Chinese zodiac 2020
Year of the Metal Rat
25 January 2020 to 11 February 2021
Born in 2020? Your sign depends on the day
The animal changes at Lunar New Year, not on 1 January. In 2020 it falls on 25 January 2020.
- 25 January to 31 December 2020
- π Metal Rat
- and on to 11 Feb 2021
Check an exact birth date
The Metal Rat at a glance
Animal
π Rat
Said to be quick-witted, resourceful, adaptable.
Element
ι Yang 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 Rat years
The 60-year cycle
Animal and element line up again only every 60 years. The Metal Rat years nearest to this one are 1960 and 2080.
Who gets on with the Rat
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 Rat 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.