In response to Seedly' s Li Chun article, doesn't the year of Rat start on 4th February?

Now is still year of the Pig!
The new zodiac starts on Li Chun 立春 . It doesn't change on Lunar new year which we celebrate. This is a misunderstanding by the general public. This is probably due to easy marketing and thus association of the zodiac with the lunar new year.
The zodiac follows the 二十四节气 （24 seasons) , not the lunar cycle. Other common 节气 we hear of are qing ming清明 and dong zhi冬至 (winter solstice). They are really the name of the season on the calender.