You may have come across articles offering a detailed estimation of your professional, love and family life in the new year. Your Chinese astrological year of birth is commonly used in the evaluation. Everyone falls into one of 12 categories since there are 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac. However, there may be some confusion for those born in late January or early February because of the varying starts to the solar and lunar calendars. The eight characters of birth system (ba zi) - year, month, day and hour, each depicted with two characters - uses the start of the solar year, i.e. February 4, as the beginning of the new year. This means all those born after a certain time on February 4 will belong to the zodiac governing the new year, even if the lunar new year falls after February 4. The zi wei dou shu system uses the start of the lunar new year to demarcate the beginning of the zodiac year, which this year falls on February 3.

For those born between the start of the solar new year and the start of the lunar new year, it's recommended that you follow the beginning of the solar new year for general references. However, if you need more information, it is better to have a detailed reading from an experienced astrologer as opposed to reading it from a book, as the predictions given in books will be more general and may not conform to your individual chart. Do bear in mind that these books are meant as a general guide and should not be seen as the be all and end all.