There are currently seven official public holidays in the People's Republic of China. Each year's holidays are announced about one month before the start of the year by the General Office of the State Council. A notable feature of such holidays is that weekends are usually swapped with the weekdays next to the actual holiday to create a longer holiday period. Generally, by adjusting the adjacent weekends, a "golden week" or a three to five-day "short holiday" is formed.
Festivals in mainland China have been around since the Qin dynasty around 221–206 BC. During the more prosperous Tang dynasty from AD 618–907, festivals involved less sacrifice and mystery to more entertainment. Culminating to the modern era Between the 1920s until around the 1970s, the Chinese began observing two sets of holidays, which were the traditional and what became "official", celebrating the accomplishments of the communist regime. There was then a major reform in 2008, abolishing the Labour Day Golden Week and adding three traditional Chinese holidays (Qingming Festival, Duanwu Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival).Xinhuanet.com "Xinhuanet.com." How will people spend China's 1st Qingming Festival holiday?. Retrieved on 2008-04-04. From at least 2000 until this reform, the Spring Festival public holiday began on New Year's Day itself. From 2008 to 2013 it was shifted back by one day to begin on Chinese New Year's Eve. In 2014, New Year's Eve became a working day again, which provoked hostile discussion by netizens and academics. However, since 2015, Chinese New Year's Eve is usually swapped with nearby weekends so that people need not work on Chinese New Year's Eve.
Overview Holidays in China are complicated and are one of the least predictable among developing nations. In all these holidays, if the holiday lands on a weekend, the days will be reimbursed after the weekend. The National Holidays and Anniversary Holidays Measures issued by the State Council is the highest administrative regulation for regulating national holidays. The establishment of theme holidays and industry-specific holidays is stipulated by law or approved by the State Council. At present, China's current statutory annual holiday standard is 13 days.
The Chinese New Year and National Day holidays are three days long. The week-long holidays on May (Labor) Day and National Day began in 2000, as a measure to increase and encourage holiday spending. The resulting seven-day or eight-day (if Mid-Autumn Festival is near National Day) holidays are called "Golden Weeks" (), and have become peak seasons for travel and tourism. In 2008, the Labor Day holiday was shortened to three days to reduce travel rushes to just twice a year, and instead, three traditional Chinese holidays were added.
Generally, if there is a three-day or four-day (if Mid-Autumn Festival is near National Day) holiday, the government will declare it to be a seven-day or eight-day holiday. However, citizens are required to work during a nearby weekend. Businesses and schools would then treat the affected Saturdays and Sundays as the weekdays that the weekend has been swapped with. Schedules are released late in the year prior and might change during the year.
The following is a graphical schematic of how the weekend shifting works. Example+ New Year's Day Holiday, 2010 Dec Jan 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 M T W T F S S M T W T Weekdays Weekend Weekdays becomes Weekdays Holiday Weekend Weekdays
+ Chinese New Year Holiday, 2010 Feb 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 F S S M T W T F S S M Weekdays Weekend Weekdays Weekend Weekdays becomes Weekdays Holiday Moved Weekend Moved Weekend Moved Weekdays Weekdays
+ Qingming Holiday, 2010 Mar Apr 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 T W T F S S M T W T F Weekdays Weekend Weekdays becomes Weekdays Weekend Holiday Weekdays
+ Labor Day Holiday, 2010 Apr May 27 28 29 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 T W T F S S M T W T F Weekdays Weekend Weekdays becomes Weekdays Holiday Long Weekend Weekdays
+ Dragon Boat Festival Holiday, 2010 Jun 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 T F S S M T W T F S S Weekdays Weekend Weekdays Weekend becomes Weekdays Moved Weekdays Moved Weekend Holiday Weekdays Weekend
+ Mid-Autumn Festival Holiday and National Day Holiday, 2010 Sept Oct 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M Weekday Weekend Weekdays Weekend Weekdays Weekend Weekdays Weekend Weekday becomes Weekday Weekend Moved Weekday Weekdays Holiday Moved Weekend Moved Weekdays Weekdays Holiday Moved Weekend Moved Weekend Weekday Moved Weekday Weekend Weekday
Weekend shifting scheme (since 2014) Spring Festival Shift the Saturdays and Sundays nearby to make a 7-day holiday. People may need to work for 6 or 7 continuous days before or after the holiday.
National Day (not near Mid-Autumn Festival) Shift the Saturdays and Sundays nearby to make a 7-day holiday. The holiday is from 1 to 7 October. People may need to work for 6 or 7 continuous days before or after the holiday.
New Year, Tomb-Sweeping Day, Labor Day (before 2020), Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival (not near National Day) Wednesday: No weekend shifting. The holiday is only 1 day long. This is to prevent people from working for 7 continuous days since 2014. Sometimes shift the Sundays nearby to make a 4-day holiday. People may need to work for 6 continuous days after the holiday. Tuesday or Thursday: Shift the Saturdays and Sundays nearby to make a 3-day holiday. People may need to work for 6 continuous days before or after the holiday. Saturday or Sunday: The public holiday is transferred to Monday.
Labor Day (since 2020) Shift the Saturdays or Sundays nearby to make a 5-day holiday. People may need to work for 6 consecutive days before or after the holiday.
List of holidays Statutory holidays Name Date Length (without weekends) Remarks New Year's Day () 1 January 1 day Spring Festival () 1st day of 1st Lunisolar month 4 days (Chinese New Year's Eve, 1st, 2nd and 3rd days of 1st Lunisolar month) Usually occurs in late January or early February. The most important holiday, celebrating the start of a new year Tomb-Sweeping Day () 5 April (4 or 6 April in some years) 1 day Occurs about 15 days after the March Equinox; day for paying respect to one's ancestors Labour Day () 1 May 2 days International Workers' Day Dragon Boat Festival () 5th day of 5th Lunisolar month 1 day Usually occurs in June; commemoration of the ancient poet Qu Yuan Mid-Autumn Festival () 15th day of 8th Lunisolar month 1 day Usually occurs in September; important autumn celebration of harvest and togetherness National Day () 1 October 3 days Commemorating the formal Proclamation of the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949
Additional holidays for specific social groups In addition to these holidays, applicable to the whole population, there are four official public holidays applicable to specific sections of the population:
Name Date Applicable to International Women's Day () 8 March Women (half-day) Youth Day () 4 May Youth from the age of 14 to 28 (half-day) Children's Day () 1 June Children below the age of 14 (half-day) Army Day () 1 August Military personnel in active service (half-day)
The closeness of Labor Day and Youth Day resulted in an unexpectedly long break for schools in 2008 - the Youth Day half-holiday entitlement had been largely forgotten because it has been subsumed into the Golden Week.
National holidays and memorial days Article 5 of the Regulations on National Holidays and Anniversary Days stipulates that "No holidays will be given for February 7th Anniversary, May 30th Anniversary, July 7th Anniversary of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, September 3rd Anniversary of the Victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, September 18th Anniversary, Teachers' Day, Nurses' Day, Journalists' Day, Arbor Day, and other holidays and anniversaries." +DateEnglish nameChinese nameRemarks7 FebruaryFebruary 7th Anniversary二七纪念日Commemorating the Great Strike of February 712 MarchArbor Day植树节Also known as National Tree Planting Day ()人大常委会关于植树节的决议（一九七九年二月二十三日通过），人民日报1979年2月24日，第1版12 MayNurses Day护士节International Nurses Day庆祝护士节 全市护士今日集会，人民日报1950年5月12日，第3版30 MayMay 30th Anniversary五卅纪念日Commemorating the May Thirtieth Movement of 19257 JulyJuly 7th Anti-Japanese War Memorial Day七七抗战纪念日Commemorating the Marco Polo Bridge incident of 19373 SeptemberVictory Day of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression中国人民抗日战争胜利纪念日Honoring the Allied victory over Japan and the end of the Second World War in the Pacific (new holiday established 2014)人大常委会决定 九月十日为教师节，人民日报1985年1月22日，第1版10 SeptemberTeachers' Day教师节18 SeptemberSeptember 18th Anti-Japanese War Memorial Day九一八抗战纪念日Commemorating the Mukden incident of 19318 NovemberJournalists' Day记者节Journalists' Day is celebrated on November 8, the day when the China Youth Journalists Association (the predecessor of the All-China Journalists Association) was founded in Shanghai in 1937. 我国新闻工作者将有自己的节日 十一月八日定为“记者节”，《人民日报》2000年8月11日，第4版
Other national themed festivals and anniversaries +DateEnglish nameChinese nameEstablishmentRemarks10 JanuaryChinese People's Police Day中国人民警察节2021110 Police Hotline3 MarchNational Ear Care Day全国爱耳日2000Double ear shape "33"Last Monday of MarchNational Safety Education Day for Primary and Secondary School Students全国中小学生安全教育日199615 AprilNational Security Education Day全民国家安全教育日2016Day to enhance the national security awareness24 AprilChina Space Day中国航天日2016The date China's first artificial earth satellite Dong Fang Hong 1 was successfully launched18 MayChina Tourism Day中国旅游日2011The opening day of Xu Xiake's Travels3rd Sunday of MayNational Disability Day全国助残日199130 MayNational Science and Technology Workers' Day全国科技工作者日20176 JuneNational Eye Care Day全国爱眼日19962nd Saturday of JuneChina's Cultural Heritage Day文化和自然遗产日20063rd day of the National Energy Conservation Publicity WeekNational Low Carbon Day全国低碳日201325 JuneNational Land Day全国土地日1991The date the Land Administration Law of the People's Republic of China was promulgated11 JulyChina National Maritime Day中国航海日2005The anniversary of Zheng He's first voyage8 AugustNational Fitness Day全民健身日2009The opening day of the 2008 Summer Olympics15 AugustNational Ecology Day全国生态日202319 AugustChinese Doctors' Day中国医师节2018Autumnal equinox dayChinese Farmers' Harvest Festival中国农民丰收节20183rd Saturday of SeptemberNational Defense Education Day全民国防教育日200129 SeptemberNational Love Teeth Day全国爱牙日198929 SeptemberCivic Morality Promotion Day公民道德宣传日2003The date the Implementation Outline of Citizen Morality Construction was promulgated30 SeptemberMartyrs' Day烈士纪念日2014Honors all the fallen of the country right before National Day, new holiday established in 201425 OctoberCommemoration Day of Taiwan's Restoration台湾光复纪念日2025Commemorates the retrocession of and the end of the Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan9th day of the 9th lunar monthSenior Citizens' Day老年节2013Double Ninth Festival9 NovemberNational Fire Protection Day全国消防日1992Fire alarm number "119"2 DecemberNational Traffic Safety Day全国交通安全日2012Traffic accident alarm number "122"4 DecemberNational Law Publicity Day全国法制宣传日2001The date the Constitution of China was promulgated. Also the National Constitution Day13 DecemberNational Memorial Day for the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre 南京大屠杀死难者国家公祭日2014Commemorates the victims of the Nanjing Massacre
Other holidays