Began January 25, 2020 · 384 days long
2020: year of the Metal Rat
The Rat year started on January 25, not on January 1 — so anyone born in 2020 before that date is a Pig.
- Opening new moon
- Jan 24, 2020 9:42 PM UTC
- In Beijing
- 5:42 AM Sat, Jan 25 · sets the date
- Year of the Rat
- 384 days 13 lunar months, one of them leap
- It ends
- Feb 11, 2021 7:06 PM UTC
New moons: NASA JPL DE440. New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory.
Exact times
Chinese New Year 2020: the new moon in your city
The Metal Rat year opened with the new moon at 9:42 PM UTC on January 24, 2020 — 5:42 AM on January 25 in Beijing, the time the calendar reckons by, and 4:42 PM on January 24 in New York, 9:42 PM on January 24 in London and 8:42 AM on January 25 in Sydney.
| City | New moon that opens the year |
|---|---|
| UTC | Fri, Jan 24, 2020 |
| Honolulu United States | 11:42 AM Fri, Jan 24, 2020 · UTC−10 |
| Anchorage United States | 12:42 PM Fri, Jan 24, 2020 · UTC−9 |
| Los Angeles United States | 1:42 PM Fri, Jan 24, 2020 · UTC−8 |
| Phoenix United States | 2:42 PM Fri, Jan 24, 2020 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 2:42 PM Fri, Jan 24, 2020 · UTC−7 |
| Chicago United States | 3:42 PM Fri, Jan 24, 2020 · UTC−6 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 3:42 PM Fri, Jan 24, 2020 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 4:42 PM Fri, Jan 24, 2020 · UTC−5 |
| Toronto Canada | 4:42 PM Fri, Jan 24, 2020 · UTC−5 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 4:42 PM Fri, Jan 24, 2020 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 4:42 PM Fri, Jan 24, 2020 · UTC−5 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 5:42 PM Fri, Jan 24, 2020 · UTC−4 |
| Santiago Chile | 6:42 PM Fri, Jan 24, 2020 · UTC−3 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 6:42 PM Fri, Jan 24, 2020 · UTC−3 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 6:42 PM Fri, Jan 24, 2020 · UTC−3 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 9:42 PM Fri, Jan 24, 2020 · UTC |
| London United Kingdom | 9:42 PM Fri, Jan 24, 2020 · UTC |
| Lagos Nigeria | 10:42 PM Fri, Jan 24, 2020 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 10:42 PM Fri, Jan 24, 2020 · UTC+1 |
| Berlin Germany | 10:42 PM Fri, Jan 24, 2020 · UTC+1 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 11:42 PM Fri, Jan 24, 2020 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 11:42 PM Fri, Jan 24, 2020 · UTC+2 |
| Athens Greece | 11:42 PM Fri, Jan 24, 2020 · UTC+2 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 12:42 AM Sat, Jan 25, 2020 · UTC+3 |
| Moscow Russia | 12:42 AM Sat, Jan 25, 2020 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 12:42 AM Sat, Jan 25, 2020 · UTC+3 |
| Tehran Iran | 1:12 AM Sat, Jan 25, 2020 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 1:42 AM Sat, Jan 25, 2020 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 2:42 AM Sat, Jan 25, 2020 · UTC+5 |
| New Delhi India | 3:12 AM Sat, Jan 25, 2020 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 3:27 AM Sat, Jan 25, 2020 · UTC+5:45 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 3:42 AM Sat, Jan 25, 2020 · UTC+6 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 4:42 AM Sat, Jan 25, 2020 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 4:42 AM Sat, Jan 25, 2020 · UTC+7 |
| Singapore | 5:42 AM Sat, Jan 25, 2020 · UTC+8 |
| Beijing China | 5:42 AM Sat, Jan 25, 2020 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 5:42 AM Sat, Jan 25, 2020 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 5:42 AM Sat, Jan 25, 2020 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 6:42 AM Sat, Jan 25, 2020 · UTC+9 |
| Tokyo Japan | 6:42 AM Sat, Jan 25, 2020 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 8:12 AM Sat, Jan 25, 2020 · UTC+10:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 7:42 AM Sat, Jan 25, 2020 · UTC+10 |
| Sydney Australia | 8:42 AM Sat, Jan 25, 2020 · UTC+11 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 10:42 AM Sat, Jan 25, 2020 · UTC+13 |
New moon: JPL DE440 (Swiss Ephemeris within 8 s); 2020 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 Rat personality
Anyone born from January 25, 2020 through February 11, 2021 is a Metal Rat: the yang metal stem 庚 over the 子 branch.
Metal feeds the Rat's own Water in the five-element cycle, so this Rat is the best supported of the five. Metal brings discipline, resolve and sharp edges — traditionally the most determined version, and the least willing to bend.
Stem and branch
2020 is 庚子 (Gēngzǐ)
Na yin — the sounding element
Earth on the Wall 壁上土
Plaster and earth bound into the walls of a house. Associated with support that holds a structure together — reliable, protective, and dependent on the frame around it.
2020 therefore carries metal from its stem and earth 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, 2020 and February 3, 2021, Beijing time. The Rat year spans January 25, 2020 to February 11, 2021, so both dates sit inside it: a double spring year (双春). What double spring and blind years mean →
Who clashes with a 2020 Rat
The 子 branch puts a 2020 Rat opposite the Horse on the wheel, the traditional clash; the nearest Horse year after it is 2026. Its harmony partner is the Ox, whose year followed straight after, in 2021. How the Rat and Horse get on →
Rats born in 2020 turn 6 in 2026 — 7 by the traditional count, which starts at one.
If you were born in 2020
- Born January 1 – January 24, 2020: an Earth Pig, the animal of 2019.
- Born January 25, 2020 or later in the year: a Metal Rat.
Only the first 24 days of 2020 belong to the Pig, yet a year-only calculator still calls them Rats. Those dates hold 6.3% of US births (SSA, 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 2020
Why 384 days, and not 365
2020 repeated its fourth month: the leap month 闰四月 ran from May 23 to June 20 and stretched the year to 384 days. Seven of the 13 months had 30 days.
The 30-day months were the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th, 10th and 12th. Three 30-day months ran back to back, from month 2 to month 4.
Festival dates in the 2020 lunar year
| Festival | Lunar date | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern Festival 元宵节 | first month, day 15 | Sat, Feb 8, 2020 |
| Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 | fifth month, day 5 | Thu, Jun 25, 2020 |
| Qixi, the Double Seventh 七夕 | seventh month, day 7 | Tue, Aug 25, 2020 |
| Ghost Festival 中元节 | seventh month, day 15 | Wed, Sep 2, 2020 |
| Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 | eighth month, day 15 | Thu, Oct 1, 2020 |
| Double Ninth Festival 重阳节 | ninth month, day 9 | Sun, Oct 25, 2020 |
| Winter solstice 冬至 | solar term, Sun at 270° | Mon, Dec 21, 2020 |
| Laba Festival 腊八节 | twelfth month, day 8 | Wed, Jan 20, 2021 |
The year's first full moon arrived at 3:33 PM on February 9, the day after the Lantern Festival. The festival night of October 1 fell a day before the true full moon, which came at 5:05 AM Beijing time on October 2 — 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 2020
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 thirteen of the 110 new years in the table fall earlier in the calendar than January 25. Three other years share the date. Twelve years earlier, 2008 began on February 7; twelve years later, 2032 begins on February 11 — both marked in lavender with the other Rat years.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Chinese Horoscope 2020: Zodiac Year of the Metal Rat.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/2020/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Chinese Horoscope 2020: Zodiac Year of the Metal Rat |url=https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/2020/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}