Began February 9, 2005 · 354 days long
2005: year of the Wood Rooster
The Rooster year started on February 9, not on January 1 — so anyone born in 2005 before that date is a Monkey.
- Opening new moon
- Feb 8, 2005 10:28 PM UTC
- In Beijing
- 6:28 AM Wed, Feb 9 · sets the date
- Year of the Rooster
- 354 days 12 lunar months
- It ends
- Jan 29, 2006 2:15 PM UTC
New moons: NASA JPL DE440. New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory.
Exact times
Chinese New Year 2005: the new moon in your city
The Wood Rooster year opened with the new moon at 10:28 PM UTC on February 8, 2005 — 6:28 AM on February 9 in Beijing, the time the calendar reckons by, and 5:28 PM on February 8 in New York, 10:28 PM on February 8 in London and 9:28 AM on February 9 in Sydney.
| City | New moon that opens the year |
|---|---|
| UTC | Tue, Feb 8, 2005 |
| Honolulu United States | 12:28 PM Tue, Feb 8, 2005 · UTC−10 |
| Anchorage United States | 1:28 PM Tue, Feb 8, 2005 · UTC−9 |
| Los Angeles United States | 2:28 PM Tue, Feb 8, 2005 · UTC−8 |
| Phoenix United States | 3:28 PM Tue, Feb 8, 2005 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 3:28 PM Tue, Feb 8, 2005 · UTC−7 |
| Chicago United States | 4:28 PM Tue, Feb 8, 2005 · UTC−6 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 4:28 PM Tue, Feb 8, 2005 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 5:28 PM Tue, Feb 8, 2005 · UTC−5 |
| Toronto Canada | 5:28 PM Tue, Feb 8, 2005 · UTC−5 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 5:28 PM Tue, Feb 8, 2005 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 5:28 PM Tue, Feb 8, 2005 · UTC−5 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 6:28 PM Tue, Feb 8, 2005 · UTC−4 |
| Santiago Chile | 7:28 PM Tue, Feb 8, 2005 · UTC−3 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 7:28 PM Tue, Feb 8, 2005 · UTC−3 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 8:28 PM Tue, Feb 8, 2005 · UTC−2 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 10:28 PM Tue, Feb 8, 2005 · UTC |
| London United Kingdom | 10:28 PM Tue, Feb 8, 2005 · UTC |
| Lagos Nigeria | 11:28 PM Tue, Feb 8, 2005 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 11:28 PM Tue, Feb 8, 2005 · UTC+1 |
| Berlin Germany | 11:28 PM Tue, Feb 8, 2005 · UTC+1 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 12:28 AM Wed, Feb 9, 2005 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 12:28 AM Wed, Feb 9, 2005 · UTC+2 |
| Athens Greece | 12:28 AM Wed, Feb 9, 2005 · UTC+2 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 12:28 AM Wed, Feb 9, 2005 · UTC+2 |
| Moscow Russia | 1:28 AM Wed, Feb 9, 2005 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 1:28 AM Wed, Feb 9, 2005 · UTC+3 |
| Tehran Iran | 1:58 AM Wed, Feb 9, 2005 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 2:28 AM Wed, Feb 9, 2005 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 3:28 AM Wed, Feb 9, 2005 · UTC+5 |
| New Delhi India | 3:58 AM Wed, Feb 9, 2005 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 4:13 AM Wed, Feb 9, 2005 · UTC+5:45 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 4:28 AM Wed, Feb 9, 2005 · UTC+6 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 5:28 AM Wed, Feb 9, 2005 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 5:28 AM Wed, Feb 9, 2005 · UTC+7 |
| Singapore | 6:28 AM Wed, Feb 9, 2005 · UTC+8 |
| Beijing China | 6:28 AM Wed, Feb 9, 2005 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 6:28 AM Wed, Feb 9, 2005 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 6:28 AM Wed, Feb 9, 2005 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 7:28 AM Wed, Feb 9, 2005 · UTC+9 |
| Tokyo Japan | 7:28 AM Wed, Feb 9, 2005 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 8:58 AM Wed, Feb 9, 2005 · UTC+10:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 8:28 AM Wed, Feb 9, 2005 · UTC+10 |
| Sydney Australia | 9:28 AM Wed, Feb 9, 2005 · UTC+11 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 11:28 AM Wed, Feb 9, 2005 · UTC+13 |
New moon: JPL DE440 (Swiss Ephemeris within 8 s); 2005 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 Rooster personality
Anyone born from February 9, 2005 through January 28, 2006 is a Wood Rooster: the yin wood stem 乙 over the 酉 branch.
The Rooster'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
2005 is 乙酉 (Yǐyǒu)
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.
2005 therefore carries wood from its stem and water 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, 2005 and February 4, 2006, Beijing time. The Rooster year spans February 9, 2005 to January 28, 2006, so neither date sits inside it: a blind year (无春年). What double spring and blind years mean →
Who clashes with a 2005 Rooster
The 酉 branch puts a 2005 Rooster opposite the Rabbit on the wheel, the traditional clash; the nearest Rabbit year after it was 2011. Its harmony partner is the Dragon, whose year came round 7 years later, in 2012. How the Rooster and Rabbit get on →
Roosters born in 2005 turn 21 in 2026 — 22 by the traditional count, which starts at one.
If you were born in 2005
- Born January 1 – February 8, 2005: a Wood Monkey, the animal of 2004.
- Born February 9, 2005 or later in the year: a Wood Rooster.
A year-only calculator mislabels 39 days of 2005, 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 Rooster across the cycle
The animal returns every 12 years but the element every 60, so each of these years is a different Rooster.
The lunar calendar of 2005
Why 354 days, and not 365
No leap month this time: from February 9, 2005 to January 28, 2006, 2005 ran twelve months, six of 30 days and six of 29 — 354 days.
The 30-day months were the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 9th and 11th.
Festival dates in the 2005 lunar year
| Festival | Lunar date | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern Festival 元宵节 | first month, day 15 | Wed, Feb 23, 2005 |
| Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 | fifth month, day 5 | Sat, Jun 11, 2005 |
| Qixi, the Double Seventh 七夕 | seventh month, day 7 | Thu, Aug 11, 2005 |
| Ghost Festival 中元节 | seventh month, day 15 | Fri, Aug 19, 2005 |
| Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 | eighth month, day 15 | Sun, Sep 18, 2005 |
| Double Ninth Festival 重阳节 | ninth month, day 9 | Tue, Oct 11, 2005 |
| Winter solstice 冬至 | solar term, Sun at 270° | Thu, Dec 22, 2005 |
| Laba Festival 腊八节 | twelfth month, day 8 | Sat, Jan 7, 2006 |
The year's first full moon arrived at 12:53 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 10:00 AM 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 2005
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, 2005 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, 1993 began on January 23; twelve years later, 2017 began on January 28 — both marked in lavender with the other Rooster years.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Chinese Horoscope 2005: Zodiac Year of the Wood Rooster.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/2005/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Chinese Horoscope 2005: Zodiac Year of the Wood Rooster |url=https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/2005/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}