Rabbit Year 2011

Chinese New Year 2011 – Year of the Rabbit (or Hare) 辛卯

The date for Chinese New Year 2011 – February 3rd. This is also known as Spring Festival or CNY 2011.

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The Chinese Calendar

Unlike western calendars, the Chinese calendar has names that are repeated every 60 years. Within the ‘Stem-Branch’ system is shorter cycle of 12 years denoted by animals and 2011 is the year of the Rabbit. Actually, this is the Xīn-măo 辛卯 year. Xīn (Metal) is the eighth of the ten celestial stems and Mao (Rabbit) is the fourth of the twelve terrestrial branches and marks the year of the Rabbit or Hare.

Rat Ox Tiger Rabbit Dragon Snake Horse Sheep Monkey Rooster Dog Pig
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2007

Calculating ‘When is the Chinese New Year in 2011′

The fact that the date of Chinese New Year (CNY) varies within about a month is a clue that it’s linked to the new moon. A rough, and almost infallible guide is that the date of the Chinese New Year falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice. The winter solstice always falls on December 21st, the next new moon is January 4th, and the second new moon is on February 3rd 2011.

Will and Guy admit that the precise rules for determining ‘When is the Chinese New Year’, are far more complex. For example, one problem with any lunar calendar system is that some years there are 13 new moons. The Chinese deal with this be slotting in an extra intercalary month.