09/17/2010

China Holiday Schedule is Hard Work

A once-in-500-years lineup of traditional and modern holidays has made for a confusing vacation schedule in China.

The Mid-Autumn festival is traditionally a time for visiting family, watching the full moon and eating moon cakes. It’s followed closely this year by the week-long National Day holiday commemorating the October 1, 1949 founding of the PRC, but the two holidays don’t overlap as they sometimes do. As a result, the government has issued an official holiday schedule that is the most complicated ever, according to local media reports (in Chinese). Even the Liberation Daily, a party mouthpiece, seems baffled (in Chinese).

Associated Press
Moon cakes are Chinese pastries traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on September 22 this year.

Workers are off Wednesday through Friday, September 22 to 24, for the Mid-Autumn Festival. But they have to work Sunday, September 19 and Saturday, September 25 to make up two days from that holiday, since it’s only a one-day holiday under national law.

Because only three official days off are allotted for the National Day holiday, which spans an entire week, workers must clock in on Sunday, September 26 and Saturday, October 9.

Read more at ChinaRealTimeReport

Sep 17, 2010 9:42:57 AM | Current Affairs

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