By Ji Wu

Isn’t it interesting that Chinese people have two birthdays every year?

In fact, it’s because that in China, two calendric systems are being used. One is the common calendar that is used around the world, i.e. the Gregorian Calendar, and the other is the traditional Chinese calendar, also known as the Lunar Calendar (Nong Li, the farming calendar or Yin Li).

The Lunar Calendar records years, months and days according to astronomical phenomenon, many traditional Chinese festivals are based on this calendar such as The Chinese New Year (Spring Festival, the 1^st day of the 1^st month of Lunar Calendar), the Lantern Festival (the 15^th day of the 1^st month of Lunar Calendar). Let’s take the author, for example, who was born on 10^th of July 1994 which was also the 2^nd of June in Lunar Calendar that year. While in 2020, the Lunar Calendar’s 2^nd of June fell on the Gregorian Calendar’s 22^nd of July, a result of the dates of the two calendars usually do mot match, this is why the Chinese New Year falls on different dates each year. Therefore, Chinese people get to celebrate their birthday twice a year, one birthday in each calendar.