Which calendar determines the date of Chinese New Year, whose Eve is celebrated with a reunion dinner?

The date of Chinese New Year, whose eve is marked by a reunion dinner, is determined by the Chinese lunisolar calendar.

Chinese New Year begins on the first day of the Chinese calendar’s first month, so its date changes each year on the Gregorian calendar. In the modern calendar, the festival generally falls between January 21 and February 20. Its eve is commonly associated with a family reunion dinner, one of the most important meals of the festival period.

A lunisolar calendar uses both lunar months and adjustments that keep the calendar aligned with the solar year. This is why the festival does not occur on the same Gregorian date annually. The holiday is also called the Spring Festival in China and is observed under different names and customs across East and Southeast Asia.

“Chinese New Year” is a common international name, while “Lunar New Year” is broader and can refer to New Year festivals based on other lunisolar calendars. The two terms are therefore related but not always interchangeable.