Better not "leap" this special day

Pan Jiaqi celebrates her fifth birthday on Monday.

Unlike other five year olds, Pan, from Foshan City in south China's Guangdong province, can, if she so wishes, toast her birthday with a glass of wine.

Pan actually turns 20 today. Like many people born on Feb. 29, for three out of every four birthdays there is no actual day to celebrate.

"I feel lucky since I have every reason to be 'young' forever," she said when asked how it feels to have been born on a leap year.

In China, and across the globe, some women have been known to tell a white lie when asked their age, and Pan likes this aspect of her birthday.

"Some of my friends envy me because they grow a year older every year, whereas, technically, I only age one year in every four," she said. "I used to blame my mother for this but now I thank her and I try to exude a spirit of youthful optimism."

Statistics about "leap-year babies" are not available but according to local media reports, there are 4,810 people born on leap days in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi province, and in Hefei city, capital of east China's Anhui province, there are over 3,000 who were born on Feb. 29, with the oldest born in 1924.

In China many leap-year babies celebrate their birthdays when the Lunar New Year comes around, while others choose Feb. 28 or March 1. The majority agree that when the actual date comes around it is a good excuse for a big party.

Leap years come round every four years and are skipped on century years, except when that year is divisible by 400.

There are those, however, that will go out of their way to avoid a leap day birthday. Some expectant mothers in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality even arranged c-sections to avoid giving birth on this year's leap day, according to the Chongqing Morning Post.

Netizens have been sharing their thoughts, too.

Some were surprised to discover that there are different types of leap year in various calendars. The normal leap year refers to the modern Gregorian calendar.

In the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar there are thirteen months, or 383 to 385 days in a leap year, with a leap month.

According to the Chinese calendar which has no leap day, there is one leap month in every three years, two in every five years, and seven in 19.

Without talking about the bothering birthday mathematics, some social media users say they have to do something on the special day, just something special with the hashtag "one day in every four years."

"If you tie the knot on Feb. 29, you would successfully pass the 'the seven-year itch' when you celebrate your second anniversary," said a user from Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter.

Even those not born on a leap day, shared expressions of gratitude for the rare day, as many consider it an auspicious day to reflect on the past and look forward to the future.

"Four years ago today, I was still a college student and worried about the job market; four years later, and my concerns are of marriage and getting on the property ladder," said "Falphybirswin," another Weibo user.

Regardless of whether they are leap-year babies or not, the online community seem to agree that you'd better not 'leap' this special day. Endi