Each lunar month starts on the day of the new moon.
This is the day the moon is closest to the sun and not visible at all.
Does it mean that one has to look at the sky each time to tell the new moon?
Fortunately, the answer is “no”.
Otherwise there'll be a lot of stiff necks!
Because the new moon occurs with enough regularity to devise a calendar based on its phases.
(Full moon in the middle of the month. Moon wanes at the end of the month).
On average, each lunar month is 29.5 days.
(Sometimes the months are 29 days and other times they are 30 days.)
But multiplying 29.5 days by 12 months gives 354 days.
Which is 11 days short of 365 1/4 days, the cycle of the four seasons.
Or 11 days "faster" if you like.
So, how does the Chinese calendar “wait” for the natural world to catch up?
By adding an extra month to make a “thirteen-month year”.
Well, not every year but every few years.
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