Began February 14, 1953 · 354 days long
1953: year of the Water Snake
The Snake year started on February 14, not on January 1 — so anyone born in 1953 before that date is a Dragon.
- Opening new moon
- Feb 14, 1953 1:11 AM UTC
- In Beijing
- 9:11 AM Sat, Feb 14 · sets the date
- Year of the Snake
- 354 days 12 lunar months
- It ends
- Feb 3, 1954 3:56 PM UTC
New moons: NASA JPL DE440. New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory.
Exact times
Chinese New Year 1953: the new moon in your city
The Water Snake year opened with the new moon at 1:11 AM UTC on February 14, 1953 — 9:11 AM on February 14 in Beijing, the time the calendar reckons by, and 8:11 PM on February 13 in New York, 1:11 AM on February 14 in London and 11:11 AM on February 14 in Sydney.
| City | New moon that opens the year |
|---|---|
| UTC | Sat, Feb 14, 1953 |
| Honolulu United States | 3:11 PM Fri, Feb 13, 1953 · UTC−10 |
| Anchorage United States | 3:11 PM Fri, Feb 13, 1953 · UTC−10 |
| Los Angeles United States | 5:11 PM Fri, Feb 13, 1953 · UTC−8 |
| Phoenix United States | 6:11 PM Fri, Feb 13, 1953 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 6:11 PM Fri, Feb 13, 1953 · UTC−7 |
| Chicago United States | 7:11 PM Fri, Feb 13, 1953 · UTC−6 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 7:11 PM Fri, Feb 13, 1953 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 8:11 PM Fri, Feb 13, 1953 · UTC−5 |
| Toronto Canada | 8:11 PM Fri, Feb 13, 1953 · UTC−5 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 8:11 PM Fri, Feb 13, 1953 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 8:11 PM Fri, Feb 13, 1953 · UTC−5 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 8:41 PM Fri, Feb 13, 1953 · UTC−4:30 |
| Santiago Chile | 9:11 PM Fri, Feb 13, 1953 · UTC−4 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 10:11 PM Fri, Feb 13, 1953 · UTC−3 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 11:11 PM Fri, Feb 13, 1953 · UTC−2 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 12:11 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC−1 |
| London United Kingdom | 1:11 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC |
| Lagos Nigeria | 2:11 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 2:11 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+1 |
| Berlin Germany | 2:11 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+1 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 3:11 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 3:11 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+2 |
| Athens Greece | 3:11 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+2 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 3:11 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+2 |
| Moscow Russia | 4:11 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 4:11 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+3 |
| Tehran Iran | 4:41 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 5:11 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 6:11 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+5 |
| New Delhi India | 6:41 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 6:41 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+5:30 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 7:11 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+6 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 8:11 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 8:41 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+7:30 |
| Singapore | 8:41 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+7:30 |
| Beijing China | 9:11 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 9:11 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 9:11 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 10:11 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+9 |
| Tokyo Japan | 10:11 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 10:41 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+9:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 11:11 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+10 |
| Sydney Australia | 11:11 AM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+10 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 1:11 PM Sat, Feb 14, 1953 · UTC+12 |
New moon: JPL DE440 (Swiss Ephemeris within 8 s); 1953 date as in the Hong Kong Observatory calendar. Local times: IANA time zones, to the minute.
18 pages · printable
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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 Water Snake personality
Anyone born from February 14, 1953 through February 2, 1954 is a Water Snake: the yin water stem 癸 over the 巳 branch.
Water controls the Snake's own Fire in the five-element cycle, so the year's element pushes against the sign rather than with it. Water brings adaptability, perception and diplomacy — traditionally the most intuitive version, and the most easily influenced.
Stem and branch
1953 is 癸巳 (Guǐsì)
Na yin — the sounding element
Long-flowing Water 長流水
A great river that keeps moving. The image is continuity and patience: progress measured over distance, with the ability to carry a great deal without stopping.
1953 therefore carries water from its stem and water from its na yin — the same element twice. What na yin is →
Li Chun inside the year
A "blind" year with no spring
The two Li Chun dates around it are February 4, 1953 and February 4, 1954, Beijing time. The Snake year spans February 14, 1953 to February 2, 1954, so neither date sits inside it: a blind year (无春年). What double spring and blind years mean →
Who clashes with a 1953 Snake
The 巳 branch puts a 1953 Snake opposite the Pig on the wheel, the traditional clash; the nearest Pig year after it was 1959. Its harmony partner is the Monkey, whose year came round 3 years later, in 1956. How the Snake and Pig get on →
Snakes born in 1953 turn 73 in 2026 — 74 by the traditional count, which starts at one.
If you were born in 1953
- Born January 1 – February 13, 1953: a Water Dragon, the animal of 1952.
- Born February 14, 1953 or later in the year: a Water Snake.
This is one of the late new years: 44 days, from New Year's Day to February 13, still belong to the Dragon. That is about one US birth in 9 (11.6%, SSA records 2000–2014). Check your exact date →
The Snake across the cycle
The animal returns every 12 years but the element every 60, so each of these years is a different Snake.
The lunar calendar of 1953
Why 354 days, and not 365
No leap month this time: from February 14, 1953 to February 2, 1954, 1953 ran twelve months, six of 30 days and six of 29 — 354 days.
The 30-day months were the 2nd, 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th and 11th.
Festival dates in the 1953 lunar year
| Festival | Lunar date | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern Festival 元宵节 | first month, day 15 | Sat, Feb 28, 1953 |
| Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 | fifth month, day 5 | Mon, Jun 15, 1953 |
| Qixi, the Double Seventh 七夕 | seventh month, day 7 | Sun, Aug 16, 1953 |
| Ghost Festival 中元节 | seventh month, day 15 | Mon, Aug 24, 1953 |
| Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 | eighth month, day 15 | Tue, Sep 22, 1953 |
| Double Ninth Festival 重阳节 | ninth month, day 9 | Fri, Oct 16, 1953 |
| Winter solstice 冬至 | solar term, Sun at 270° | Tue, Dec 22, 1953 |
| Laba Festival 腊八节 | twelfth month, day 8 | Tue, Jan 12, 1954 |
The year's first full moon arrived at 2:58 AM on March 1, the day after the Lantern Festival. The festival night of September 22 fell a day before the true full moon, which came at 12:15 PM Beijing time on September 23 — lunar day 16.
Dates follow Beijing time (UTC+8), the reference clock of the Chinese calendar. Why lunar years differ in length →
Lunar years around 1953
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 19 of the 110 new years in the table fall later in the calendar than February 14. Two other years share the date. Twelve years earlier, 1941 began on January 27; twelve years later, 1965 began on February 2 — both marked in lavender with the other Snake years.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Chinese Horoscope 1953: Zodiac Year of the Water Snake.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1953/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Chinese Horoscope 1953: Zodiac Year of the Water Snake |url=https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1953/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}