Public holidays in China

There are currently seven official public holidays in China. Each year's holidays are announced about three weeks before the start of the year by the General Office of the State Council. A notable feature of mainland Chinese holidays is that weekends are usually swapped with the weekdays next to the actual holiday to create a longer holiday period. The public holiday pattern, described as "notoriously complicated" by a Wall Street Journal journalist,[1] is therefore less predictable than most developed countries.

Date English name Chinese name Pinyin 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018[2]
January 1 New Year 元旦 Yuándàn 1 January 1 January 1 January 1 January 1 January
1st day of 1st lunar month Spring Festival[3] 春节 Chūnjié 31 January 19 February 8 February 28 January 16 February [4]
5th solar term (April 4 or April 5) Tomb-Sweeping Day 清明节 Qīngmíng jié 5 April 5 April 4 April 5 April 5 April [5]
May 1 Labour Day 劳动节 Láodòng jié 1 May 1 May 1 May 1 May 1 May[6]
5th day of 5th lunar month Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 Duānwǔ jié 2 June 20 June 9 May 30 June 18 June [7]
15th day of 8th lunar month Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 Zhōngqiū jié 8 September 27 September 15 September 4 October 24 September [7]
October 1 National Day 国庆节 Guóqìng jié 1 October 1 October 1 October 1 October 1 October[8]
National Day in 2004, Beihai Park.

History

Festivals in 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.[9] 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.[10] 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).[11] 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.[1][12]

Overview

Holidays in China are complicated and are one of the least predictable among developed nations. In all these holidays, if the holiday lands on a weekend, the days will be reimbursed after the weekend.

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 holidays are called "Golden Weeks" (黄金周), and have become peak seasons for travel and tourism. In 2008, the Labor Day holiday was shortened to one day to reduce travel rushes to just twice a year, and instead three traditional Chinese holidays were added.

Generally, if there is a three-day holiday, the government will declare it to be a seven-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.

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:

Date English name Chinese name Pinyin Applicable to
March 8 International Women's Day 国际妇女节 Guójì fùnǚ jié Women (half-day)
May 4 Youth Day 青年节 Qīngnián jié Youth from the age of 14 to 28 (half-day)
June 1 Children's Day 六一儿童节 Liùyī értóng jié Children below the age of 14 (1 day)
August 1 Army Day 建军节 Jiàn jūn jié 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.

Traditional holiday scheme

Date English name Local name Pinyin Remarks
January 1 New Year 元旦 Yuándàn
1st day of 1st lunar month Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) 春节 Chūnjié Based on Chinese calendar. Holidays last seamlessly, two full weeks, up to the Lantern Festival (see below).
15th day of 1st lunar month Lantern Festival 元宵节 Yuánxiāo jié Based on Chinese calendar
2nd day of 2nd lunar month Zhonghe Festival (Dragon Raising its Head) 中和节 Zhōng hé jié Based on Chinese calendar
March 8 International Women's Day 国际妇女节 Guójì fùnǚ jié
March 12 Arbor Day 植树节 Zhíshù jié Also known as National Tree Planting Day (全民义务植树日 Quánmín yìwù zhíshù rì)
5th Solar Term (usually April 4–6) Qingming Festival (Chinese Memorial Day) 清明节 Qīngmíng jié Based on the Jieqi Qingming.
May 1 Labour Day 劳动节 Láodòng jié International Workers' Day
May 4 Youth Day 青年节 Qīngnián jié Commemorating the May Fourth Movement
June 1 Children's Day 六一儿童节 Liùyī értóng jié
5th day of 5th lunar month Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwujie) 端午节 Duānwǔ jié Based on Chinese calendar
July 1 CPC Founding Day 建党节 Jiàndǎng jié Formation of 1st National Congress in July 1921
July 11 China National Maritime Day 中国航海日 Zhōngguó hánghǎi rì The anniversary of Zheng He's first voyage
August 1 Army Day 建军节 Jiàn jūn jié Nanchang Uprising (南昌起义 Nánchāng qǐyì) on August 1, 1927
7th day of 7th lunar month Double Seven Festival 七夕 Qīxì The Chinese Valentine's Day, based on Chinese calendar
15th day of 7th lunar month Spirit Festival (Ghost Festival) 中元节 Zhōng yuán jié Based on Chinese calendar
15th day of 8th lunar month Mid-Autumn Festival (Moon Festival) 中秋节 Zhōngqiū jié Based on Chinese calendar
September 3 Victory over Japan Day Honoring the Allied victory over Japan and the end of the Second World War in the Pacific (new holiday established 2014)
September 30 Memorial Day Honoring all the fallen of the country right before National Day, new holiday established in 2014
October 1 National Day 国庆节 Guóqìng jié Founding of PRC on October 1, 1949
9th day of 9th lunar month Chongyang Festival 重阳节 Chóngyáng jié Based on Chinese calendar.
December 13 Nanking Massacre Memorial Day New holiday established in 2014 to honor the thousands of Chinese lives lost during the events of the 1938 Nanking Massacre

Ethnic Minorities Holidays

There are public holidays celebrate by certain ethnic minorities in certain regions, which are decided by local governments. The following are holidays at province-level divisions, and there are more at lower level divisions.

Date English name Local name Chinese name Pinyin Ethnic Groups Remarks
1st day of Tibetan year Losarལོ་གསར洛萨/藏历新年Luò sà / zànglì xīnniánTibetan7 days in Tibet
30.6 of Tibetan calendarSho Dun༄༅། ཞོ་སྟོན།雪顿节Xuě dùn jié Tibetan1 day in Tibet
1.10 of Islamic calendar Eid ul-Fitr 开斋节/肉孜节Kāizhāi jié / ròu zī jiéHui, Uyghur and other Muslims2 days for all in Ningxia; 1 day for Muslims (only) in Xinjiang
10.12 of Islamic calendar Eid al-Adha 古尔邦节Gǔ'ěrbāng jié Hui, Uyghur and other Muslims2 days for all in Ningxia; 3 days for Muslims, 1 day for others in Xinjiang

Novel holidays

Some Chinese young adults have begun to celebrate 11 November as Singles Day (Chinese: 光棍节; pinyin: guāng gùn jié) because of the many ones (1s) in the date.[13]

See also

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 Hite, Brittany (2013). "China’s 2014 Holiday Schedule: Still Complicated". China Realtime. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
  2. ↑ 国务院办公厅关于2014年 部分节假日安排的通知 (in Chinese). General Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China. 2013. Retrieved 2014-02-11. Issued 11 December 2013.
  3. ↑ The authorities always refer to "Chinese New Year" as 'Spring Festival' since they recognize the Gregorian calendar.
  4. ↑ Sun 26 January and Sat 8 February are working days. This is officially counted as a seven-day holiday.
  5. ↑ The traditional date of the festival falls on a Saturday, so the public holiday has been transferred to Monday.
  6. ↑ Sun 4 is a working day.
  7. 1 2 The authorities combine it with the weekend to make a 3-day holiday.
  8. ↑ Sun 28 Sept and Sat 11 Oct are working days.
  9. ↑ "Traditional Chibese Festivals".
  10. ↑ "Chinese Festivals".
  11. ↑ Xinhuanet.com "Xinhuanet.com." How will people spend China's 1st Qingming Festival holiday?. Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
  12. ↑ Reuters Shanghai (2013-12-12). "China's revised 2014 holiday schedule sparks public ire". Reuters. Retrieved 2014-01-02.
  13. ↑ "Thinking Chinese - A holiday invasion – Why are Chinese enthusiastically adopting new festive events?". Retrieved August 29, 2012.

References

  1. "Chinese Holidays" (in Chinese). Xinhua. 
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