What year is it in China? The Chinese calendar and zodiac years

October 13, 2026 · 9 min read

In China it's 2026, the same year as everywhere else. The country's official calendar is the Gregorian one: the government, schools, banks and train timetables all run on it. On the traditional Chinese calendar, which is lunisolar, it's the Year of the Horse, 丙午, the year of the Fire Horse. It began on February 17, 2026 and ends on February 5, 2027. On February 6, 2027 the Year of the Goat begins, 丁未.

Online, the question "what year is it in China on their calendar" often gets an answer like 4723 or 4724. That's an unofficial count of years from the legendary Yellow Emperor. Different authors pick different starting points, so the numbers don't agree, and in China itself nobody counts years this way: not in documents, not in daily life.

The two calendars used in China

There are two, and each has its own job.

• 公历gōnglìthe Gregorian calendarliterally "the common calendar"
• 农历nónglìthe traditional calendarliterally "the farmers' calendar"

The Gregorian calendar is the official one. China adopted it in 1912, and since 1949 it has also been used to number the years. The date in a passport, on a ticket or in a contract is always written this way. In conversation it's also called 阳历 yánglì, "the solar calendar".

The traditional calendar is lunisolar. Each month starts at the new moon and lasts 29 or 30 days, so twelve months add up to about 354 days. To keep the calendar from drifting away from the seasons, a thirteenth month is added roughly every three years. In conversation it's called 阴历 yīnlì, "the lunar calendar". The holidays follow it: the New Year, the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival. Older people often celebrate their birthdays by it as well.

The first month of the traditional year is called 正月 zhēngyuè; the rest simply have numbers, as in the ordinary calendar. The extra month is 闰月 rùnyuè, the "leap month": it repeats the number of the month before it, and a year with one has thirteen months and about 384 days. That's why a 生日 shēngrì — birthday on the traditional calendar lands on a different Gregorian date every year.

The solar side of the calendar is the 24 solar terms, 节气 jiéqì. They divide the year by the movement of the sun and stay tied to ordinary dates: 立春 Lìchūn, "the beginning of spring", falls on February 3–5, and 冬至 Dōngzhì, the winter solstice, on December 21–23. For centuries the terms told farmers when to sow and when to harvest, hence the name "farmers' calendar".

A Chinese wall 日历 rìlì — calendar usually prints both dates: the Gregorian one large, the traditional one small. So in real life the "Chinese calendar" doesn't replace the ordinary one; it's a second layer on top of it.

Chinese zodiac years: chart for 2020–2031

A zodiac year doesn't start on January 1. It starts on Chinese New Year, which falls on a different day each time, somewhere between January 21 and February 20. The table shows each year, its animal and the date it begins.

That answers the usual questions. 2026 is the Year of the Horse. 2027 on the Chinese calendar is the Year of the Goat, or Sheep: it runs from February 6, 2027 to January 25, 2028. 2028 is the Year of the Monkey.

How to find your Chinese zodiac animal by birth year

The cycle repeats every twelve years, so just find the year in the table that differs from yours by 12, 24, 36 or 48. 1990 is 2026 minus 36, so it's a Horse year. 2000 is 2024 minus 24, a Dragon year. 1995 is 2031 minus 36, a Pig year. 2012 is a Dragon again.

There's also a way without the table: divide the year by 12 and look at the remainder. Remainder 0 is the Monkey, 1 the Rooster, 2 the Dog, 3 the Pig, 4 the Rat, 5 the Ox, 6 the Tiger, 7 the Rabbit, 8 the Dragon, 9 the Snake, 10 the Horse, 11 the Goat. Let's check: 2026 divided by 12 leaves 10, the Horse. Just don't forget January and February: until Chinese New Year, the previous year is still running.

The year of your own animal, which comes round once every twelve years, is called 本命年 běnmìngnián in Chinese, "your own year". For everyone born in a Horse year, that's 2026. By custom, in your own year you wear something red, 红色 hóngsè — red (the color).

The 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac

Years on the Chinese calendar go round in a circle of twelve animals, always in the same order. The cycle is called 生肖 shēngxiào — zodiac sign (by year). Here are the animals as people call them in everyday speech. Tap one to hear it:

• 老鼠lǎoshǔ1. Ratin the name of the year: 鼠
• 牛niú2. Ox
• 老虎lǎohǔ3. Tigerin the name of the year: 虎
• 兔子tùzi4. Rabbitin the name of the year: 兔
• 龙lóng5. Dragon
• 蛇shé6. Snake
• 马mǎ7. Horse
• 羊yáng8. Goat (Sheep)
• 猴子hóuzi9. Monkeyin the name of the year: 猴
• 鸡jī10. Rooster
• 狗gǒu11. Dog
• 猪zhū12. Pig

The name of a year is the animal in one syllable plus the word 年 nián — year: 马年 mǎ nián, the Year of the Horse; 羊年 yáng nián, the Year of the Goat. The "Goat or Sheep?" debate only exists in translation: in Chinese 羊 covers both (and the ram too). For the names of other animals, from cats to pandas, see Animals in Chinese.

How the 60-year cycle works

The twelve animals are only half the system. Every year has a two-character name. The first character comes from a series of ten, the "heavenly stems", 天干 tiāngān. The second comes from a series of twelve, the "earthly branches", 地支 dìzhī. Each branch has its animal: 午 is the Horse, 未 the Goat.

Every year both series move one step forward. Ten and twelve line up again after sixty years, so the full 周期 zhōuqī — cycle, period is 60 years. The current cycle began in 1984; the next one begins in 2044. The name of 2026 is 丙午 bǐngwǔ; the last year with the same name was 1966.

So where does the "Fire" Horse come from? The ten stems are shared out in pairs among the five elements, 五行 wǔxíng:

• 木mùwood2024 and 2025
• 火huǒfire2026 and 2027
• 土tǔearth2028 and 2029
• 金jīnmetal2030 and 2031
• 水shuǐwater2032 and 2033

Each element lasts two years in a row: 2026 is the year of the Fire Horse, 2027 the Fire Goat, 2028 the Earth Monkey. It's a way of numbering years, not a description of anyone's character: old China used the same sixty-step count for days, too. History books still name events after the year they happened in. The Xinhai Revolution of 1911, for instance, is named after the year 辛亥.

How to ask what year it is in Chinese

An ordinary year is read digit by digit, followed by 年. A zodiac year is named by its animal. You'll need the words 今年 jīnnián — this year, 明年 míngnián — next year and 去年 qùnián — last year.

• 今年是哪一年？jīnniánshìnǎyìniánWhat year is it?
• 今年是二零二六年。jīnniánshìèrlíngèrliùniánIt is 2026.
• 今年是马年。jīnniánshìmǎniánThis is the Year of the Horse.
• 明年是羊年。míngniánshìyángniánNext year is the Year of the Goat.
• 今天几月几号？jīntiānjǐyuèjǐhàoWhat's the date today?

Months and days in Chinese are just numbers: "month ten, day thirteen". Dates, days of the week and telling the time are covered in Time in Chinese, and the numbers themselves in Chinese numbers.

How to ask someone's zodiac animal

Chinese has a special verb for it, 属 shǔ — to be born in the year of. The animal follows it, in one syllable.

• 你属什么？nǐshǔshénmeWhat's your zodiac animal?
• 我属龙。wǒshǔlóngI'm a Dragon.
• 我和姐姐都属龙。wǒhéjiějiedōushǔlóngMy older sister and I are both Dragons.
• 他是马年出生的。tāshìmǎniánchūshēngdeHe was born in the Year of the Horse.
• 他比我大一轮，我们都属牛。tābǐwǒdàyìlún,wǒmendōushǔniúHe's twelve years older than me; we're both Oxen.

People in China ask 你属什么？ quite casually: the answer tells you someone's age to within twelve years, and it sounds gentler than a direct "how old are you?". A twelve-year gap even has a name, 一轮 yì lún, "one round".

When is Chinese New Year

The next one is on February 6, 2027: on that day the Year of the Horse gives way to the Year of the Goat. The evening before is called 除夕 chúxī — New Year's Eve, the holiday itself is 春节 Chūnjié, the Spring Festival, and "to celebrate the New Year" is 过年 guònián — to celebrate the New Year. January 1 is a day off in China too, but a quiet one: that's 元旦 yuándàn — New Year's Day (January 1). How people celebrate and what to wish them is in the article about Chinese New Year.