Began February 9, 1986 · 354 days long
1986: year of the Fire Tiger
The Tiger year started on February 9, not on January 1 — so anyone born in 1986 before that date is an Ox.
- Opening new moon
- Feb 9, 1986 12:55 AM UTC
- In Beijing
- 8:55 AM Sun, Feb 9 · sets the date
- Year of the Tiger
- 354 days 12 lunar months
- It ends
- Jan 29, 1987 1:45 PM UTC
New moons: NASA JPL DE440. New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory.
Exact times
Chinese New Year 1986: the new moon in your city
The Fire Tiger year opened with the new moon at 12:55 AM UTC on February 9, 1986 — 8:55 AM on February 9 in Beijing, the time the calendar reckons by, and 7:55 PM on February 8 in New York, 12:55 AM on February 9 in London and 11:55 AM on February 9 in Sydney.
| City | New moon that opens the year |
|---|---|
| UTC | Sun, Feb 9, 1986 |
| Honolulu United States | 2:55 PM Sat, Feb 8, 1986 · UTC−10 |
| Anchorage United States | 3:55 PM Sat, Feb 8, 1986 · UTC−9 |
| Los Angeles United States | 4:55 PM Sat, Feb 8, 1986 · UTC−8 |
| Phoenix United States | 5:55 PM Sat, Feb 8, 1986 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 5:55 PM Sat, Feb 8, 1986 · UTC−7 |
| Chicago United States | 6:55 PM Sat, Feb 8, 1986 · UTC−6 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 6:55 PM Sat, Feb 8, 1986 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 7:55 PM Sat, Feb 8, 1986 · UTC−5 |
| Toronto Canada | 7:55 PM Sat, Feb 8, 1986 · UTC−5 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 7:55 PM Sat, Feb 8, 1986 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 8:55 PM Sat, Feb 8, 1986 · UTC−4 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 8:55 PM Sat, Feb 8, 1986 · UTC−4 |
| Santiago Chile | 9:55 PM Sat, Feb 8, 1986 · UTC−3 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 9:55 PM Sat, Feb 8, 1986 · UTC−3 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 10:55 PM Sat, Feb 8, 1986 · UTC−2 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 12:55 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC |
| London United Kingdom | 12:55 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC |
| Lagos Nigeria | 1:55 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 1:55 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+1 |
| Berlin Germany | 1:55 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+1 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 2:55 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 2:55 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+2 |
| Athens Greece | 2:55 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+2 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 2:55 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+2 |
| Moscow Russia | 3:55 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 3:55 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+3 |
| Tehran Iran | 4:25 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 4:55 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 5:55 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+5 |
| New Delhi India | 6:25 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 6:40 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+5:45 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 6:55 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+6 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 7:55 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 7:55 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+7 |
| Singapore | 8:55 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+8 |
| Beijing China | 8:55 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 8:55 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 8:55 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 9:55 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+9 |
| Tokyo Japan | 9:55 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 11:25 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+10:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 10:55 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+10 |
| Sydney Australia | 11:55 AM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+11 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 1:55 PM Sun, Feb 9, 1986 · UTC+13 |
New moon: JPL DE440 (Swiss Ephemeris within 8 s); 1986 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 Fire Tiger personality
Anyone born from February 9, 1986 through January 28, 1987 is a Fire Tiger: the yang fire stem 丙 over the 寅 branch.
The Tiger's own Wood feeds Fire here, which drains as much as it gives: productive, but inclined to spend itself. Fire brings intensity, visibility and speed — traditionally the most driven version, and the quickest to burn through its own energy.
Stem and branch
1986 is 丙寅 (Bǐngyín)
Na yin — the sounding element
Fire in the Furnace 爐中火
Fire contained and put to work. The image is heat with a purpose — energy that shapes things when it is directed, and burns out when it has nothing to act on. Associated with craft, effort and transformation.
1986 therefore carries fire from its stem and fire 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, 1986 and February 4, 1987, Beijing time. The Tiger year spans February 9, 1986 to January 28, 1987, so neither date sits inside it: a blind year (无春年). What double spring and blind years mean →
Who clashes with a 1986 Tiger
The 寅 branch puts a 1986 Tiger opposite the Monkey on the wheel, the traditional clash; the nearest Monkey year after it was 1992. Its harmony partner is the Pig, whose year came round 9 years later, in 1995. How the Tiger and Monkey get on →
Tigers born in 1986 turn 40 in 2026 — 41 by the traditional count, which starts at one.
If you were born in 1986
- Born January 1 – February 8, 1986: a Wood Ox, the animal of 1985.
- Born February 9, 1986 or later in the year: a Fire Tiger.
A year-only calculator mislabels 39 days of 1986, everything from January 1 to February 8. That is about one US birth in 10 (10.3%, 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 1986
Why 354 days, and not 365
No leap month this time: from February 9, 1986 to January 28, 1987, 1986 ran twelve months, six of 30 days and six of 29 — 354 days.
The 30-day months were the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 8th and 10th.
Festival dates in the 1986 lunar year
| Festival | Lunar date | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern Festival 元宵节 | first month, day 15 | Sun, Feb 23, 1986 |
| Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 | fifth month, day 5 | Wed, Jun 11, 1986 |
| Qixi, the Double Seventh 七夕 | seventh month, day 7 | Tue, Aug 12, 1986 |
| Ghost Festival 中元节 | seventh month, day 15 | Wed, Aug 20, 1986 |
| Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 | eighth month, day 15 | Thu, Sep 18, 1986 |
| Double Ninth Festival 重阳节 | ninth month, day 9 | Sun, Oct 12, 1986 |
| Winter solstice 冬至 | solar term, Sun at 270° | Mon, Dec 22, 1986 |
| Laba Festival 腊八节 | twelfth month, day 8 | Wed, Jan 7, 1987 |
The year's first full moon arrived at 11:02 PM on February 24, 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 1:33 PM Beijing time on September 18.
Dates follow Beijing time (UTC+8), the reference clock of the Chinese calendar. Why lunar years differ in length →
Lunar years around 1986
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.
By date, 1986 sits mid-table: of the 110 new years, 69 fall earlier in the calendar and 38 later. Two other years share the date. Twelve years earlier, 1974 began on January 23; twelve years later, 1998 began on January 28 — both marked in lavender with the other Tiger years.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Chinese Horoscope 1986: Zodiac Year of the Fire Tiger.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1986/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Chinese Horoscope 1986: Zodiac Year of the Fire Tiger |url=https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1986/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}