2006 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Fire Dog

2006 is the year of the Fire Dog (丙戌 Bǐngxū), from 29 January 2006 to 17 February 2007. Anyone born in 2006 before 29 January 2006 belongs to the Wood Rooster year.

• Animal: Dog
• Element: Fire (Yang)
• Cycle name: 丙戌 Bǐngxū, year 23 of the 60-year cycle
• Starts: 29 January 2006
• Ends: 17 February 2007

The Fire Dog

Fire years are traditionally linked with passion, visibility and momentum: the element of warmth, courage and ideas that spread quickly. The Dog is the zodiac's loyal guardian. Tradition describes Dog people as honest, fair and protective, with a strong sense of right and wrong and a small, trusted circle they will defend without hesitation.

Born in January or February 2006?

Anyone born from 1 January to 28 January 2006 belongs to the Wood Rooster year of 2005. From 29 January 2006 the Fire Dog year begins.

How the dates are worked out

Each Chinese New Year here is worked out from the sky, not copied from a list. A lunar month starts on the day of a New Moon in China Standard Time (UTC+8, or Beijing local time before 1929). The month holding the December solstice is the 11th month. When 13 New Moons fall between two of those months, the first month with no principal solar term (the Sun reaching a multiple of 30 degrees) is a leap month. New Year is the first day of the 1st month, which is why it moves between 21 January and 20 February. New Moons and solar terms follow Jean Meeus's Astronomical Algorithms. The rules follow the Chinese calendar.

2005: Wood Rooster · 2007: Fire Pig · All Dog years · All 12 animals