For someone who passionately dislikes snakes, it’s a bit ironic I was born in the year of the snake.

“Since each elemental animal follows a 60-year cycle, the last wood snake year was 1965. In 2025, we welcome the year of the wood snake. It is also known as the year of the green snake because according to the Chinese Five Elements theory, wood is associated with green,” the South China Morning Post says online.

Spicy street food in Chengdu, China. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

That means this is my year.

This is what China Sichuan says about wood snakes: “Precise, cool headed, creative, logical, and lacking perseverance. These snakes are witty and easy going. Relationships are important to them, so they usually have a lot of friends. They have a good understanding of human nature and are good at communicating, so their advice is usually greatly valued. Wood snakes prefer a quiet life, but they are ambitious and have a lot of interests, and in particular they love art. They are organized, methodical, but can be stubborn when going through hard times and find it hard to overcome failure.”

I see a lot of myself in that description.

The first day of the Chinese or Lunar New Year is Jan. 29. Celebrations often start the night before, then culminate on the 15th day with the Lantern Festival. The start date changes based on when the second new moon after the winter solstice falls.

Obviously, I’m not of Chinese heritage, but I have family members who are and who celebrate this New Year. While I have never celebrated this day, I thought I might at least fix some Chinese dish for dinner to mark the occasion since it is my year.