Chinese New Year 2025 zodiac sign - find out what animal horoscope you are

Find out which zodiac animal represents you best

Chinese New Year preparations in St Peters Square(Image: Manchester Evening News)

Manchester city centre has been transformed in preparation for thousands to celebrate the beginning of the Chinese New Year. Also known as the Spring Festival, or Lunar New Year, the occasion marks the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar and each year it is categorised by an animal.

For many who celebrate, this year will be the year of the Wood Snake. 2025’s zodiac animal is a special occasion, with the Wood Snake being a rare occurrence in the Chinese calendar.

In Chinese custom, the zodiac operates on a 12 year cycle of animals paired with one of five elements, wood, fire, Earth, metal or water. The other 11 animals of the 12 Chinese zodiac signs are rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

What is the difference between the Chinese New Year and Lunar New Year?

During this period, Chinese New Year and Lunar New Year are sometimes used interchangeably when referring to the celebrations. Both refer to the celebration of the new year based on the Lunar calendar, which follows the moon’s orbit around the earth.

This contrasts with the Western New Year which is based on the Gregorian calendar, which follows the earth’s orbit around the sun.

Whole the Gregorian calendar’s New Year’s Eve falls on the same day, the Chinese and Lunar New Year varies year on year, but usually comes around at the end of January.

While both celebrations hold major significance, the main difference is that the Chinese New Year incorporates cultural and religious elements very specific to China.

While Lunar New Year is celebrated in other Asian countries and incorporate rituals and custom specific to them. The countries who celebrate Lunar New Year include, Vietnam, Singapore, Korea, Japan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia as well as communities in Europe, UK and US.

How to find out what animal horoscope you are

Traditionally, each year is represented by one of 12 zodiac animals and to find out which horoscope is yours you simply find the year in which you were born. If your birthday falls in January or February then your animal horoscope might be different as the lunar calendar and the Gregorian calendar don’t line up exactly.

Check below to find out which zodiac animal you belong to…

Rat 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020
Ox 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021
Tiger 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022
Rabbit 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023
Dragon 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024
Snake 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025
Horse 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014
Goat 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015
Monkey 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016
Rooster 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017
Dog 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018
Pig 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019

What each zodiac represents

Those who celebrate believe that people born in a certain zodiac animal year share similar attributes to their zodiac animal. The horoscope is used to determine a number of things in life like a person’s personality, fortunes and romantic compatibility with others.

Below is a breakdown of what each zodiac animal represents.