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 9:54 PM Thu, Feb 16, 1950 · UTC−1 |
| London United Kingdom | 10:54 PM Thu, Feb 16, 1950 · UTC |
| Lagos Nigeria | 11:54 PM Thu, Feb 16, 1950 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 11:54 PM Thu, Feb 16, 1950 · UTC+1 |
| Berlin Germany | 11:54 PM Thu, Feb 16, 1950 · UTC+1 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 12:54 AM Fri, Feb 17, 1950 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 12:54 AM Fri, Feb 17, 1950 · UTC+2 |
| Athens Greece | 12:54 AM Fri, Feb 17, 1950 · UTC+2 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 12:54 AM Fri, Feb 17, 1950 · UTC+2 |
| Moscow Russia | 1:54 AM Fri, Feb 17, 1950 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 1:54 AM Fri, Feb 17, 1950 · UTC+3 |
| Tehran Iran | 2:24 AM Fri, Feb 17, 1950 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 2:54 AM Fri, Feb 17, 1950 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 4:24 AM Fri, Feb 17, 1950 · UTC+5:30 |
| New Delhi India | 4:24 AM Fri, Feb 17, 1950 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 4:24 AM Fri, Feb 17, 1950 · UTC+5:30 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 5:24 AM Fri, Feb 17, 1950 · UTC+6:30 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 5:54 AM Fri, Feb 17, 1950 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 6:54 AM Fri, Feb 17, 1950 · UTC+8 |
| Singapore | 6:24 AM Fri, Feb 17, 1950 · UTC+7:30 |
| Beijing China | 6:54 AM Fri, Feb 17, 1950 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 6:54 AM Fri, Feb 17, 1950 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 6:54 AM Fri, Feb 17, 1950 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 7:54 AM Fri, Feb 17, 1950 · UTC+9 |
| Tokyo Japan | 7:54 AM Fri, Feb 17, 1950 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 8:24 AM Fri, Feb 17, 1950 · UTC+9:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 8:54 AM Fri, Feb 17, 1950 · UTC+10 |
| Sydney Australia | 8:54 AM Fri, Feb 17, 1950 · UTC+10 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 10:54 AM Fri, Feb 17, 1950 · UTC+12 |
New moon: JPL DE440 (Swiss Ephemeris within 8 s); 1950 date as in the Hong Kong Observatory calendar. Local times: IANA time zones, to the minute.
18 pages · printable
The 2027 Sky Calendar — free PDF
Every retrograde, eclipse, new and full moon of 2027 to the minute, already converted to your city. A month to a page, ready to print.
Personality
The Metal Tiger personality
Anyone born from February 17, 1950 through February 5, 1951 is a Metal Tiger: the yang metal stem 庚 over the 寅 branch.
Metal controls the Tiger's own Wood in the five-element cycle, so the year's element pushes against the sign rather than with it. Metal brings discipline, resolve and sharp edges — traditionally the most determined version, and the least willing to bend.
Stem and branch
1950 is 庚寅 (Gēngyín)
Na yin — the sounding element
Pine and Cypress Wood 松柏木
Evergreens that keep their needles through winter. Long associated with endurance, integrity and longevity — the tree that stays green when everything else has lost its leaves.
1950 therefore carries metal from its stem and wood from its na yin. What na yin is →
Li Chun inside the year
An ordinary single-spring year
The two Li Chun dates around it are February 4, 1950 and February 4, 1951, Beijing time. The Tiger year spans February 17, 1950 to February 5, 1951, so exactly one of them sits inside it. What double spring and blind years mean →
Who clashes with a 1950 Tiger
The 寅 branch puts a 1950 Tiger opposite the Monkey on the wheel, the traditional clash; the nearest Monkey year after it was 1956. Its harmony partner is the Pig, whose year came round 9 years later, in 1959. How the Tiger and Monkey get on →
Tigers born in 1950 turn 76 in 2026 — 77 by the traditional count, which starts at one.
If you were born in 1950
- Born January 1 – February 16, 1950: an Earth Ox, the animal of 1949.
- Born February 17, 1950 or later in the year: a Metal Tiger.
This is one of the late new years: 47 days, from New Year's Day to February 16, still belong to the Ox. That is about one US birth in 8 (12.5%, SSA records 2000–2014). Check your exact date →
The Tiger across the cycle
The animal returns every 12 years but the element every 60, so each of these years is a different Tiger.
The lunar calendar of 1950
Why 354 days, and not 365
No leap month this time: from February 17, 1950 to February 5, 1951, 1950 ran twelve months, six of 30 days and six of 29 — 354 days.
The 30-day months were the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 9th and 11th.
Festival dates in the 1950 lunar year
| Festival | Lunar date | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern Festival 元宵节 | first month, day 15 | Fri, Mar 3, 1950 |
| Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 | fifth month, day 5 | Mon, Jun 19, 1950 |
| Qixi, the Double Seventh 七夕 | seventh month, day 7 | Sun, Aug 20, 1950 |
| Ghost Festival 中元节 | seventh month, day 15 | Mon, Aug 28, 1950 |
| Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 | eighth month, day 15 | Tue, Sep 26, 1950 |
| Double Ninth Festival 重阳节 | ninth month, day 9 | Thu, Oct 19, 1950 |
| Winter solstice 冬至 | solar term, Sun at 270° | Fri, Dec 22, 1950 |
| Laba Festival 腊八节 | twelfth month, day 8 | Mon, Jan 15, 1951 |
The year's first full moon arrived at 6:33 PM on March 4, the day after the Lantern Festival. This time the calendar and the sky agreed: the Moon was exactly full on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, at 12:21 PM Beijing time on September 26.
Dates follow Beijing time (UTC+8), the reference clock of the Chinese calendar. Why lunar years differ in length →
Lunar years around 1950
Lengths differ because a leap month is inserted every two or three years. This is what makes the new year date jump rather than drift.
Only seven of the 110 new years in the table fall later in the calendar than February 17. Four other years share the date. Twelve years earlier, 1938 began on January 31; twelve years later, 1962 began on February 5 — both marked in lavender with the other Tiger years.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Chinese Horoscope 1950: Zodiac Year of the Metal Tiger.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1950/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Chinese Horoscope 1950: Zodiac Year of the Metal Tiger |url=https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1950/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}