Golden Week (China) - Controversy

Controversy

In 2004, there were calls for the Golden Week holidays to be cut back, due to their disruption of the regular economy.

In 2006, delegates to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference brought up proposals to cancel both the National Day and May Day Golden Weeks, arguing that the holidays have not achieved significant results in promoting internal consumption, which was the original intention for these long holiday weeks. Rather, the delegates said, these Golden Weeks have disrupted people's regular 5-day weekly schedule and is increasingly impeding commerce and international trade, as many key government agencies, especially those related to customs, tax/tariff collection, and legal affairs, are shut down for seven days. Instead, they proposed, these days off should be spread out to other traditional holidays not currently recognized as public holidays, including Mid-Autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and Qingming Festival. Golden Weeks were sustained as weekly holidays through 2007.

An article in the International Herald Tribune stated that the committee that is reviewing the new plan posted it for public comment in November 2007, with the intention of implementing it in early 2008. According to this article, the May Day holiday will be reduced to one day, with new one-day holidays for the Mid-Autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and Qingming Festival. The Spring Festival and National Day would remain three-day holidays, though they would be adjusted to prevent them from becoming seven consecutive days, as is the current practice.

On December 16, 2007, China’s official news agency said the Chinese population is to have a further three national holidays and lose only one of its golden weeks, the May Day holiday, according to the calendar reform that the Government has approved. May Day itself has now become a one-day holiday. Three traditional festivals—Tomb-Sweeping Day (Qingming Festival), Dragon-boat Festival and Mid Autumn Festival—are added to the list of public holidays. With this revision of the labour calendar, the Chinese government aims to recover the customs associated with traditional festivals and balance tourist demand during the weeks of holidays, according to the Xinhua News Agency. In practice, the new calendar, which came into force on January 1, 2008, will increase national holidays from 10 to 11 days. A spokesperson for the National Commission for Development and Reform said that the new plan would ratify Chinese traditions, better distribute holidays and prevent the “overcrowding” of the “golden weeks” when more people travel during the new holidays and during the periods of paid holidays.