Public holidays in China
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. 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 Day and National Day began in 2000, as a measure to increase and encourage holiday spending. The resulting seven-day or eight-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 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.
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
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 | |
| Youth Day | 4 May | Youth from the age of 14 to 28 | |
| Children's Day | 1 June | Children below the age of 14 | |
| Army Day | 1 August | Military personnel in active service |
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."| Date | English name | Chinese name | Remarks | |
| 7 February | February 7th Anniversary | 二七纪念日 | Commemorating the Great Strike of February 7 | |
| 12 March | Arbor Day | 植树节 | Also known as National Tree Planting Day | |
| 12 May | Nurses Day | 护士节 | International Nurses Day | |
| 30 May | May 30th Anniversary | 五卅纪念日 | Commemorating the May Thirtieth Movement of 1925 | |
| 7 July | July 7th Anti-Japanese War Memorial Day | 七七抗战纪念日 | Commemorating the Marco Polo Bridge incident of 1937 | |
| 3 September | Victory 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 | |
| 10 September | Teachers' Day | 教师节 | ||
| 18 September | September 18th Anti-Japanese War Memorial Day | 九一八抗战纪念日 | Commemorating the Mukden incident of 1931 | |
| 8 November | Journalists' Day | 记者节 | Journalists' Day is celebrated on November 8, the day when the China Youth Journalists Association was founded in Shanghai in 1937. |
Other holidays
| Date | English name | Local name | Pinyin | Remarks |
| 2nd day of 2nd Lunisolar month | Zhonghe Festival | Zhōng hé jié | Based on Chinese calendar | |
| 1 July | Anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party | Jiàndǎng jié | Formation of 1st National Congress in July 1921 | |
| 7th day of 7th Lunisolar month | Qixi Festival | Qīxī | The Chinese Valentine's Day, based on Chinese calendar | |
| 15th day of 7th Lunisolar month | Spirit Festival | Zhōng yuán jié | Based on Chinese calendar | |
| 10 October | Wuchang Uprising | Wǔchāng Qǐyì | Commemoration of the anti-monarch uprising against the Qing which began the Xinhai Revolution | |
| 9th day of 9th Lunisolar month | Chongyang Festival | Chóngyáng jié | Based on Chinese calendar. |
Ethnic minorities' holidays
There are public holidays celebrated by certain ethnic minorities in certain regions, which are decided by local governments. The following are holidays at the provincial level.| Date | English name | Local name | Chinese name | Pinyin | Ethnic groups | Remarks |
| 1st day of Tibetan year | Losar | 洛萨/藏历新年 | Luò sà / zànglì xīnnián | Tibetan | 7 days in Tibet | |
| 30.6 of Tibetan calendar | Sho Dun | 雪顿节 | Xuě dùn jié | Tibetan | 1 day in Tibet | |
| 1.9 of Islamic calendar | Eid al-Fitr | 开斋节/肉孜节 | Kāizhāi jié / ròu zī jié | Hui, Uyghur and other Muslims | 3 days in Ningxia; 1 day in Xinjiang | |
| 10.12 of Islamic calendar | Eid al-Adha | 古尔邦节 | Gǔ'ěrbāng jié | Hui, Uyghur and other Muslims | 2 days in Ningxia; 3 days in Xinjiang | |
| 3.3 of Lunisolar calendar | Sam Nyied Sam | Sam Nyied Sam | 三月三 | Sān Yuè Sān | Zhuang | 3 days in Guangxi |
The following are traditional holidays at the prefectural level, and there are more at lower-level divisions, i.e. county-level.
| Date | Celebrating location | English name | Chinese name | Pinyin | Ethnic groups | Remarks |
| 6th day of the 6th Lunisolar month | Qiannan and Qianxinan | Liuyueliu | 六月六 | Liù Yuè Liù | Bouyei | 1 day in Qiannan and Qianxinan |
| 8th day of the 8th Lunisolar month | Qiannan and Qianxinan | Bayueba | 八月八 | Bā Yuè Bā | Miao | 1 day in Qiannan and Qianxinan |
| 10th day of the 9th Lunisolar month | Dehong | 阿露窝罗节 | Ā Lù Wō Luó jié | Achang | 2 days in Dehong | |
| 1st day of Tibetan year | Dêqên, Garzê, Gannan and [Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang people|Qiang Autonomous Prefecture|Ngawa] | Losar | 藏历新年 | Luò sà / zànglì xīnnián | Tibetan | 3 days in Dêqên, Garzê, Gannan and Ngawa |
| 24th day of the 6th Lunisolar month | [Honghe Hani and Yi people|Yi Autonomous Prefecture|Honghe] | 矻扎扎节 | Kū Zhā Zhā jié | Hani | 2 days in Honghe | |
| 24th day of the 6th Lunisolar month | Chuxiong, Liangshan and Honghe | Fire Festival | 火把节 | Huǒ Bǎ jié | Yi | 5 days in Chuxiong, Liangshan and 3 days in Honghe |
| 20 September | Nujiang | 阔时节 | Kuò Shí jié | Lisu | 3 days in Nujiang | |
| 15th day of the 1st Lunisolar month | Dehong | Manau Festival | 目瑙纵歌节 | Mùnǎo Zónggē jié | Jingpo | 2 days in Dehong |
| 5th day of the 5th Lunisolar month | Wenshan | 闹兜阳 | Nào Dōuyáng | Miao | 3 days in Wenshan, often celebrated together with Dragon Boat Festival | |
| 13 April | Dehong and Xishuangbanna | Water-Sprinkling Festival or Songkran | 泼水节 | Pō Shuǐ jié | Dai | 2 days in Dehong and Xishuangbanna |
| 1st day of the 10th Lunisolar month | Ngawa | Qiang New Year | 羌历年 | Qiānglì Nián | Qiang | 5 days in Ngawa |
| 15th to 22nd day of the 3rd Lunisolar month | Dali | Third Month Fair | 三月街 | Sān Yuè Jiē | Bai | 7 days in Dali |
| 3rd day of the 3rd Lunisolar month | Wenshan | Sam Nyied Sam | 三月三 | Sān Yuè Sān | Zhuang | 3 days in Wenshan |
| 1st day of the Yi Calendar, often falls in the 10th Lunisolar month | Chuxiong and Liangshan | Yi New Year | 彝族年 | Yízú Nián | Yi | 5 days in Chuxiong and Liangshan |
| 1 Shawwal of Islamic calendar | Linxia | Eid ul-Fitr | 开斋节 | Kāizhāi jié | Hui | 3 days in Linxia |
| 10 Dhu al-Hijjah of Islamic calendar | Linxia | Eid al-Adha or Kurban Festival | 古尔邦节 | Gǔ'ěrbāng jié | Hui | 3 days in Linxia |
In addition, the following autonomous prefectures celebrate their founding date. Generally, the government takes one day off to all people working in such prefectures.
| Celebrating location | Date |
| Chuxiong | 15 April |
| Dali | 22 November |
| Dehong | 23 July |
| Dêqên | 13 September |
| Enshi | 19 August |
| Gannan | 1 October |
| Garzê | 24 November |
| Liangshan | 1 October |
| Linxia | 19 November |
| Ngawa | 2 January |
| Nujiang | 23 August |
| Qiandongnan | 23 July |
| Qiannan | 8 August |
| Qianxinan | 1 May |
| Wenshan | 1 April |
| Xiangxi | 20 September |
| Xishuangbanna | 23 January |
| Yanbian | 3 September |
Novel holidays
Some Chinese young adults have begun to celebrate 11 November as the Singles' Day because of the many ones and many singles in the date.Serfs' Emancipation Day, celebrated on March 28, was established in Tibet in 2009.