The Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar rather than a lunar one, which takes the cycle of the moon phases, i.e. the synodic month, as the length of a month, incorporates the elements of 24 solar terms of the stem-branch calendar, refers to the solar year as the length of a year and adjusts the average calendar year to the tropical year by adding a leap month. Due to the absorption of stem-branch calendar and 24 solar terms, the Chinese lunar calendar can reflect the change of seasons, guide farming and so on. Therefore, it contains both lunar and solar calendar elements and is a lunisolar calendar.