How does China mark War dead and veterans?
烈士纪念日
- Local date
- September 30, 2026
China's Martyrs' Day falls on 30 September, established by a decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on 31 August 2014, with the date deliberately placed the day before National Day. On the morning itself, flower baskets are laid at the Monument to the People's Heroes in Tiananmen Square, with the party and state leadership present. It is not a day off. Earlier the same year, on 27 February 2014, the same Standing Committee separately designated 3 September as Victory Day of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression — one body, one year, two related days: one for those who died, one for the war ending. Neither carries leave.
What is this topic?
The United States splits the dead from the survivors into two separate federal holidays: Memorial Day in May for those killed, Veterans Day on 11 November for those who came home. The other six countries mostly set aside a single day, and mostly do not give it off — Taiwan lets the defence ministry decide who gets the day, Japan's 15 August rests on a cabinet decision rather than any statute, and Indonesia's Heroes' Day is filed by presidential decree under "national days that are not holidays".
Sources and dates
Dates follow local time zones, calendars, and official notices. Check the source when a date is estimated or locally variable.