Began January 27, 1990 · 384 days long
1990: year of the Metal Horse
The Horse year started on January 27, not on January 1 — so anyone born in 1990 before that date is a Snake.
- Opening new moon
- Jan 26, 1990 7:20 PM UTC
- In Beijing
- 3:20 AM Sat, Jan 27 · sets the date
- Year of the Horse
- 384 days 13 lunar months, one of them leap
- It ends
- Feb 14, 1991 5:32 PM UTC
New moons: NASA JPL DE440. New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory.
Exact times
Chinese New Year 1990: the new moon in your city
The Metal Horse year opened with the new moon at 7:20 PM UTC on January 26, 1990 — 3:20 AM on January 27 in Beijing, the time the calendar reckons by, and 2:20 PM on January 26 in New York, 7:20 PM on January 26 in London and 6:20 AM on January 27 in Sydney.
| City | New moon that opens the year |
|---|---|
| UTC | Fri, Jan 26, 1990 |
| Honolulu United States | 9:20 AM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC−10 |
| Anchorage United States | 10:20 AM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC−9 |
| Los Angeles United States | 11:20 AM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC−8 |
| Phoenix United States | 12:20 PM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 12:20 PM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC−7 |
| Chicago United States | 1:20 PM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC−6 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 1:20 PM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 2:20 PM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC−5 |
| Toronto Canada | 2:20 PM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC−5 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 2:20 PM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 3:20 PM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC−4 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 3:20 PM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC−4 |
| Santiago Chile | 4:20 PM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC−3 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 5:20 PM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC−2 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 5:20 PM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC−2 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 7:20 PM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC |
| London United Kingdom | 7:20 PM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC |
| Lagos Nigeria | 8:20 PM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 8:20 PM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC+1 |
| Berlin Germany | 8:20 PM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC+1 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 9:20 PM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 9:20 PM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC+2 |
| Athens Greece | 9:20 PM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC+2 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 9:20 PM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC+2 |
| Moscow Russia | 10:20 PM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 10:20 PM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC+3 |
| Tehran Iran | 10:50 PM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 11:20 PM Fri, Jan 26, 1990 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 12:20 AM Sat, Jan 27, 1990 · UTC+5 |
| New Delhi India | 12:50 AM Sat, Jan 27, 1990 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 1:05 AM Sat, Jan 27, 1990 · UTC+5:45 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 1:20 AM Sat, Jan 27, 1990 · UTC+6 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 2:20 AM Sat, Jan 27, 1990 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 2:20 AM Sat, Jan 27, 1990 · UTC+7 |
| Singapore | 3:20 AM Sat, Jan 27, 1990 · UTC+8 |
| Beijing China | 3:20 AM Sat, Jan 27, 1990 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 3:20 AM Sat, Jan 27, 1990 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 3:20 AM Sat, Jan 27, 1990 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 4:20 AM Sat, Jan 27, 1990 · UTC+9 |
| Tokyo Japan | 4:20 AM Sat, Jan 27, 1990 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 5:50 AM Sat, Jan 27, 1990 · UTC+10:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 6:20 AM Sat, Jan 27, 1990 · UTC+11 |
| Sydney Australia | 6:20 AM Sat, Jan 27, 1990 · UTC+11 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 8:20 AM Sat, Jan 27, 1990 · UTC+13 |
New moon: JPL DE440 (Swiss Ephemeris within 8 s); 1990 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 Horse personality
Anyone born from January 27, 1990 through February 14, 1991 is a Metal Horse: the yang metal stem 庚 over the 午 branch.
The Horse's own Fire controls Metal here, so the sign keeps the upper hand over the year's element. Metal brings discipline, resolve and sharp edges — traditionally the most determined version, and the least willing to bend.
Stem and branch
1990 is 庚午 (Gēngwǔ)
Na yin — the sounding element
Earth by the Roadside 路旁土
Soil beside a road, walked past by everyone. The image is usefulness without display — steady, available and easy to overlook, but the ground that everything else travels on.
1990 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 4, 1990 and February 4, 1991, Beijing time. The Horse year spans January 27, 1990 to February 14, 1991, so both dates sit inside it: a double spring year (双春). What double spring and blind years mean →
Who clashes with a 1990 Horse
The 午 branch puts a 1990 Horse opposite the Rat on the wheel, the traditional clash; the nearest Rat year after it was 1996. Its harmony partner is the Goat, whose year followed straight after, in 1991. How the Horse and Rat get on →
Horses born in 1990 turn 36 in 2026 — 37 by the traditional count, which starts at one.
If you were born in 1990
- Born January 1 – January 26, 1990: an Earth Snake, the animal of 1989.
- Born January 27, 1990 or later in the year: a Metal Horse.
Only the first 26 days of 1990 belong to the Snake, yet a year-only calculator still calls them Horses. Those dates hold 6.8% of US births (SSA, 2000–2014). Check your exact date →
The Horse across the cycle
The animal returns every 12 years but the element every 60, so each of these years is a different Horse.
The lunar calendar of 1990
Why 384 days, and not 365
1990 repeated its fifth month: the leap month 闰五月 ran from June 23 to July 21 and stretched the year to 384 days. Seven of the 13 months had 30 days.
The 30-day months were the 2nd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th. Four 30-day months ran back to back, from month 9 to month 12.
Festival dates in the 1990 lunar year
| Festival | Lunar date | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern Festival 元宵节 | first month, day 15 | Sat, Feb 10, 1990 |
| Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 | fifth month, day 5 | Mon, May 28, 1990 |
| Qixi, the Double Seventh 七夕 | seventh month, day 7 | Sun, Aug 26, 1990 |
| Ghost Festival 中元节 | seventh month, day 15 | Mon, Sep 3, 1990 |
| Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 | eighth month, day 15 | Wed, Oct 3, 1990 |
| Double Ninth Festival 重阳节 | ninth month, day 9 | Fri, Oct 26, 1990 |
| Winter solstice 冬至 | solar term, Sun at 270° | Sat, Dec 22, 1990 |
| Laba Festival 腊八节 | twelfth month, day 8 | Wed, Jan 23, 1991 |
At the Lantern Festival on February 10 the year's first full moon came that same day, at 3:15 AM Beijing time. The festival night of October 3 fell a day before the true full moon, which came at 8:01 PM Beijing time on October 4 — 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 1990
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 20 of the 110 new years in the table fall earlier in the calendar than January 27. Three other years share the date. Twelve years earlier, 1978 began on February 7; twelve years later, 2002 began on February 12 — both marked in lavender with the other Horse years.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Chinese Horoscope 1990: Zodiac Year of the Metal Horse.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1990/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Chinese Horoscope 1990: Zodiac Year of the Metal Horse |url=https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1990/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}