Began January 22, 2004 · 384 days long
2004: year of the Wood Monkey
The Monkey year started on January 22, not on January 1 — so anyone born in 2004 before that date is a Goat.
- Opening new moon
- Jan 21, 2004 9:05 PM UTC
- In Beijing
- 5:05 AM Thu, Jan 22 · sets the date
- Year of the Monkey
- 384 days 13 lunar months, one of them leap
- It ends
- Feb 8, 2005 10:28 PM UTC
New moons: NASA JPL DE440. New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory.
Exact times
Chinese New Year 2004: the new moon in your city
The Wood Monkey year opened with the new moon at 9:05 PM UTC on January 21, 2004 — 5:05 AM on January 22 in Beijing, the time the calendar reckons by, and 4:05 PM on January 21 in New York, 9:05 PM on January 21 in London and 8:05 AM on January 22 in Sydney.
| City | New moon that opens the year |
|---|---|
| UTC | Wed, Jan 21, 2004 |
| Honolulu United States | 11:05 AM Wed, Jan 21, 2004 · UTC−10 |
| Anchorage United States | 12:05 PM Wed, Jan 21, 2004 · UTC−9 |
| Los Angeles United States | 1:05 PM Wed, Jan 21, 2004 · UTC−8 |
| Phoenix United States | 2:05 PM Wed, Jan 21, 2004 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 2:05 PM Wed, Jan 21, 2004 · UTC−7 |
| Chicago United States | 3:05 PM Wed, Jan 21, 2004 · UTC−6 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 3:05 PM Wed, Jan 21, 2004 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 4:05 PM Wed, Jan 21, 2004 · UTC−5 |
| Toronto Canada | 4:05 PM Wed, Jan 21, 2004 · UTC−5 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 4:05 PM Wed, Jan 21, 2004 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 4:05 PM Wed, Jan 21, 2004 · UTC−5 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 5:05 PM Wed, Jan 21, 2004 · UTC−4 |
| Santiago Chile | 6:05 PM Wed, Jan 21, 2004 · UTC−3 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 6:05 PM Wed, Jan 21, 2004 · UTC−3 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 7:05 PM Wed, Jan 21, 2004 · UTC−2 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 9:05 PM Wed, Jan 21, 2004 · UTC |
| London United Kingdom | 9:05 PM Wed, Jan 21, 2004 · UTC |
| Lagos Nigeria | 10:05 PM Wed, Jan 21, 2004 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 10:05 PM Wed, Jan 21, 2004 · UTC+1 |
| Berlin Germany | 10:05 PM Wed, Jan 21, 2004 · UTC+1 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 11:05 PM Wed, Jan 21, 2004 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 11:05 PM Wed, Jan 21, 2004 · UTC+2 |
| Athens Greece | 11:05 PM Wed, Jan 21, 2004 · UTC+2 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 11:05 PM Wed, Jan 21, 2004 · UTC+2 |
| Moscow Russia | 12:05 AM Thu, Jan 22, 2004 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 12:05 AM Thu, Jan 22, 2004 · UTC+3 |
| Tehran Iran | 12:35 AM Thu, Jan 22, 2004 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 1:05 AM Thu, Jan 22, 2004 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 2:05 AM Thu, Jan 22, 2004 · UTC+5 |
| New Delhi India | 2:35 AM Thu, Jan 22, 2004 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 2:50 AM Thu, Jan 22, 2004 · UTC+5:45 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 3:05 AM Thu, Jan 22, 2004 · UTC+6 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 4:05 AM Thu, Jan 22, 2004 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 4:05 AM Thu, Jan 22, 2004 · UTC+7 |
| Singapore | 5:05 AM Thu, Jan 22, 2004 · UTC+8 |
| Beijing China | 5:05 AM Thu, Jan 22, 2004 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 5:05 AM Thu, Jan 22, 2004 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 5:05 AM Thu, Jan 22, 2004 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 6:05 AM Thu, Jan 22, 2004 · UTC+9 |
| Tokyo Japan | 6:05 AM Thu, Jan 22, 2004 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 7:35 AM Thu, Jan 22, 2004 · UTC+10:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 7:05 AM Thu, Jan 22, 2004 · UTC+10 |
| Sydney Australia | 8:05 AM Thu, Jan 22, 2004 · UTC+11 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 10:05 AM Thu, Jan 22, 2004 · UTC+13 |
New moon: JPL DE440 (Swiss Ephemeris within 8 s); 2004 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 Wood Monkey personality
Anyone born from January 22, 2004 through February 8, 2005 is a Wood Monkey: the yang wood stem 甲 over the 申 branch.
The Monkey's own Metal controls Wood here, so the sign keeps the upper hand over the year's element. Wood brings growth, patience and cooperation — traditionally the most flexible version, one that expands rather than forces.
Stem and branch
2004 is 甲申 (Jiǎshēn)
Na yin — the sounding element
Water in the Spring 泉中水
Water welling up from underground. Traditionally a sign of steady, renewing resources — something that keeps giving if it is not blocked, and nourishes whatever grows around it.
2004 therefore carries wood from its stem and water 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, 2004 and February 4, 2005, Beijing time. The Monkey year spans January 22, 2004 to February 8, 2005, so both dates sit inside it: a double spring year (双春). What double spring and blind years mean →
Who clashes with a 2004 Monkey
The 申 branch puts a 2004 Monkey opposite the Tiger on the wheel, the traditional clash; the nearest Tiger year after it was 2010. Its harmony partner is the Snake, whose year came round 9 years later, in 2013. How the Monkey and Tiger get on →
Monkeys born in 2004 turn 22 in 2026 — 23 by the traditional count, which starts at one.
If you were born in 2004
- Born January 1 – January 21, 2004: a Water Goat, the animal of 2003.
- Born January 22, 2004 or later in the year: a Wood Monkey.
Only the first 21 days of 2004 belong to the Goat, yet a year-only calculator still calls them Monkeys. Those dates hold 5.5% of US births (SSA, 2000–2014). Check your exact date →
The Monkey across the cycle
The animal returns every 12 years but the element every 60, so each of these years is a different Monkey.
The lunar calendar of 2004
Why 384 days, and not 365
2004 repeated its second month: the leap month 闰二月 ran from March 21 to April 18 and stretched the year to 384 days. Seven of the 13 months had 30 days.
The 30-day months were the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th.
Festival dates in the 2004 lunar year
| Festival | Lunar date | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern Festival 元宵节 | first month, day 15 | Thu, Feb 5, 2004 |
| Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 | fifth month, day 5 | Tue, Jun 22, 2004 |
| Qixi, the Double Seventh 七夕 | seventh month, day 7 | Sun, Aug 22, 2004 |
| Ghost Festival 中元节 | seventh month, day 15 | Mon, Aug 30, 2004 |
| Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 | eighth month, day 15 | Tue, Sep 28, 2004 |
| Double Ninth Festival 重阳节 | ninth month, day 9 | Fri, Oct 22, 2004 |
| Winter solstice 冬至 | solar term, Sun at 270° | Tue, Dec 21, 2004 |
| Laba Festival 腊八节 | twelfth month, day 8 | Mon, Jan 17, 2005 |
The year's first full moon arrived at 4:46 PM on February 6, 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 9:09 PM Beijing time on September 28.
Dates follow Beijing time (UTC+8), the reference clock of the Chinese calendar. Why lunar years differ in length →
Lunar years around 2004
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 one of the 110 new years in the table fall earlier in the calendar than January 22. Two other years share the date. Twelve years earlier, 1992 began on February 4; twelve years later, 2016 began on February 8 — both marked in lavender with the other Monkey years.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Chinese Horoscope 2004: Zodiac Year of the Wood Monkey.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/2004/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Chinese Horoscope 2004: Zodiac Year of the Wood Monkey |url=https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/2004/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}