China
China observes seven statutory public holidays nationwide. Two of them - Lunar New Year (Chunjie, 7-day block) and National Day (10.1, also a 7-day block) - are the largest annual migration events on Earth. Other holidays are 1-3 days each, with weekend adjustment days making most of them into 3-day blocks.
Statutory holidays
- New Year's Day - January 1 (1 day)
- Spring Festival (Lunar New Year) - varies (7-day block)
- Tomb-Sweeping Day (Qingming) - April 4 or 5 (3-day block)
- Labour Day - May 1 (3-day block, since 2008)
- Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu) - varies (3-day block)
- Mid-Autumn Festival - varies (3-day block)
- National Day - October 1 (7-day block)
Notable non-statuary observances
The Lantern Festival (Yuanxiao Jie), the Double Ninth Festival (Chongyang), and the Laba Festival are observed culturally but are not statutory. The Double Seventh Festival (Qixi, the "Chinese Valentine's Day") is widely observed on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month.
Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan
Hong Kong observes 17 public holidays, combining British colonial legacy (Christmas, Boxing Day, New Year's Day) with Chinese festivals (Lunar New Year, Tuen Ng, Chung Yeung). Macau observes 20 public holidays, including Portuguese colonial legacy (Portuguese National Day, October 5) and Catholic holidays. Taiwan observes 12 public holidays, including several memorial days tied to the Republic of China era.
How the Chinese holiday calendar works
China has 7 statutory holidays (ๆณๅฎ่ๅๆฅ): New Year's Day (ๅ ๆฆ, January 1), Spring Festival / Lunar New Year (ๆฅ่, 7 days from Lunar New Year's Eve), Qingming Festival (ๆธ ๆ่, April 4-6), Labour Day (ๅณๅจ่, May 1), Dragon Boat Festival (็ซฏๅ่, 5th day of 5th lunar month), Mid-Autumn Festival (ไธญ็ง่, 15th day of 8th lunar month), and National Day (ๅฝๅบ่, October 1-7). The statutory holidays are mandated by the State Council in the annual holiday calendar (้็ฅ), typically released in December for the next year. The Spring Festival and National Day are 7-day holidays; the others are 1-3 days.
Most Chinese workers use the 7 statutory holidays plus their paid annual leave (typically 5-15 days depending on seniority and employer) to create longer "Golden Week" breaks around Spring Festival, National Day, Labour Day, and Qingming. The Spring Festival chunyun (ๆฅ่ฟ) is the world's largest annual human migration: roughly 9 billion passenger trips over the 40-day travel period around Lunar New Year.
Religious and ethnic composition
China is officially atheist in state policy but religiously pluralistic in practice. Publicly recognized religions include Buddhism (18% practice), Taoism (8%), Islam (1.5% - mostly Hui and Uyghur populations), Protestantism (2-3%), Catholicism (1%), and folk religion. The state recognises 5 religions and operates a "three-self" framework for Christianity. The holiday calendar reflects none of these religion-specific observances - all the statutory holidays are civic/folk-religion holidays plus secular civic holidays.
Lunisolar calendar core
Most Chinese statutory holidays fall on the Chinese lunisolar calendar (ๅๅ/้ดๅ), not the Gregorian civil calendar. The Spring Festival (Lunar New Year), Qingming (solar term), Dragon Boat (5th day 5th lunar month), and Mid-Autumn (15th day 8th lunar month) use Chinese calendar computations. The statutory holiday list published by the State Council includes both the Gregorian and lunisolar dates for each holiday.
Cultural depth and travel patterns
Spring Festival is the largest annual human migration on Earth. The chunyun period officially runs 40 days. The 7-day statutory holiday is often extended by employers to 10-14 days by using adjacent weekends and the year's annual leave. Most Chinese return to their hometown (่ๅฎถ) for family reunion (ๅขๅ), making it the largest annual family reunion event in human history.
National Day Golden Week (October 1-7) is the second-largest travel period. Roughly 700 million trips are made over the 7-day period. Domestic tourism dominates; international tourism during Golden Week surges for inbound and moderately for outbound.
Special administrative regions
Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan observe their own holiday calendars. Hong Kong observes most Chinese statutory holidays plus additional days (Buddha's Birthday, Chung Yeung Festival); the SAR has roughly 17 public holidays. Macau has roughly 20 public holidays. Taiwan observes the same 7 statutory holidays plus additional civic and cultural days. Each SAR's calendar reflects its colonial history and demographic distinctiveness.
Diaspora communities in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Korea, and elsewhere observe Chinese New Year, Qingming, Dragon Boat, and Mid-Autumn festivals with national public holidays in countries where Chinese populations are large.
Recent shifts and contested history
The Chinese statutory holiday calendar has been relatively stable since 2008, when the Spring Festival and National Day were both fixed at 7 days. Earlier changes (1999-2007) had the "Three Golden Weeks" pattern (Spring Festival, Labour Day, National Day each as 7 days); in 2008 the Labour Day Golden Week was reduced to 1 day and replaced by adding Qingming, Dragon Boat, and Mid-Autumn as 1-3 day statutory holidays.
Where the holidays come from culturally
The Chinese holiday calendar reflects three layers. Layer 1 (pre-modern imperial): folk and traditional festivals from the Chinese lunisolar calendar. Layer 2 (early 20th century): civic-national holidays (Labour Day, National Day). Layer 3 (modern state observance): the harmonization of folk tradition and civic observance by the post-1978 reform era. The Chinese holiday calendar is the most extensive East Asian observance system.
Provincial and ethnic minority holidays
Five autonomous regions and several provinces have additional statutory holidays tied to ethnic minorities. Tibet Autonomous Region adds Tibetan New Year (Losar) and various Buddhist observances. Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region adds Corban Festival (Eid al-Adha) and Eid al-Fitr for Uyghur populations, plus several civic-ethnic-minority days. Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region adds San Yue San (Third of the Third Lunar Month) for Zhuang people. Inner Mongolia adds Naadam festival (held in summer) as a regional holiday. Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region adds Mawald al-Mawlid (Prophet's birthday). These regional holidays are typically 1 day each and are not national.
2026 calendar specifics
The State Council 2026 holiday calendar follows the post-2008 pattern: Spring Festival 7-day block (February 16-22, 2026), Tomb-Sweeping 3-day block (April 4-6), Labour Day 1-day only (May 1), Dragon Boat 3-day block (June 19-21), Mid-Autumn 3-day block (September 25-27), National Day 7-day block (October 1-7). New Year's Day is a 3-day block (January 1-3). The exact dates shift each year as the State Council releases the next year's calendar in December. The 2026 Spring Festival falls on February 17 (Tuesday), creating the 7-day block from February 16 (Monday before) through February 22 (Sunday after).
Major holiday briefs on this page
Each of the holidays discussed on this regional overview has a full standalone brief covering its origins, observance practices, and modern controversies: