How to read a Chinese almanac
A Chinese almanac is called Tung Shing in Cantonese and Huangli in Mandarin. On a tear-off calendar, start with the Gregorian date. For vertical text, read down the rightmost line, then move left. Use the headings to read any boxed tables.
Look for entries like these on your calendar.
- Lunar date
- Day 2 of month 10. Lunar months start on the date of the new moon. A leap month repeats a month number.
- Day pillar
- Wù Zǐ. Wù is the heavenly stem and Zǐ is the earthly branch. Together they name a day in the 60-day cycle. Look for the day column in a four-pillar table.
- Solar term
- Start of Winter began on November 7 in Hong Kong. Solar terms mark stages of the Sun’s annual path and can change in the middle of a lunar month.
Compare two days
On November 9 the new lunar month begins. On November 10 both the lunar day and day pillar change. The solar term stays the same.
How to read suggested activities
Some almanacs list activities that are traditionally favored or discouraged. For example, the entry for weddings can appear in either list. Read the advice for the activity named in that edition.
Hong Kong Observatory’s November 2026 calendar
Hong Kong Intangible Cultural Heritage Office on Tung Shing
W3C on Chinese text layout