Chinese zodiac
Year of the Snake
The next Year of the Snake is 2037 — the Fire Snake. People born in a Year of the Snake are traditionally said to be wise, intuitive and private.
Snake personality
Snakes are wise, intuitive, private and elegant — deep thinkers who are perceptive, self-reliant and drawn to a little mystery. They play their cards close, are financially shrewd, and rarely let themselves be rushed. To others they can seem cool or secretive. Tradition links the Snake with wisdom and beauty far more than with menace.
The Snake and the five elements
Each Year of the Snake carries a different heavenly-stem element, so no two Snakes are quite alike. The current cycle’s 2037 is the Fire Snake.
- Wood Snakegrowth-minded, generous and cooperative, taking the long view
- Fire Snakedynamic, passionate and bold, quick to lead
- Earth Snakegrounded, patient and dependable, building to last
- Metal Snakedisciplined, determined and principled, holding a firm line
- Water Snakeintuitive, adaptable and persuasive, reading people well
Snake birth years and ages
Each zodiac year recurs every 12 years, with a different heavenly-stem element each time. Ages are the age reached during the year.
Snake compatibility
Traditional matches follow the trine (San He), the secret-friend pair (Liu He) and the clash (Liu Chong), all set by the Snake’s place in the twelve-year cycle.
- Trine — natural allies
- Rooster and Ox. Signs four places apart share the Snake’s pace and outlook, and tend to understand each other quickly.
- Secret friend
- Monkey. The single strongest one-to-one bond — supportive even when the two are not in the same trine.
- Clash — most tension
- Pig. The opposite sign, six places away — not doomed, but the pairing that asks for the most communication and patience.
The Snake in Singapore
In Singapore the Snake year light-up plays up the elegant, auspicious "little dragon" (小龙) framing rather than anything sinister, across the Chinatown streets and River Hongbao.