Life in China: A Picture a Day 2016, January 19 - Feb 8, 2016 will begin the lunar year 4713, and will be the year of the monkey according to the Chinese zodiac. In general, monkeys are considered to be very smart, or “clever,” so people like to have babies in the year of the monkey. If you were born in 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992 or 2004, your Chinese zodiac sign is a monkey! However, it’s not that simple! There is also a system of five elements: gold, wood, water, fire and earth. When this is combined with the 12 year zodiac cycle, each combination occurs only once every 60 years. Babies born in 2016 will be Fire monkeys and will be “ambitious and adventurous, but irritable.”