Began February 6, 1989 · 355 days long
1989: year of the Earth Snake
The Snake year started on February 6, not on January 1 — so anyone born in 1989 before that date is a Dragon.
- Opening new moon
- Feb 6, 1989 7:37 AM UTC
- In Beijing
- 3:37 PM Mon, Feb 6 · sets the date
- Year of the Snake
- 355 days 12 lunar months
- It ends
- Jan 26, 1990 7:20 PM UTC
New moons: NASA JPL DE440. New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory.
Exact times
Chinese New Year 1989: the new moon in your city
The Earth Snake year opened with the new moon at 7:37 AM UTC on February 6, 1989 — 3:37 PM on February 6 in Beijing, the time the calendar reckons by, and 2:37 AM on February 6 in New York, 7:37 AM on February 6 in London and 6:37 PM on February 6 in Sydney.
| City | New moon that opens the year |
|---|---|
| UTC | Mon, Feb 6, 1989 |
| Honolulu United States | 9:37 PM Sun, Feb 5, 1989 · UTC−10 |
| Anchorage United States | 10:37 PM Sun, Feb 5, 1989 · UTC−9 |
| Los Angeles United States | 11:37 PM Sun, Feb 5, 1989 · UTC−8 |
| Phoenix United States | 12:37 AM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 12:37 AM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC−7 |
| Chicago United States | 1:37 AM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC−6 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 1:37 AM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 2:37 AM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC−5 |
| Toronto Canada | 2:37 AM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC−5 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 2:37 AM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 2:37 AM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC−5 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 3:37 AM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC−4 |
| Santiago Chile | 4:37 AM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC−3 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 5:37 AM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC−2 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 4:37 AM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC−3 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 7:37 AM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC |
| London United Kingdom | 7:37 AM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC |
| Lagos Nigeria | 8:37 AM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 8:37 AM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+1 |
| Berlin Germany | 8:37 AM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+1 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 9:37 AM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 9:37 AM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+2 |
| Athens Greece | 9:37 AM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+2 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 9:37 AM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+2 |
| Moscow Russia | 10:37 AM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 10:37 AM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+3 |
| Tehran Iran | 11:07 AM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 11:37 AM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 12:37 PM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+5 |
| New Delhi India | 1:07 PM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 1:22 PM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+5:45 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 1:37 PM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+6 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 2:37 PM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 2:37 PM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+7 |
| Singapore | 3:37 PM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+8 |
| Beijing China | 3:37 PM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 3:37 PM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 3:37 PM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 4:37 PM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+9 |
| Tokyo Japan | 4:37 PM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 6:07 PM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+10:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 5:37 PM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+10 |
| Sydney Australia | 6:37 PM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+11 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 8:37 PM Mon, Feb 6, 1989 · UTC+13 |
New moon: JPL DE440 (Swiss Ephemeris within 8 s); 1989 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 Earth Snake personality
Anyone born from February 6, 1989 through January 26, 1990 is an Earth Snake: the yin earth stem 己 over the 巳 branch.
The Snake's own Fire feeds Earth here, which drains as much as it gives: productive, but inclined to spend itself. Earth brings steadiness, practicality and patience — traditionally the most reliable version, and the slowest to change direction.
Stem and branch
1989 is 己巳 (Jǐsì)
Na yin — the sounding element
Wood of the Great Forest 大林木
Not one tree but a whole forest. Readings describe strength in numbers and slow, broad growth: people and projects that do best as part of something larger, sheltering others as they grow.
1989 therefore carries earth from its stem and wood from its na yin. 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, 1989 and February 4, 1990, Beijing time. The Snake year spans February 6, 1989 to January 26, 1990, so neither date sits inside it: a blind year (无春年). What double spring and blind years mean →
Who clashes with a 1989 Snake
The 巳 branch puts a 1989 Snake opposite the Pig on the wheel, the traditional clash; the nearest Pig year after it was 1995. Its harmony partner is the Monkey, whose year came round 3 years later, in 1992. How the Snake and Pig get on →
Snakes born in 1989 turn 37 in 2026 — 38 by the traditional count, which starts at one.
If you were born in 1989
- Born January 1 – February 5, 1989: an Earth Dragon, the animal of 1988.
- Born February 6, 1989 or later in the year: an Earth Snake.
A year-only calculator mislabels 36 days of 1989, everything from January 1 to February 5. Roughly one US birth in 11 falls on those dates — 9.5% in SSA records for 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 1989
Why 355 days, and not 365
No month was doubled in 1989, so the year ended on January 26, 1990 after twelve months — seven long ones of 30 days and five short ones of 29, 355 days in all.
The 30-day months were the 1st, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th, 11th and 12th. Three 30-day months ran back to back, from month 10 to month 12.
Festival dates in the 1989 lunar year
| Festival | Lunar date | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern Festival 元宵节 | first month, day 15 | Mon, Feb 20, 1989 |
| Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 | fifth month, day 5 | Thu, Jun 8, 1989 |
| Qixi, the Double Seventh 七夕 | seventh month, day 7 | Tue, Aug 8, 1989 |
| Ghost Festival 中元节 | seventh month, day 15 | Wed, Aug 16, 1989 |
| Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 | eighth month, day 15 | Thu, Sep 14, 1989 |
| Double Ninth Festival 重阳节 | ninth month, day 9 | Sun, Oct 8, 1989 |
| Winter solstice 冬至 | solar term, Sun at 270° | Fri, Dec 22, 1989 |
| Laba Festival 腊八节 | twelfth month, day 8 | Thu, Jan 4, 1990 |
At the Lantern Festival on February 20 the year's first full moon came that same day, at 11:31 PM Beijing time. The festival night of September 14 fell a day before the true full moon, which came at 8:50 PM Beijing time on September 15 — 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 1989
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, 1989 sits mid-table: of the 110 new years, 58 fall earlier in the calendar and 47 later. Four other years share the date. Twelve years earlier, 1977 began on February 18; twelve years later, 2001 began on January 24 — both marked in lavender with the other Snake years.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Chinese Horoscope 1989: Zodiac Year of the Earth Snake.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1989/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Chinese Horoscope 1989: Zodiac Year of the Earth Snake |url=https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1989/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}