Holidays in China are complicated and are one of the least predictable among developing nations. In all these holidays, if the holiday lands on a weekend, the days will be reimbursed after the weekend. The National Holidays and Anniversary Holidays Measures issued by the State Council is the highest administrative regulation for regulating national holidays. The establishment of theme holidays and industry-specific holidays is stipulated by law or approved by the State Council. At present, China's current statutory annual holiday standard is 13 days. The Chinese New Year and National Day holidays are three days long. The week-long holidays on May (Labor) Day and National Day began in 2000, as a measure to increase and encourage holiday spending. The resulting seven-day or eight-day (if Mid-Autumn Festival is near National Day) holidays are called "
Golden Weeks" (), and have become peak seasons for travel and tourism. In 2008, the Labor Day holiday was shortened to three days to reduce travel rushes to just twice a year, and instead, three traditional Chinese holidays were added. Generally, if there is a three-day or four-day (if Mid-Autumn Festival is near National Day) holiday, the government will declare it to be a seven-day or eight-day holiday. However, citizens are required to work during a nearby weekend. Businesses and schools would then treat the affected Saturdays and Sundays as the weekdays that the weekend has been swapped with. Schedules are released late in the year prior and might change during the year. The following is a graphical schematic of how the weekend shifting works.
Weekend shifting scheme (since 2014) Spring Festival Shift the Saturdays and Sundays nearby to make a 7-day holiday. People may need to work for 6 or 7 continuous days before or after the holiday.
National Day (not near Mid-Autumn Festival) Shift the Saturdays and Sundays nearby to make a 7-day holiday. The holiday is from 1 to 7 October. People may need to work for 6 or 7 continuous days before or after the holiday.
New Year, Tomb-Sweeping Day, Labor Day (before 2020), Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival (not near National Day) • Wednesday: No weekend shifting. The holiday is only 1 day long. This is to prevent people from working for 7 continuous days since 2014. Sometimes shift the Sundays nearby to make a 4-day holiday. People may need to work for 6 continuous days after the holiday. • Tuesday or Thursday: Shift the Saturdays and Sundays nearby to make a 3-day holiday. People may need to work for 6 continuous days before or after the holiday. • Saturday or Sunday: The public holiday is transferred to Monday.
Labor Day (since 2020) Shift the Saturdays or Sundays nearby to make a 5-day holiday. People may need to work for 6 consecutive days before or after the holiday. == List of holidays ==