December 9, 2009
The State Council has released a schedule of public holidays for 2010.
Today’s Sanxia Metropolis Daily announced the news in its top headline: Seven holidays next year for a total of 29 days off.
The schedule:
1. New Year: January 1-3; 3 days;
2. Spring Festival: February 13-19; 7 days;
3. Qingming Festival: April 3-5; 3 days;
4. Labor Day: May 1-3; 3 days;
5. Duanwu Festival: June 14-16; 3 days;
6. Mid-Autumn Festival: September 22-24; 3 days;
7. National Day: October 1-7; 7 days;
Add these up, and it really looks like there are 29 days off in 2010.
However, many of these holidays were assembled by borrowing from the surrounding weekends. February 20 and 21, June 12 and 13, September 19, 25, and 26, and October 9, all Saturdays and Sundays, will be ordinary working days under the schedule. That makes for a net total of 21 vacation days.
But New Year, the Spring Festival, Qingming, Labor Day, and National Day all include weekends of their own, leaving just 11 extra days off in addition to normal Saturdays and Sundays.
- State Council (Chinese): Notice concerning 2010 public holiday schedule