Info Center \ Culture \ Chinese Holidays

Holidays in China

chinese people legally enjoy over 115 days off including 104 days of weekends and 11 days of festivals. employees have 5 to 15 days of paid annual leave. students and teachers have summer and winter vacations for about three months. the summer vacation in china generally starts around july 1st and ends around august 31st, and the winter vacation usually falls on january or februry according to the date of the Spring Festival.

public holiday calendar

china has 7 legal holidays in a year, including New Years Day, Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, May Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid Autumn Day and National Day. at the festivals, all chinese people will be on vacation. the table below provides detailed information of 2012 / 2013 public holidays. hope it can help you make a good plan of your china tour.

2012 / 2013 major public holiday calendar
festival	date	legal holidays	holidays of 2012	holidays of 2013
New Years Day	jan. 1	1 day	jan. 1 - 3	jan. 1- 3
Spring Festival	subject to the lunation	3 days	jan. 23. the holiday is jan. 22 - 28	feb. 10. the holiday is feb. 9 - 15.
Qingming Festival	apr. 4 or 5	1 day	apr. 4. the holiday is apr. 2 - 4.	apr. 4. the holiday is apr. 4 - 6.
May Day	may 1	1 day	apr. 29 - may 1	may 1 - 3
Dragon Boat Festival	the 5th day of the 5th lunar month	1 day	jun. 23. the holiday is jun. 22 - 24.	jun. 13. the holiday is jun. 13 - 15.
Mid Autumn Day	aug. 15 according to the lunar calendar	1 day	sep. 30. the holiday is sep. 30.	sep. 19. the holiday is sep. 19 - 21.
National Day	oct. 1	3 days (oct. 1 - 3)	oct. 1 - 7	oct. 1 - 7

besides the 7 legal festivals on which all people can enjoy days off, chinese people celebrate four other festivals on which some people have a half day off - women's day, youth day, children's day and army day. many other festivals and anniversaries are celebrated even without days off, such as arbor day and teachers' day.

categories of chinese holidays

due to the long history and glorious culture of china, the chinese people celebrate a great many festivals which can be divided into the following four major categories: National Holidays designated by the government to commemorate some special events; Traditional Festivals - a reflection of the traditional chinese customs; ethnic minority festivals unique to specific chinese ethnic groups; tourism festivals associated with renowned chinese scenic spots. various holidays show a window through which chinese culture and daily life can be seen vividly.

National Holidays

New Years Day

Spring Festival

women's day

Qingming Festival

May Day

children's day

Dragon Boat Festival

Mid Autumn Day

National Day

Traditional Festivals

Spring Festival

Lantern Festival

Qingming Festival

Dragon Boat Festival

double 7th festival

Mid Autumn Day

Chongyang Festival

laba festival

ethnic minority festival

water-splashing festival

Torch Festival

knife-pole festival

bullfight festival

adult ceremony

march fair

nadam fair

End Of Ramadan

Corban Festival

tourism festivals

Harbin ice and snow festival

hainan coconut festival

luoyang peony fair

fujian mazu festival

qingdao beer festival

xinjiang grape festival

shaolin kungfu festival

qufu confucius festival

tips for traveling in 'golden weeks

among all the chinese holidays, there are two 'golden weeks' - Spring Festival week and National Day week. both of the two 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 to visit china avoid these golden weeks in view of the huge crowds that gather at the major tourist attractions.