Chinese zodiac 2001
Year of the Metal Snake
24 January 2001 to 11 February 2002
Born in 2001? Your sign depends on the day
The animal changes at Lunar New Year, not on 1 January. In 2001 it falls on 24 January 2001.
- 24 January to 31 December 2001
- 🐍 Metal Snake
- and on to 11 Feb 2002
Check an exact birth date
The Metal Snake at a glance
Animal
🐍 Snake
Said to be wise, intuitive, private.
Element
金 Yin Metal
Linked with determination and order. Each element rules two years in a row.
Length
384 days
A long year: the calendar adds a thirteenth, leap month.
Other Snake years
The 60-year cycle
Animal and element line up again only every 60 years. The Metal Snake years nearest to this one are 1941 and 2061.
Who gets on with the Snake
Allies
Four years apart. The three animals of a trine are said to share a temperament.
Secret friend
One of six fixed pairs said to complement each other.
Opposite
Six years apart, directly across the wheel. Tradition calls this the hardest pairing.
Friction
One of six fixed pairs said to rub each other the wrong way.
Bonds come from each animal's position among the twelve, as tradition sets them. They describe the Snake sign in general, not any one person.
Dates are computed estimates from the Hong Kong Observatory's calendar tables, counted in China's time zone. Some traditions change the animal at the start of spring (around 4 February) instead of at Lunar New Year.