National Holidays
Ethnic Minority Festivals
Tourism Festivals
Traditional Festivals
China has 16 legal festivals, including New Year's Day, Spring Festival, May Day, National Day, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival when all Chinese people will be on vacation. The other nine are for special industries or specific people like Women's Day, Arbor Day, Youth Day, International Nurse Day, Children's Day, Anniversary of the Founding of the Chinese Communist Party (the Party's Birthday) and Army Day of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, Teacher's Day, and Journalists' Day. At the festivals, people can enjoy the legal holidays. Always a lot of people go out of their homes for traveling or shopping.
Among these, two are 'Golden Weeks' (Spring Festival and National Day). Both holidays last for three days but by combining two weekends with them, people benefit from seven consecutive days off. During these two weeks, most people go out and enjoy themselves in a great variety of ways with a resultant boost to the economy, hence the nickname 'Golden Week'. Hotel rooms, train tickets or air tickets will definitely be in great demand then. Therefore, we recommend that people who are planning China tour packages avoid these Golden Weeks in view of the huge crowds that gather at the major tourist attractions.
Some people have a half day off on the following national holidays or anniversaries. Women have half day off on Women's Day. Young people over 14 years of age have a half day off on Youth Day. Children under 14 years old have a day off on Children's Day. Active members of the army have a half-day holiday on Army Day.
People celebrate these special national days but they do not have time off: Arbor Day, International Nurses' Day, Anniversary of the Founding of the Chinese Communist Party, Teachers' Day, and Journalists' Day.
The table below provides the detailed information of 2009 public holidays. Hope it can help you make a good plan of your China tour.
| Public Holidays in China | |||
| Festival | Date | Legal Holidays | Holidays of 2009 |
| New Year's Day | January 1st | 1 day | January 1st (Thursday), January 2nd, January 3rd (Saturday, a public holiday) (Remark: no holiday on January 4th) |
| Spring Festival | Subject to the lunation, normally in January or February | 3 days (the last day of the last lunar month and the first and second days of the first lunar month) | January 25th - 31st |
| May Day | May 1st | I day | May 1st - 3rd |
| National Day | October 1st | 3 days (October 1st, 2nd, 3rd) | October 1st - 8th (Remark: The Mid-Autumn Day of 2009 is on October 3rd. The holidays of the National Day and Mid-Autumn Day are combined.) |
| Mid-Autumn Day | the 15th day of the 8th lunar month | 1 day | |
| Qingming Festival | April 4th | 1 day | April 4th - 6th |
| Dragon Boat Festival | the 5th day of the 5th lunar month | 1 day | May 28th - 30th |
| Women's Day | March 8th | half day for women | half day of March 8th |
| Arbor Day | March 12th | no days off | no holidays |
| Youth Day | May 4th | half day for youth above 14 years old | half day of May 4th |
| International Nurse Day | May 12th | no days off | no holidays |
| Children's Day | June 1st | 1 day for children under 13 years old | June 1st |
| Anniversary of the Founding of the Chinese Communist Party | July 1st | no days off | no holidays |
| Army Day of the Chinese People's Liberation Army | August 1st | half day for active army | half day of August 1st for active army |
| Teachers' Day | September 10th | no days off | no holidays |
| Journalists' Day | November 8th | no days off | no holidays |
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Travelers' Voices on Chinese Holidays