Chinese citizens could see a change in their holiday structure from early 2008, if a recent proposal gets the nod from the State Council

A survey conducted by the National Development and Reform Commission asking for public feedback on a proposed change to China's constitutional holiday system, resulted in a massive 80 percent of 1.55 million netizens responding positively to the suggestion of an annual scheme of 11 holiday days.

However as much support as there was for the increase in the number of holiday days, only 60 percent of the respondents backed the plan to do away with the May Day golden week holiday. Golden weeks were introduced in 1999 to boost domestic consumption and take place during Spring Festival (Jan/Feb), May Day and National Day (October 1) each year. In practice, people traditionally take seven consecutive days off at these times by working on weekends either side of the main holidays.

In essence the proposal aims to reduce the three-day May Day holiday to one day, and add the traditional Tomb-Sweeping Day, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival as one-day holidays. This would increase the number of paid holiday days to 11 from 10.

While the new plan is being driven by the genuine concern over the country's tourist infrastructure and environment being subdued to huge stress from the overwhelming numbers of people who travel at these times--this manifests as overcrowding, poor services, a scarcity of hotel rooms and damage to scenic spots, the survey revealed another urgent need. Almost all respondents were hoping the government would put a system of paid vacation into practice. China's Labor Law, which took effect in January 1995, stipulates that employees who have worked for more than one year should get paid vacation, however, to date, no specific regulations have been issued. Paid vacations are seen as a way to make up for any shortfall of weeklong holidays.

After submission to the State Council, Xinhua News Agency reports that a final decision for holiday dates should be released at yearend, and would then become effective by Spring Festival 2008, which falls on February 7.

May Day breaks should stay

Bi Ge (Securities Times): Although golden weeks are now plagued by problems like overcrowding, poor services and damage to scenic spots, they are still an opportunity for people to have a good rest and reconnect with their families.

As vacation periods for Chinese are still not effectively guaranteed, the compulsory golden week system seems a more practical option. It is a relatively fair way to ensure workers have time to rest. If the May Day golden week is scrapped, workers may have no rest time, so rather then experience more inequality, we have to bear the current golden week system, although it's not perfectly fair.

When it comes to holiday equality is still a big problem. In government departments and state-run institutions, workers' holiday rights are well respected, but in enterprises, especially private-run or foreign ventures, the situation is not so good.

Golden weeks have done everything they can to boost the Chinese economy but in the social sense, the shortcomings of the golden week are equally shared by all those who have the seven days off.

Chinese people only want to have a break. As long as their right to have time off is protected, they don't care in what form the holidays are. Therefore, many people still prefer to preserve the golden week around the May Day.

Jun Qiu (Information Times): When the weeklong breaks of May Day and National Day were initially set up in the 1990s, they were expected to bolster the national economy. Today, the "human-centered" spirit is widespread, thus less attention is being paid to economic or political significance. After eight years, does it resonate with the spirit of "holiday for the people" to abolish the May Day break just because of some negative issues surrounding this holiday?

Many people have now begun to use the holiday for a time to rest instead of rushing to scenic spots as they did in its first few years. As a paid vacation is still an impossibility, time off through forced holidays is very valuable.

If the only reason to scrap the weeklong May Day break is that it can no longer help to boost retail sales or the national economy, then the new holiday proposal is still "economy-focused," rather than "human centered."

Wei Yingjie (Oriental Morning Post): We have to admit that some people have benefited a lot from the golden week arrangement, and that's why there is so much opposition against the new holiday proposal. This tells us that the formulation of public policies must take into full account the public's opinions and the process should be open and transparent.

Besides, it seems that there is not enough explanation about the new holiday scheme. Legal holidays relate to everyone, so the national holiday system cannot be casually changed. The biggest problem is that some people are afraid that, after the weeklong May Day holiday is cancelled, they cannot enjoy so many days off, as the paid vacation is still an uncertainty, particularly for the many enterprises in China. We have long had regulations on the paid vacation, but they have never been taken seriously. In many companies today, workers' rights and interests are still not well respected, so it's natural for people to feel worried about the consequence of launching any new holiday system.

Peng Lianlian (The Beijing News): On one hand, the public has had enough of overcrowding, poor services and the stress of golden weeks; on the other hand, they fear that once the weeklong May Day holiday is abolished, they may never be able to enjoy such long holidays. This conflict reflects a severe problem in China: Workers' legitimate right to have time off work is still not well protected.

The current May Day holiday scheme is not perfect, but at least this fixed system is now strictly implemented, so it's possible to ensure workers' right to enjoy some kind of long holiday. As for paid vacations, there is still no strong system to ensure their implementation. As a result, whether to give the employees a paid vacation or not depends on the employers, who can find many excuses to say no.

China is undergoing urbanization and industrialization, a process that moves people away from home seeking opportunities. At the same time, many Chinese have been used to uniting with their families on mandatory holidays. To cancel guaranteed holidays while a paid vacation system is still lacking is sure to cause anxiety among the public.

Honor traditional festivals

Zhang Ruoyu (New Express): When Weifang City in east China's Shandong Province took the lead to make Mid-Autumn Festival a holiday in September, the move was warmly applauded. This shows there is a strong demand for holidays of traditional festivals.

China boasts many traditional festivals. Whether it is for the sake of cultural traditions, of the public's wish, or for the sake of new driving force to boost the country's economy, the government needs to do something about those traditional festivals.

We have to ask: What are holidays for? There is nothing wrong with a holiday economy, but this is only an attached value. The core meaning of a holiday should be for people to enjoy themselves and relax. Cultural heritage and atmosphere are an inseparable part of festivals.

Wang Wei (Information Times): The three golden weeks are a means of boosting domestic demand and economic growth, and are not designed for the purpose of the public enjoying time off to rest. Given this fact, there is nothing wrong in replacing the current holiday system, which seems a bit outdated, with a new one.

It's feared that a paid vacation system may not be available to all of China's working class, but the fear is not a reasonable excuse to reject the new holiday arrangement. This is because if the current holiday system remains, no one will bother with an alternative one. In that case, the paid vacation system will never happen in China.

Is it that those who call for the preservation of the May Day holiday have this naïve idea that bosses will offer them paid vacations? History shows that rights are gained by being proactive not by being passive.

Ren Huanlin (Beijing Youth Daily): Throughout the world, especially in the developed world, seldom do we see a holiday composed of seven consecutive days. This means government departments and also many businesses suspend operation for a week. China now has three weeklong holidays. To break down the May Day golden week and add three traditional festivals to the holiday list will help to conform China's working agenda to international practice.

As for the impacts on the economy, the eradication of the May Day golden week will negatively affect domestic and outbound travel, but as traditional festivals are made legal holidays, inbound tourism may be boosted.

We Chinese do not show necessary respect for our traditional festivals. Traditional festivals are an important part of traditional culture, which will help to enhance the identity of a nation and strengthen national cohesion and help people from other countries develop a better understanding of the Chinese culture. To make traditional festivals legal holidays will help in this regard.