Began February 16, 1999 · 354 days long
1999: year of the Earth Rabbit
The Rabbit year started on February 16, not on January 1 — so anyone born in 1999 before that date is a Tiger.
- Opening new moon
- Feb 16, 1999 6:39 AM UTC
- In Beijing
- 2:39 PM Tue, Feb 16 · sets the date
- Year of the Rabbit
- 354 days 12 lunar months
- It ends
- Feb 5, 2000 1:03 PM UTC
New moons: NASA JPL DE440. New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory.
Exact times
Chinese New Year 1999: the new moon in your city
The Earth Rabbit year opened with the new moon at 6:39 AM UTC on February 16, 1999 — 2:39 PM on February 16 in Beijing, the time the calendar reckons by, and 1:39 AM on February 16 in New York, 6:39 AM on February 16 in London and 5:39 PM on February 16 in Sydney.
| City | New moon that opens the year |
|---|---|
| UTC | Tue, Feb 16, 1999 |
| Honolulu United States | 8:39 PM Mon, Feb 15, 1999 · UTC−10 |
| Anchorage United States | 9:39 PM Mon, Feb 15, 1999 · UTC−9 |
| Los Angeles United States | 10:39 PM Mon, Feb 15, 1999 · UTC−8 |
| Phoenix United States | 11:39 PM Mon, Feb 15, 1999 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 11:39 PM Mon, Feb 15, 1999 · UTC−7 |
| Chicago United States | 12:39 AM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC−6 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 12:39 AM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 1:39 AM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC−5 |
| Toronto Canada | 1:39 AM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC−5 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 1:39 AM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 1:39 AM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC−5 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 2:39 AM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC−4 |
| Santiago Chile | 3:39 AM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC−3 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 3:39 AM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC−3 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 4:39 AM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC−2 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 6:39 AM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC |
| London United Kingdom | 6:39 AM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC |
| Lagos Nigeria | 7:39 AM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 7:39 AM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+1 |
| Berlin Germany | 7:39 AM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+1 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 8:39 AM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 8:39 AM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+2 |
| Athens Greece | 8:39 AM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+2 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 8:39 AM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+2 |
| Moscow Russia | 9:39 AM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 9:39 AM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+3 |
| Tehran Iran | 10:09 AM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 10:39 AM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 11:39 AM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+5 |
| New Delhi India | 12:09 PM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 12:24 PM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+5:45 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 12:39 PM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+6 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 1:39 PM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 1:39 PM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+7 |
| Singapore | 2:39 PM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+8 |
| Beijing China | 2:39 PM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 2:39 PM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 2:39 PM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 3:39 PM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+9 |
| Tokyo Japan | 3:39 PM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 5:09 PM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+10:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 4:39 PM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+10 |
| Sydney Australia | 5:39 PM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+11 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 7:39 PM Tue, Feb 16, 1999 · UTC+13 |
New moon: JPL DE440 (Swiss Ephemeris within 8 s); 1999 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 Rabbit personality
Anyone born from February 16, 1999 through February 4, 2000 is an Earth Rabbit: the yin earth stem 己 over the 卯 branch.
The Rabbit's own Wood controls Earth here, so the sign keeps the upper hand over the year's element. Earth brings steadiness, practicality and patience — traditionally the most reliable version, and the slowest to change direction.
Stem and branch
1999 is 己卯 (Jǐmǎo)
Na yin — the sounding element
Earth on the City Wall 城頭土
Packed earth forming a city's defenses. Associated with protection, structure and responsibility for others — the kind of strength that exists to keep something safe.
1999 therefore carries earth from its stem and earth from its na yin — the same element twice. What na yin is →
Li Chun inside the year
An ordinary single-spring year
The two Li Chun dates around it are February 4, 1999 and February 4, 2000, Beijing time. The Rabbit year spans February 16, 1999 to February 4, 2000, so exactly one of them sits inside it. What double spring and blind years mean →
Who clashes with a 1999 Rabbit
The 卯 branch puts a 1999 Rabbit opposite the Rooster on the wheel, the traditional clash; the nearest Rooster year after it was 2005. Its harmony partner is the Dog, whose year came round 7 years later, in 2006. How the Rabbit and Rooster get on →
Rabbits born in 1999 turn 27 in 2026 — 28 by the traditional count, which starts at one.
If you were born in 1999
- Born January 1 – February 15, 1999: an Earth Tiger, the animal of 1998.
- Born February 16, 1999 or later in the year: an Earth Rabbit.
This is one of the late new years: 46 days, from New Year's Day to February 15, still belong to the Tiger. That is about one US birth in 8 (12.2%, SSA records 2000–2014). Check your exact date →
The Rabbit across the cycle
The animal returns every 12 years but the element every 60, so each of these years is a different Rabbit.
The lunar calendar of 1999
Why 354 days, and not 365
No leap month this time: from February 16, 1999 to February 4, 2000, 1999 ran twelve months, six of 30 days and six of 29 — 354 days.
The 30-day months were the 1st, 4th, 7th, 9th, 10th and 11th. Three 30-day months ran back to back, from month 9 to month 11.
Festival dates in the 1999 lunar year
| Festival | Lunar date | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern Festival 元宵节 | first month, day 15 | Tue, Mar 2, 1999 |
| Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 | fifth month, day 5 | Fri, Jun 18, 1999 |
| Qixi, the Double Seventh 七夕 | seventh month, day 7 | Tue, Aug 17, 1999 |
| Ghost Festival 中元节 | seventh month, day 15 | Wed, Aug 25, 1999 |
| Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 | eighth month, day 15 | Fri, Sep 24, 1999 |
| Double Ninth Festival 重阳节 | ninth month, day 9 | Sun, Oct 17, 1999 |
| Winter solstice 冬至 | solar term, Sun at 270° | Wed, Dec 22, 1999 |
| Laba Festival 腊八节 | twelfth month, day 8 | Fri, Jan 14, 2000 |
At the Lantern Festival on March 2 the year's first full moon came that same day, at 2:58 PM Beijing time. The festival night of September 24 fell a day before the true full moon, which came at 6:51 PM Beijing time on September 25 — 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 1999
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 twelve of the 110 new years in the table fall later in the calendar than February 16. Two other years share the date. Twelve years earlier, 1987 began on January 29; twelve years later, 2011 began on February 3 — both marked in lavender with the other Rabbit years.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Chinese Horoscope 1999: Zodiac Year of the Earth Rabbit.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1999/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Chinese Horoscope 1999: Zodiac Year of the Earth Rabbit |url=https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1999/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}