How does China mark Long Holiday Weeks?
黄金周
- Local date
- October 1, 2026–October 7, 2026
- When is it?
- 1 to 3 October are the statutory days; the State Council General Office announces each year how weekends are swapped in to stretch the run to seven, and names two weekend days that are worked in exchange.
China's long holidays are arithmetic. The Measures on National Annual Festivals and Commemorative Days (State Council Decree No. 795, in force 1 January 2025) grant only three days for National Day, 1 to 3 October, and four for Spring Festival — Lunar New Year's Eve and the first three days of the first lunar month. Article 7, added in the 2024 amendment, is the sentence that matters: holidays for all citizens may be arranged with unified rest and shift-swapping so that a longer break is actually formed, and, save in particular cases, continuous work before or after a statutory holiday shall not generally exceed six days. What turns three days into seven is not the law but a notice the State Council General Office issues each November. The 2026 one is Guobanfamingdian [2025] No. 7: National Day off from Thursday 1 October to Wednesday 7 October, seven days, with Sunday 20 September and Saturday 10 October worked; Spring Festival from 15 to 23 February, nine days, with Saturdays 14 and 28 February worked; Labour Day 1 to 5 May, five days, with 9 May worked. The extra days are not given. They are moved forward and paid back.
What is this topic?
Seven places all end up with a run of consecutive days off, and not one of them builds it the same way. Japan's holiday act fills the gap by itself and nobody has to announce anything. China's State Council issues a notice every November that borrows weekends forward and takes them back afterwards as working Saturdays. Indonesia's joint leave is decided by three ministers together — and it is deducted from the worker's own annual leave. Taiwan rewrote its holiday law in 2025 and now only adds compensatory days, never borrowed ones. Brazil bridges with unnamed days declared by ministerial order that bind federal offices only. The United States moved five holidays to Mondays in 1968 and has done nothing since. India leaves it to the states, under a banking statute from 1881.
Sources and dates
Dates follow local time zones, calendars, and official notices. Check the source when a date is estimated or locally variable.