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Chinese New Year 2024
Saturday, 10 February 2024. It opens the Year of the Wood Dragon, 甲辰, which runs until 28 January 2025.
- New Year's Eve9 February 2024
- New Year's Day10 February 2024
- Lantern Festival24 February 2024
- Animal and elementWood Dragon 木龙, Yang
- Year ends28 January 2025; the next new year is 29 January 2025
What the Dragon year carries
The Dragon
Confident, ambitious and generous. The only mythical animal in the cycle, the Dragon brings rain and good harvests; emperors took it as their emblem.
Dragon years see a rise in births across the Chinese-speaking world: parents plan for them.
Wood 木
Wood years are associated with growth and flexibility: spring, bamboo, new shoots. Wood years favour growth and beginnings: planting, building, the first steps of long projects.
The pairing of stem and branch, 甲辰, returns once every sixty years; the last Wood Dragon year was 1964, the next is 2084.
How the festival is kept
New Year's Eve, 9 February 2024
The reunion dinner (年夜饭): the whole family at one table, dumplings in the north, fish everywhere because 鱼 sounds like "surplus". Red couplets go up on the door, and the house is already cleaned so bad luck is not swept out in the new year.
New Year's Day, 10 February 2024
Red envelopes (红包) from elders to children, visits to relatives in order of seniority, new clothes, and the first words of the year chosen with care: 新年快乐, happy new year, and 恭喜发财, wishing you prosperity.
Lantern Festival, 24 February 2024
The fifteenth night, the first full moon of the year: lanterns, riddles hung on them, and sweet rice balls (汤圆) whose round shape stands for the family together. It closes the season.
Chinese New Year in other years
The second new moon after the winter solstice, so it moves between 21 January and 20 February.
- 202529 January 2025, Wood Snake
- 202617 February 2026, Fire Horse
- 20276 February 2027, Fire Goat
- 202826 January 2028, Earth Monkey
- 202913 February 2029, Earth Rooster
- 20303 February 2030, Metal Dog
- 203123 January 2031, Metal Pig
- 203211 February 2032, Water Rat
- 203331 January 2033, Water Ox
- 203419 February 2034, Wood Tiger
- 20358 February 2035, Wood Rabbit
Questions
When is Chinese New Year 2024?
Saturday, 10 February 2024. New Year's Eve is 9 February 2024, and the Lantern Festival that closes the celebrations is 24 February 2024.
What animal is 2024 in the Chinese zodiac?
The Dragon. From 10 February 2024 to 28 January 2025 it is the year of the Wood Dragon (甲辰). Before 10 February 2024, the year still belongs to the previous animal.
Why does the date change every year?
The festival falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice, so it moves between 21 January and 20 February on the Western calendar.
How long does Chinese New Year last?
Fifteen days, from New Year's Day to the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth of the first lunar month. Most people have a week of public holiday in mainland China.
Born in a Dragon year?
Your animal depends on the exact date, not the calendar year.
Find your animal
Enter your birthday and we count it by the lunar calendar: the animal, its element, your lunar birth date and your next zodiac year.
Chinese zodiac calculatorWant the Dragon in ink on your wall? The zodiac poster sets the animal above your name and lunar birthday. Giving a Chinese name this new year? Three real names, free.