2019年快要来了。在中国，一年的第一天有一个独特的名字：元旦。
2019 is coming soon. In China, the first day of a year has a unique name: ‘yuandan’.
“元”有开始的意思，而“旦”指天明的时间，也指日、天。元旦，便是一年开始的第一天。
‘yuan’ means beginning, whereas ‘dan’ indicates the timing when the sun rises and/or day. yuandan is the first day of a new year.
中国古代各朝元旦的时间并不一样。夏朝在正月初一，商朝在十二月初一，周朝在十一月初一，秦朝在十月初一，等等。这些日期基本都遵循了中国古代的农历。
Different dynasties in Chinese history has a different date for the new year. January the first in Xia Dynasty, December the first in Shang Dynasty, November the first in Zhou Dynasty, October the first in Qin Dynasty, etc. These days basically follow the lunar calendar.
早在1911年，中华民国政府就讨论过历法问题：农历或是西历（公历）。虽然会议通过了使用公历并区分“元旦”和“春节”的决策，但没有正式命名和推广。
As early as 1911, the Republic of China government has discussed regarding the use of calendar: lunar or western. Although a meeting passed the motion to use the western calendar and distinguish between new year and Chinese new year, there was no official naming and publication.
1949年9月27日，中国人民政治协商会通过使用“公历纪年法”，将公历1月1日定为“元旦”，把农历正月初一定名为“春节”。从此，中国人民每年有两个“新年”，而“元旦”和“春节”都是中国的法定假日。
On 27th September 1949, National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference passed the ‘
Gregorian chronology’. They set the new year on the 1st of January of western calendar and Chinese New Year on the 1st of January of the lunar calendar. Therefore, China celebrates two new year days, which both are public holidays in China.