Best Chinese Wall Calendars of 2026

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is so special about the Chinese calendar?

Unlike most other calendars, the Chinese calendar does not count years in an infinite sequence. Instead years have names that are repeated every 60 years. (Historically, years used to be counted since the accession of an emperor, but this was abolished after the 1911 revolution.)

2. How does the Chinese calendar work?

The length of a Chinese calendar month is not fixed from year to year. There are 29 days in a short month, which is also called a 'small month' in Chinese, while there are 30 days in a long month, called a 'big month'. In this way, a 12-month lunar year (with six 29-day months and six 30-day months) has only 354 days.

3. Did the Chinese invent the 365 day calendar?

To solve this problem the Egyptians invented a schematized civil year of 365 days divided into three seasons, each of which consisted of four months of 30 days each. To complete the year, five intercalary days were added at its end, so that the 12 months were equal to 360 days plus five extra days.

4. Which type of calendar does China currently use?

Modern China, like the vast majority of countries in the world, utilizes the Gregorian calendar—our standard solar-based calendar—as its primary means of tracking time throughout the year. That means January 1 in Paris is also January 1 in Beijing.