Began February 7, 2008 · 354 days long
2008: year of the Earth Rat
The Rat year started on February 7, not on January 1 — so anyone born in 2008 before that date is a Pig.
- Opening new moon
- Feb 7, 2008 3:45 AM UTC
- In Beijing
- 11:45 AM Thu, Feb 7 · sets the date
- Year of the Rat
- 354 days 12 lunar months
- It ends
- Jan 26, 2009 7:55 AM UTC
New moons: NASA JPL DE440. New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory.
Exact times
Chinese New Year 2008: the new moon in your city
The Earth Rat year opened with the new moon at 3:45 AM UTC on February 7, 2008 — 11:45 AM on February 7 in Beijing, the time the calendar reckons by, and 10:45 PM on February 6 in New York, 3:45 AM on February 7 in London and 2:45 PM on February 7 in Sydney.
| City | New moon that opens the year |
|---|---|
| UTC | Thu, Feb 7, 2008 |
| Honolulu United States | 5:45 PM Wed, Feb 6, 2008 · UTC−10 |
| Anchorage United States | 6:45 PM Wed, Feb 6, 2008 · UTC−9 |
| Los Angeles United States | 7:45 PM Wed, Feb 6, 2008 · UTC−8 |
| Phoenix United States | 8:45 PM Wed, Feb 6, 2008 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 8:45 PM Wed, Feb 6, 2008 · UTC−7 |
| Chicago United States | 9:45 PM Wed, Feb 6, 2008 · UTC−6 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 9:45 PM Wed, Feb 6, 2008 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 10:45 PM Wed, Feb 6, 2008 · UTC−5 |
| Toronto Canada | 10:45 PM Wed, Feb 6, 2008 · UTC−5 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 10:45 PM Wed, Feb 6, 2008 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 10:45 PM Wed, Feb 6, 2008 · UTC−5 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 11:15 PM Wed, Feb 6, 2008 · UTC−4:30 |
| Santiago Chile | 12:45 AM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC−3 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 1:45 AM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC−2 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 1:45 AM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC−2 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 3:45 AM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC |
| London United Kingdom | 3:45 AM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC |
| Lagos Nigeria | 4:45 AM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 4:45 AM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+1 |
| Berlin Germany | 4:45 AM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+1 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 5:45 AM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 5:45 AM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+2 |
| Athens Greece | 5:45 AM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+2 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 5:45 AM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+2 |
| Moscow Russia | 6:45 AM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 6:45 AM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+3 |
| Tehran Iran | 7:15 AM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 7:45 AM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 8:45 AM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+5 |
| New Delhi India | 9:15 AM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 9:30 AM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+5:45 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 9:45 AM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+6 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 10:45 AM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 10:45 AM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+7 |
| Singapore | 11:45 AM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+8 |
| Beijing China | 11:45 AM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 11:45 AM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 12:45 PM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+9 |
| Seoul South Korea | 12:45 PM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+9 |
| Tokyo Japan | 12:45 PM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 2:15 PM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+10:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 1:45 PM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+10 |
| Sydney Australia | 2:45 PM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+11 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 4:45 PM Thu, Feb 7, 2008 · UTC+13 |
New moon: JPL DE440 (Swiss Ephemeris within 8 s); 2008 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 Rat personality
Anyone born from February 7, 2008 through January 25, 2009 is an Earth Rat: the yang earth stem 戊 over the 子 branch.
Earth controls the Rat's own Water in the five-element cycle, so the year's element pushes against the sign rather than with it. Earth brings steadiness, practicality and patience — traditionally the most reliable version, and the slowest to change direction.
Stem and branch
2008 is 戊子 (Wùzǐ)
Na yin — the sounding element
Thunderbolt Fire 霹靂火
Fire from lightning — sudden, powerful and short. Readings give these years bursts of energy and dramatic turns, strong at the moment of impact and harder to sustain.
2008 therefore carries earth from its stem and fire 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, 2008 and February 4, 2009, Beijing time. The Rat year spans February 7, 2008 to January 25, 2009, so neither date sits inside it: a blind year (无春年). What double spring and blind years mean →
Who clashes with a 2008 Rat
The 子 branch puts a 2008 Rat opposite the Horse on the wheel, the traditional clash; the nearest Horse year after it was 2014. Its harmony partner is the Ox, whose year followed straight after, in 2009. How the Rat and Horse get on →
Rats born in 2008 turn 18 in 2026 — 19 by the traditional count, which starts at one.
If you were born in 2008
- Born January 1 – February 6, 2008: a Fire Pig, the animal of 2007.
- Born February 7, 2008 or later in the year: an Earth Rat.
A year-only calculator mislabels 37 days of 2008, everything from January 1 to February 6. Roughly one US birth in 10 falls on those dates — 9.8% in SSA records for 2000–2014. Check your exact date →
The Rat across the cycle
The animal returns every 12 years but the element every 60, so each of these years is a different Rat.
The lunar calendar of 2008
Why 354 days, and not 365
No leap month this time: from February 7, 2008 to January 25, 2009, 2008 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 12th.
Festival dates in the 2008 lunar year
| Festival | Lunar date | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern Festival 元宵节 | first month, day 15 | Thu, Feb 21, 2008 |
| Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 | fifth month, day 5 | Sun, Jun 8, 2008 |
| Qixi, the Double Seventh 七夕 | seventh month, day 7 | Thu, Aug 7, 2008 |
| Ghost Festival 中元节 | seventh month, day 15 | Fri, Aug 15, 2008 |
| Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 | eighth month, day 15 | Sun, Sep 14, 2008 |
| Double Ninth Festival 重阳节 | ninth month, day 9 | Tue, Oct 7, 2008 |
| Winter solstice 冬至 | solar term, Sun at 270° | Sun, Dec 21, 2008 |
| Laba Festival 腊八节 | twelfth month, day 8 | Sat, Jan 3, 2009 |
At the Lantern Festival on February 21 the year's first full moon came that same day, at 11:30 AM Beijing time. The festival night of September 14 fell a day before the true full moon, which came at 5:13 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 2008
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, 2008 sits mid-table: of the 110 new years, 63 fall earlier in the calendar and 44 later. Two other years share the date. Twelve years earlier, 1996 began on February 19; twelve years later, 2020 began on January 25 — both marked in lavender with the other Rat years.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Chinese Horoscope 2008: Zodiac Year of the Earth Rat.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/2008/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Chinese Horoscope 2008: Zodiac Year of the Earth Rat |url=https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/2008/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}