section_path: Age reckoning
section_name: Age reckoning
paragraph_text: Age reckoning
  
  In modern China, a person's official age is based on the Gregorian calendar. For traditional use, age is based on the Chinese Sui calendar. A child is considered one year old at birth. After each Chinese New Year, one year is added to their traditional age. Their age therefore is the number of Chinese calendar years in which they have lived. Due to the potential for confusion, the age of infants is often given in months instead of years.
  
  After the Gregorian calendar was introduced in China, the Chinese traditional-age was referred to as the "nominal age" (虛歲; 虚岁; xūsuì; ' incomplete age ') and the Gregorian age was known as the "real age" (實歲; 实岁; shísùi; ' whole age ').