Began January 28, 1960 · 384 days long
1960: year of the Metal Rat
The Rat year started on January 28, not on January 1 — so anyone born in 1960 before that date is a Pig.
- Opening new moon
- Jan 28, 1960 6:16 AM UTC
- In Beijing
- 2:16 PM Thu, Jan 28 · sets the date
- Year of the Rat
- 384 days 13 lunar months, one of them leap
- It ends
- Feb 15, 1961 8:11 AM UTC
New moons: NASA JPL DE440. New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory.
Exact times
Chinese New Year 1960: the new moon in your city
The Metal Rat year opened with the new moon at 6:16 AM UTC on January 28, 1960 — 2:16 PM on January 28 in Beijing, the time the calendar reckons by, and 1:16 AM on January 28 in New York, 6:16 AM on January 28 in London and 4:16 PM on January 28 in Sydney.
| City | New moon that opens the year |
|---|---|
| UTC | Thu, Jan 28, 1960 |
| Honolulu United States | 8:16 PM Wed, Jan 27, 1960 · UTC−10 |
| Anchorage United States | 8:16 PM Wed, Jan 27, 1960 · UTC−10 |
| Los Angeles United States | 10:16 PM Wed, Jan 27, 1960 · UTC−8 |
| Phoenix United States | 11:16 PM Wed, Jan 27, 1960 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 11:16 PM Wed, Jan 27, 1960 · UTC−7 |
| Chicago United States | 12:16 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC−6 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 12:16 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 1:16 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC−5 |
| Toronto Canada | 1:16 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC−5 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 1:16 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 1:16 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC−5 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 1:46 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC−4:30 |
| Santiago Chile | 2:16 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC−4 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 3:16 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC−3 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 3:16 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC−3 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 5:16 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC−1 |
| London United Kingdom | 6:16 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC |
| Lagos Nigeria | 7:16 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 7:16 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+1 |
| Berlin Germany | 7:16 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+1 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 8:16 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 8:16 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+2 |
| Athens Greece | 8:16 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+2 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 8:16 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+2 |
| Moscow Russia | 9:16 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 9:16 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+3 |
| Tehran Iran | 9:46 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 10:16 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 11:16 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+5 |
| New Delhi India | 11:46 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 11:46 AM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+5:30 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 12:16 PM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+6 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 1:16 PM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 1:46 PM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+7:30 |
| Singapore | 1:46 PM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+7:30 |
| Beijing China | 2:16 PM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 2:16 PM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 2:16 PM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 2:46 PM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+8:30 |
| Tokyo Japan | 3:16 PM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 3:46 PM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+9:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 4:16 PM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+10 |
| Sydney Australia | 4:16 PM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+10 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 6:16 PM Thu, Jan 28, 1960 · UTC+12 |
New moon: JPL DE440 (Swiss Ephemeris within 8 s); 1960 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 Rat personality
Anyone born from January 28, 1960 through February 14, 1961 is a Metal Rat: the yang metal stem 庚 over the 子 branch.
Metal feeds the Rat's own Water in the five-element cycle, so this Rat is the best supported of the five. Metal brings discipline, resolve and sharp edges — traditionally the most determined version, and the least willing to bend.
Stem and branch
1960 is 庚子 (Gēngzǐ)
Na yin — the sounding element
Earth on the Wall 壁上土
Plaster and earth bound into the walls of a house. Associated with support that holds a structure together — reliable, protective, and dependent on the frame around it.
1960 therefore carries metal from its stem and earth from its na yin. What na yin is →
Li Chun inside the year
A double spring year
The two Li Chun dates around it are February 5, 1960 and February 4, 1961, Beijing time. The Rat year spans January 28, 1960 to February 14, 1961, so both dates sit inside it: a double spring year (双春). What double spring and blind years mean →
Who clashes with a 1960 Rat
The 子 branch puts a 1960 Rat opposite the Horse on the wheel, the traditional clash; the nearest Horse year after it was 1966. Its harmony partner is the Ox, whose year followed straight after, in 1961. How the Rat and Horse get on →
Rats born in 1960 turn 66 in 2026 — 67 by the traditional count, which starts at one.
If you were born in 1960
- Born January 1 – January 27, 1960: an Earth Pig, the animal of 1959.
- Born January 28, 1960 or later in the year: a Metal Rat.
A year-only calculator mislabels 27 days of 1960, everything from January 1 to January 27. Those dates hold 7.1% of US births (SSA, 2000–2014). Check your exact date →
The Rat across the cycle
The animal returns every 12 years but the element every 60, so each of these years is a different Rat.
The lunar calendar of 1960
Why 384 days, and not 365
1960 repeated its sixth month: the leap month 闰六月 ran from July 24 to August 21 and stretched the year to 384 days. Seven of the 13 months had 30 days.
The 30-day months were the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th and 11th.
Festival dates in the 1960 lunar year
| Festival | Lunar date | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern Festival 元宵节 | first month, day 15 | Thu, Feb 11, 1960 |
| Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 | fifth month, day 5 | Sun, May 29, 1960 |
| Qixi, the Double Seventh 七夕 | seventh month, day 7 | Sun, Aug 28, 1960 |
| Ghost Festival 中元节 | seventh month, day 15 | Mon, Sep 5, 1960 |
| Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 | eighth month, day 15 | Wed, Oct 5, 1960 |
| Double Ninth Festival 重阳节 | ninth month, day 9 | Fri, Oct 28, 1960 |
| Winter solstice 冬至 | solar term, Sun at 270° | Thu, Dec 22, 1960 |
| Laba Festival 腊八节 | twelfth month, day 8 | Tue, Jan 24, 1961 |
The year's first full moon arrived at 1:23 AM on February 13, two days 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 6:15 AM Beijing time on October 5.
Dates follow Beijing time (UTC+8), the reference clock of the Chinese calendar. Why lunar years differ in length →
Lunar years around 1960
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 24 of the 110 new years in the table fall earlier in the calendar than January 28. Three other years share the date. Twelve years earlier, 1948 began on February 10; twelve years later, 1972 began on February 15 — both marked in lavender with the other Rat years.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Chinese Horoscope 1960: Zodiac Year of the Metal Rat.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1960/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Chinese Horoscope 1960: Zodiac Year of the Metal Rat |url=https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1960/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}