Officially, the Chinese New Year date for 2007 is Sunday, February 18. However, this is only true for a small part of the world. Based on rules determining the Chinese calendar, the first day of a lunar month is the day the new moon occurs, i.e. anytime between 00:00 to 23:59.

As the official Chinese calendar originates from China which is observing the GMT+8 time zone, the calendar is only valid in countries observing GMT+8 time zone such as China, Malaysia and Singapore.

So when exactly is Chinese New Year? For GMT+8 time zone, the new moon occurs on Sunday, Feb 18, 00:14 hours. Hence, Chinese New Year is on Sunday, Feb 18 in China, Malaysia, Singapore and other countries observing GMT+8. Chinese New Year also falls on Sunday, Feb 18 in countries towards the east, such as Japan, Australia, New Zealand and so on till the International Date Line as the new moon occurs on Sunday, Feb 18.

However, for most other countries, from Thailand towards the west including Europe and America until the International Date Line, Chinese New Year falls on Saturday, Feb 17. In Thailand (GMT+7), the new moon occurs on Saturday, Feb 17, 23:14 hours while in UK (GMT+0), the new moon occurs on Saturday, Feb 17, 16:14 hours.

Therefore, Chinese New Year is to be celebrated on the day in which the new moon occurs, according to their respective time zones. However, most people assume the Chinese calendar released in China is authentic worldwide. What a mistake!