Chinese Calendar 2024

Dates Day Chinese Festival/Event
January
1 Jan Sunday New Year’s Day
21 Jan Saturday Spring Festival Eve
22 Jan Sunday Lunar New Year/ Chinese New Year
23 Jan Monday Spring Festival Golden Week Holiday
24 Jan Tuesday Spring Festival Golden Week Holiday
25 Jan Wednesday Spring Festival Golden Week Holiday
26 Jan Thursday Spring Festival Golden Week Holiday
27 Jan Friday Spring Festival Golden Week Holiday
February
5 Feb Sunday Lantern Festival
21 Feb Tuesday Zhonghe Festival
March
8 Mar Wednesday International Women’s Day
12 Mar Sunday Arbor Day
21 Mar Tuesday March Equinox
April
5 Apr Wednesday Qing Ming Jie
May
1 May Monday Labor Day
4 May Thursday Youth Day
June
1 Jun Thursday Children’s Day
21 Jun Wednesday June Solstice
22 Jun Thursday Dragon Boat Festival
July
1 Jul Saturday CPC Founding Day
11 Jul Tuesday Maritime Day
August
1 Aug Tuesday Army Day
22 Aug Tuesday Chinese Valentine’s Day
30 Aug Wednesday Spirit Festival
September
10 Sep Sunday Teacher’s Day
23 Sep Saturday September Equinox
29 Sep Friday Mid-Autumn Festival
October
1 Oct Sunday National Day
2 Oct Monday National Day Golden Week Holiday
3 Oct Tuesday National Day Golden Week Holiday
4 Oct Wednesday National Day Golden Week Holiday
5 Oct Thursday National Day Golden Week Holiday
6 Oct Friday National Day Golden Week Holiday
7 Oct Saturday National Day Golden Week Holiday
23 Oct Monday Double Ninth Festival
November
8 Nov Wednesday Journalists’ Day
December
22 Dec Friday December Solstice
25 Dec Monday Christmas Day

The Chinese Calendar

In China and many Chinese communities around the world, the Chinese calendar is used for traditional purposes by people of Chinese origin. The Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar, meaning it is a year-round calendar that includes both a sun year and a lunar year, and it is used to determine important festival dates.

Lunisolar Calendar

The calendar used in China is lunisolar. It is based on precise astronomical observations of the longitude of the Sun and the phases of the Moon. It strives to align its years with the tropical year and resembles the Jewish calendar to some extent.

An ordinary year has 353–355 days, whereas a leap year has 383–385 days. In both of these calendars, a common year has 12 months and a leap year has 13 months.

In Modern Society

Although the Chinese calendar originated in China, these days, the Gregorian calendar is used for civil purposes. However, the Chinese calendar is still observed among various Chinese communities around the world. It is used to determine festival dates, such as Lunar New Year, as well as auspicious dates, such as wedding dates. It is also used to determine Moon phases because it follows the Moon.

Counting the Years and the 60-Year Cycle

The years are not counted in an endless succession on the Chinese calendar. For each cycle of 60 years, a name made up of two parts is given to each year. A heavenly stem is the initial element:

  • Jia (associated with growing wood)
  • Yi (associated with cut timber)
  • Bing (associated with natural fire)
  • Ding (associated with artificial fire)
  • Wu (associated with Earth)
  • Ji (associated with earthenware)
  • Geng (associated with metal)
  • Xin (associated with wrought metal)
  • Ren (associated with running water)
  • Gui (associated with standing water)
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