List of Holidays in Taiwan

The following is a brief list of the holidays in Taiwan:

January 1 - Founding Day of the ROC (three day bank holiday)
January or February - Chinese New Year (3 days to 5 days)
February 28 - Memorial Day
April 5 - Tomb Sweeping Day
May 1 - Labour/Labor Day
June * - Dragon Boat Festival (on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month)
September 3 - Armed Forces Day
September * - Mid-Autumn Festival (on the 15th day of the ninth lunar month)
October 10 - National Day (Double Tenth Day)
December 25 - Constitution Day (not always a holiday)

Prior to adoption of the Western solar calendar system, Taiwan followed a lunar calendar in determining the times of planting, harvesting, and festival occasions. Today people in Taiwan use the western calendar for most practical matters of daily life, the old system still serves as the basis for determining many seasonal holidays. The Taiwanese and Chinese have long accepted the coexistence of two calendar systems.

A lunar month is determined by the period required for the moon to complete its full phasic cycle of 29 and half days, a standard that makes the lunar year a full 11 days shorter than its solar counterpart. This difference is made up every 19 years by the addition of seven lunar months. The 12 lunar months are further divided into 24 solar divisions distinguished by the four seasons and times of heat and cold, all bearing close relationship to the yearly cycle of agricultural work.