Eight Days a Week: China Releases Official 2013 Holiday Dates

Lauren McCarthy | Dec 11, 2012 10:00 am | 6 comments | 6468 reads

The Chinese government has finally made our 2013 public holidays official. We've deciphered the holiday schedule and it's not pretty. Forced vacation is never fun but when it results in eight-day workweeks and the dissolution of far too many weekends, it becomes downright painful. Here are the dates so you can start preparing.

NEW YEAR'S DAY
Days off: January 1-3
Work days: Saturday, January 5 and Sunday, January 6
Translation: We're in work on Monday, then off Tuesday-Thursday, only to come back for an eight-day workweek. Ouch.

SPRING FESTIVAL
Days off: February 9-15
Work days: Saturday, February 16 and Sunday, February 17
Translation: We get seven consecutive days off, followed by a seven-day work week.

QING MING (TOMB SWEEPING) FESTIVAL
Days off: April 4-6
Work days: Sunday, April 7
Translation: We get a long weekend from Thursday to Saturday and are back in the office on Sunday.

LABOR DAY
Days off: April 29-May 1
Work days: Saturday, April 27 and Sunday, April 28
Translation: We'll pay for this midweek three-day break by spending an entire weekend in the office. In other words, the holiday will be bookended by a seven-day workweek and a two-day workweek.

DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL
Days off: June 10-12
Work days: Saturday, June 8 and Sunday, June 9
Translation: So nice they did it twice. Seven days of work, three of play and two of work.

MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL
Days off: Thursday, September 19 to Saturday, September 21
Work day: Sunday, September 22
Translation: Finally, a three-day break where we only have to "earn" one of the days with a Sunday in the office.

NATIONAL DAY
Days off: October 1-October 7
Work days: Sunday, September 29 and Saturday, October 12
Translation: Coming off a six-day work week (see Mid-Autumn Festival), our weekend consists of a single Saturday before we come back to work on Sunday and Monday. Then we're off for seven days. Everyone is back in the office on Tuesday (Oct 8) through Saturday. A final one-day weekend is the bitter cherry on the top of that sundae.

Photo: Guilinholiday.com

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coursebo's picture coursebo Submitted by Guest on Wed, 12/12/2012 - 13:17

My Chinese colleague put up a small fight, saying that the influence of Christianity meant that other countries valued their weekends. I said, no, we value our xiuxi! Then she agreed it was indeed rubbish, but what can they do about it? I suggested being lazy during working weekends and moaning to your boss (haha well I am British) - but, as she said, no Chinese will do that. Alas, what can be done?

I will be in touch as soon as possible! Smile

Bonnie Course

bluefish's picture bluefish Submitted by Guest on Tue, 12/11/2012 - 14:54

So the gov can get the credit for "giving" holidays, without actually giving any.

Some years ago I was teaching in small town in the south, when one teacher came running up and said: "Today we are very happy because we will have two days holiday next week! We will have no work on Wednesday and Thursday. Then we will work on Sat and Sun to make up for it!"

So I said, "So, you have no holiday."

"No, we have a holiday! It's so wonderful!"

"No, you don't have any holiday. They just moved the weekend from Sat/Sun to Wed/Thur. But you still only get two days off."

"But..."

"Plus, the next week you'll have to work eight days in a row instead of the usual five, so actually instead of being a good thing, it's a very bad thing. You'll be much more tired after this "holiday" is all over than if you just worked like normal."

I could practically see smoke curling from her head as the long-unused logic center wheels tried to turn. Finally she got it; and burst into tears. After that I never tried to reason with the poor fools who were excited about their "holidays." It just makes them miserable, and there's nothing they can do about it.

But all that said, I've been here 14 years now and never played this game. Never worked a weekend to "make up" anything, teaching or in office jobs. Just refuse. Works fine. They just chalk it up to "stupid foreigner," and since I'm good at what I do and work hard during appropriate times for working (key caveats: if you're a hopeless slack-off all the time you won't get away with it) there's no issue.

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