Brief Introduction

National holidays in China are those festivals designated by the Chinese government that everyone gets to enjoy. Everyone has the right to have the appointed days off work. These holidays fall into two types: those that all citizens enjoy nationwide, and those that some citizens enjoy.

New Year's Day, Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, May Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-autumn Festival and National Day are the ones that all the Chinese citizens enjoy. 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'. 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 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.

Table of Chinese National holidays

Festival	Date	Time of Day-off
New Year's Day	Jan.1st	1 day
Spring Festival	in January or February	3 days (New Year's Eve, 1st and 2nd day of the first lunar month)
Women's Day	Mar.8th	Half day for women
Arbor Day	Mar.12th	No days off
Qingming Festival	April 4th or 5th of the solar calendar	1 day
May Day	May 1st	1 day
Youth Day	May 4th	Half day for the youth above 14 years
International Nurse Day	May 12th	No days off
Children's Day	June 1st	1 day for children under 14 years
Dragon Boat Festival	5th day of the 5th lunar month	1 day
Anniversary of the Founding of the Chinese Communist Party	July 1st	No days off
Army Day of the Chinese People's Liberation Army	Aug.1st	Half day for active army
Teacher's Day	Sep.10th	No days off
Mid-Autumn Festival	15th day of the 8th lunar month	1 day
National Day	Oct.1st	3 days (October 1st, 2nd and 3rd)
Journalists' Day	Nov.8th	No days off

Click to get Timetable of Chinese Traditional Festivals from 2007 to 2015