In Taiwan, official documents use the 1911 founding of the Republic of China as a reference point in establishing the date. Thus the year 2000 is actually year 89, i.e. the 89th year since the founding of the republic. The date is written as year/month/day, so October 25, 2000 is written 89/10/25.
Holidays
Taiwan’s holidays can be divided into festivals associated with the traditional lunar calendar and holidays that are celebrated according to the solar calendar. The following is a list of the holidays and festivals in Taiwan.
Founding Day
January 1
Peace Memorial Day
February 28
Women’s Day
March 8
Youth Day
March 29
Children's Day
April 4
Armed Forces Day
September 3
Teachers' Day/Confucius' Birthday
September 28
Double Tenth/National Day
October 10
Retrocession Day
October 25
Constitution Day
December 25
Lunar Calendar
Prior to the introduction of the solar calendar system from the West, China followed a lunar calendar in determining the times of planting, harvesting, and festival occasions. Today, the people in Taiwan use the solar calendar, but the old system still serves as the basis for determining some holidays. Since a lunar month is shorter than a solar month the two calendars do not match up, and therefore the Chinese add an extra month every 30 months to the lunar calendar. Thus, the Chinese lunar New Year can fall anywhere between January 21 and February 28 on the solar calendar.
