Chinese want moreholidays, poll finds
Print Edition
Most Chinese want more and longer public holidays, according to nationwide online polls that ended on Sunday.
The national holiday coordinating office last Wednesday started seeking public opinion on three proposed holiday arrangements for next year in polls on major news websites.
The five-day survey showed the majority of voters preferred a seven-day National Day holiday. Meanwhile, many called for a longer Spring Festival holiday and a week-long May Day holiday.
The State Council will take into consideration public opinion when it decides on next year’s holiday arrangements.
In all three schemes, the Spring Festival holiday was seven days. Differences applied to the October National Day holiday with options of three, five or seven days.
Some other holidays such as New Year’s Day, Qingming Festival, May Day, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-autumn Festival will last one day if they fall on a Wednesday. If those holidays fall on a Tuesday or Thursday, there will be a three-day break including either a Saturday or Sunday. If those holidays occur on the weekend then the following Monday will also be given as a day off.
A total of 27,159 people had voted on China News Service website, with 72 percent choosing the third proposal featuring a seven-day National Day holiday.
More days off
At ifeng.com, 56 percent of more than 1 million people also favored that option.
On People’s Daily website, 52 percent of over 300,000 people voted for the week-long National Day holiday. Among nearly 155,000 voters on 163.com, 56 percent preferred that option.
Still, many people were not happy with any of the options and they voted for the third scheme simply because it provided two seven-day breaks.
Under the three schemes, there will still be 11 public holidays a year.
But netizens said what they really want are more holidays and longer vacations.
They called on the government to extend the Spring Festival holiday to 15 days until the Lantern Festival. They also urged the nation to re-introduce the week-long May Day holiday, which was reduced to three days in December 2007.
Liu Simin, a tourism researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, suggested an extra two or three public holidays each year to create three week-long holidays.
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