Many people do not understand exactly what Chinese calendars really are, but to be honest, it is very close to the Western calendar, it has just been in place for longer. 2600 B.C is when the first Chinese calendar was introduced and it is the biggest chronological calendar on the books to date. Emperor Huang Ti was the person that discovered the cycle of the zodiac which the Lunar Chinese calendar centers itself around, basically, the moon cycle is what this particular calendar goes by.

There are a surprising number of similarities between the Chinese and Western, Gregorian calendars. However the differences are more important. The Western calendar focuses on months more than years. However, with the Lunar calendar, one year in every twelve has the name of a particular animal. This is due to a legend wherein Buddha summoned all the animals of the world to bid him farewell before he left earth. Only twelve showed up. As a reward for their kindness, Buddha named a year after each animal, in order of appearance.

The Chinese zodiac is heavily linked to the Chinese calendar. The animals that are named after each month in the Chinese zodiac have been said to have an influence on people that were born in those years; for instance, a person with the dog Chinese zodiac tends to be very loyal.

A huge portion of the overall population of the world are Chinese. That leaves many people following the Chinese calendar and celebrating the Chinese New Year. However, Chinese people do not follow the calendar entirely. They use the Gregorian calendar as well. The Lunar calendar is used only for planning the festivals celebrated by the Chinese, such as the new year.

Because the Chinese calendar also operates around the phases of the moon and the longitude of the sun, modern science has had an effect on it. It does so every year in fact. It is ever changing, which is extremely intriguing in and of itself.

With the Gregorian calendar, the first of the month begins on the first day of the month - naturally. Under the system used by the Chinese calendar, however, the first day of the month coincides with the day of the new moon. Similarly, the longitude of the sun is used to determine important days of the year.

Most people recognize this calendar because of the zodiac animals used. Those children who are born in 2009 will belong to the Ox. Those who were born in 1988 - twelve years ago - were also born under the sign of the Ox.