Ushering in the Spring Festival: Understanding the Lunar calendar

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Spring Festival is the most important holiday in China and overseas communities with Chinese cultural roots. What makes Chinese New Year, and the Lunar calendar, different from the holiday most of the world celebrates on January first? Paolo Montecillo explains.

People use calendars to mark the coming and going of seasons and years. The Chinese Lunar calendar is just one of several used around the world today. What makes this different? Let's go in to find out.

PAOLO MONTECILLO BEIJING "Officially, the People's Republic of China starts its years on January 1st and ends on December 31st on the Gregorian calendar. It's simply more convenient to do business with the rest of the world if you're all in sync."

But the Spring Festival marks the start of the year of a different sort. It's based on the Chinese Lunar Calendar, which follows the cycles of the moon and is still used to determine holidays that are celebrated in China and many other parts of the world that trace their culture to ancient Chinese history.

Farmers in many parts of the country also still use the calendar to plan when to put seeds in the ground for optimal harvests. And based on dates that are considered lucky, couples plan their weddings and millions around the world make financial decisions, big and small.

There are 350 or so days in a Lunar Calendar Year, but it takes the Earth 365 and a quarter to go around the sun. To square the difference, the Lunar Calendar uses so-called intercalary months.

Think Leap Years, but instead of an additional day at the end of every four Februarys, a whole month is added every two or three years.

Spring Festival is one of the most fun times in Chinese culture. Be sure to keep that date marked every year, whatever what calendar you follow.