In Taiwan, official documents use the 1911 founding of the Republic of China as a reference point in establishing the date. Thus the year 2011 is actually year 100, i.e. the 100th year since the founding of the republic. The date is written as year/month/day, so October 20, 2011 is written 100/10/20.
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. 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. 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.
Below is a list of the holidays and festivals in Taiwan.
