Began February 14, 2010 · 354 days long
2010: year of the Metal Tiger
The Tiger year started on February 14, not on January 1 — so anyone born in 2010 before that date is an Ox.
- Opening new moon
- Feb 14, 2010 2:51 AM UTC
- In Beijing
- 10:51 AM Sun, Feb 14 · sets the date
- Year of the Tiger
- 354 days 12 lunar months
- It ends
- Feb 3, 2011 2:31 AM UTC
New moons: NASA JPL DE440. New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory.
Exact times
Chinese New Year 2010: the new moon in your city
The Metal Tiger year opened with the new moon at 2:51 AM UTC on February 14, 2010 — 10:51 AM on February 14 in Beijing, the time the calendar reckons by, and 9:51 PM on February 13 in New York, 2:51 AM on February 14 in London and 1:51 PM on February 14 in Sydney.
| City | New moon that opens the year |
|---|---|
| UTC | Sun, Feb 14, 2010 |
| Honolulu United States | 4:51 PM Sat, Feb 13, 2010 · UTC−10 |
| Anchorage United States | 5:51 PM Sat, Feb 13, 2010 · UTC−9 |
| Los Angeles United States | 6:51 PM Sat, Feb 13, 2010 · UTC−8 |
| Phoenix United States | 7:51 PM Sat, Feb 13, 2010 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 7:51 PM Sat, Feb 13, 2010 · UTC−7 |
| Chicago United States | 8:51 PM Sat, Feb 13, 2010 · UTC−6 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 8:51 PM Sat, Feb 13, 2010 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 9:51 PM Sat, Feb 13, 2010 · UTC−5 |
| Toronto Canada | 9:51 PM Sat, Feb 13, 2010 · UTC−5 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 9:51 PM Sat, Feb 13, 2010 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 9:51 PM Sat, Feb 13, 2010 · UTC−5 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 10:21 PM Sat, Feb 13, 2010 · UTC−4:30 |
| Santiago Chile | 11:51 PM Sat, Feb 13, 2010 · UTC−3 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 11:51 PM Sat, Feb 13, 2010 · UTC−3 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 12:51 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC−2 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 2:51 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC |
| London United Kingdom | 2:51 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC |
| Lagos Nigeria | 3:51 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 3:51 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+1 |
| Berlin Germany | 3:51 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+1 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 4:51 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 4:51 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+2 |
| Athens Greece | 4:51 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+2 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 4:51 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+2 |
| Moscow Russia | 5:51 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 5:51 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+3 |
| Tehran Iran | 6:21 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 6:51 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 7:51 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+5 |
| New Delhi India | 8:21 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 8:36 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+5:45 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 8:51 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+6 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 9:51 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 9:51 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+7 |
| Singapore | 10:51 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+8 |
| Beijing China | 10:51 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 10:51 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 10:51 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 11:51 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+9 |
| Tokyo Japan | 11:51 AM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 1:21 PM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+10:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 12:51 PM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+10 |
| Sydney Australia | 1:51 PM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+11 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 3:51 PM Sun, Feb 14, 2010 · UTC+13 |
New moon: JPL DE440 (Swiss Ephemeris within 8 s); 2010 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 Tiger personality
Anyone born from February 14, 2010 through February 2, 2011 is a Metal Tiger: the yang metal stem 庚 over the 寅 branch.
Metal controls the Tiger's own Wood in the five-element cycle, so the year's element pushes against the sign rather than with it. Metal brings discipline, resolve and sharp edges — traditionally the most determined version, and the least willing to bend.
Stem and branch
2010 is 庚寅 (Gēngyín)
Na yin — the sounding element
Pine and Cypress Wood 松柏木
Evergreens that keep their needles through winter. Long associated with endurance, integrity and longevity — the tree that stays green when everything else has lost its leaves.
2010 therefore carries metal from its stem and wood 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, 2010 and February 4, 2011, Beijing time. The Tiger year spans February 14, 2010 to February 2, 2011, so neither date sits inside it: a blind year (无春年). What double spring and blind years mean →
Who clashes with a 2010 Tiger
The 寅 branch puts a 2010 Tiger opposite the Monkey on the wheel, the traditional clash; the nearest Monkey year after it was 2016. Its harmony partner is the Pig, whose year came round 9 years later, in 2019. How the Tiger and Monkey get on →
Tigers born in 2010 turn 16 in 2026 — 17 by the traditional count, which starts at one.
If you were born in 2010
- Born January 1 – February 13, 2010: an Earth Ox, the animal of 2009.
- Born February 14, 2010 or later in the year: a Metal Tiger.
This is one of the late new years: 44 days, from New Year's Day to February 13, still belong to the Ox. That is about one US birth in 9 (11.6%, SSA records 2000–2014). Check your exact date →
The Tiger across the cycle
The animal returns every 12 years but the element every 60, so each of these years is a different Tiger.
The lunar calendar of 2010
Why 354 days, and not 365
No leap month this time: from February 14, 2010 to February 2, 2011, 2010 ran twelve months, six of 30 days and six of 29 — 354 days.
The 30-day months were the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 8th, 10th and 12th.
Festival dates in the 2010 lunar year
| Festival | Lunar date | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern Festival 元宵节 | first month, day 15 | Sun, Feb 28, 2010 |
| Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 | fifth month, day 5 | Wed, Jun 16, 2010 |
| Qixi, the Double Seventh 七夕 | seventh month, day 7 | Mon, Aug 16, 2010 |
| Ghost Festival 中元节 | seventh month, day 15 | Tue, Aug 24, 2010 |
| Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 | eighth month, day 15 | Wed, Sep 22, 2010 |
| Double Ninth Festival 重阳节 | ninth month, day 9 | Sat, Oct 16, 2010 |
| Winter solstice 冬至 | solar term, Sun at 270° | Wed, Dec 22, 2010 |
| Laba Festival 腊八节 | twelfth month, day 8 | Tue, Jan 11, 2011 |
The year's first full moon arrived at 12:37 AM on March 1, the day after the Lantern Festival. The festival night of September 22 fell a day before the true full moon, which came at 5:17 PM Beijing time on September 23 — 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 2010
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 19 of the 110 new years in the table fall later in the calendar than February 14. Two other years share the date. Twelve years earlier, 1998 began on January 28; twelve years later, 2022 began on February 1 — both marked in lavender with the other Tiger years.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Chinese Horoscope 2010: Zodiac Year of the Metal Tiger.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/2010/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Chinese Horoscope 2010: Zodiac Year of the Metal Tiger |url=https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/2010/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}