China 2026 Public Holidays

New Year's Day

1 January. In many countries the day off moves to the following Monday when it falls on a weekend.

The first day of the Gregorian calendar year, and the most widely observed public holiday in the world — a day off in almost every country that uses the Gregorian calendar, regardless of religion. Several countries extend the break to 2 January, and some in East Asia keep both the Gregorian and a separate lunar new year.

New Year’s Holiday

Days attached to 1 January by the annual State Council notice.

Additional days off around New Year's Day. The statutory entitlement is one day, extended into a two- or three-day break by rescheduling adjacent weekends.

Spring Festival Holiday

The days following Chinese New Year, set by the annual State Council notice.

The remaining days of the Spring Festival break. Because part of it is created by rescheduling weekends rather than by statute, the exact dates change every year and are announced only a few months ahead.

Spring Festival Eve

The last day of the twelfth lunar month, in late January or February.

Chuxi, the eve of the lunar new year, centres on the reunion dinner — the single most important meal of the Chinese year. Added back to the statutory holiday list in 2025 after years of being only a de facto day off.

Chinese New Year

The first day of the first lunar month, between 21 January and 20 February.

The start of the lunar year and the largest holiday in China. The statutory entitlement covers the eve plus the first three days; the State Council extends it to eight days by moving weekends, producing chunyun, the world's largest annual human migration.

International Women's Day

8 March.

Marks the struggle for women's rights, with roots in the labour movement of the early 1900s. A full public holiday across the post-Soviet states; a half day for women only in China; and an observance in most of the rest of the world.

Qing Ming Jie Holiday

Days attached to Qingming to form a continuous break.

Bridge days joining Tomb Sweeping Day to the adjacent weekend, compensated by a working weekend elsewhere.

Qing Ming Jie

Around 4–5 April, at the Qingming solar term.

Tomb Sweeping Day, when families visit ancestral graves to clean headstones and make offerings. One of the few Chinese festivals fixed to the solar rather than the lunar calendar, since it is defined by a solar term.

Labour Day

1 May in most countries.

International Workers' Day, commemorating the 1886 Haymarket affair in Chicago, and a public holiday in most of the world. The United States and Canada are the notable exceptions, holding their Labor Day in September instead.

Labour Day Holiday

The days around 1 May, set by the annual State Council notice.

Additional days attached to Labour Day. The statutory entitlement is one day, extended to five by rescheduling weekends — the second-longest break of the Chinese year after Spring Festival.

Youth Day

Varies by country.

Honours young people, often on the anniversary of a student-led political event — the Soweto uprising in South Africa, the May Fourth Movement in China.

Children's Day

1 June across the post-Soviet states and much of Asia; other dates elsewhere.

Honours children. A public holiday in a number of countries, and in China a day off for children under thirteen rather than for everyone.

Dragon Boat Festival

The fifth day of the fifth lunar month, in May or June.

Duanwu commemorates the poet Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in the Miluo River in 278 BC in protest at his state's corruption. Marked by dragon boat races and zongzi, glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves. Restored as a statutory holiday in 2008.

Dragon Boat Festival Holiday

Days attached to the Dragon Boat Festival to form a continuous break.

Bridge days joining the Dragon Boat Festival to the adjacent weekend.

Army Day

Varies by country.

Marks the founding of a country's army. Where it is a holiday it is often limited to serving personnel rather than the general population.

Mid-Autumn Festival

The fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, in September or October.

Zhongqiu is the harvest moon festival, second only to Spring Festival in importance. Families gather to eat mooncakes and view the full moon. In years when it falls near National Day the two merge into a single break of up to eight days.

Mid-Autumn Festival Holiday

Days attached to the Mid-Autumn Festival to form a continuous break.

Bridge days around the Mid-Autumn Festival. In years when it falls close to National Day the two merge into a single break of up to eight days.

National Day

Varies by country — a founding, unification, or constitutional anniversary.

The principal patriotic holiday of a country that does not frame its national day as independence — a founding, unification, revolution or monarch's day depending on the state.

National Day Holiday

Additional days off around the national day.

Extra days attached to the national day. China's National Day break in early October is the largest example, running seven days with weekends rescheduled around it.

National Day Golden Week holiday

The full seven- or eight-day October break.

The National Day break as a whole. Introduced in 1999 to stimulate domestic consumption, and still the single busiest week for Chinese tourism.