China's new vacation system came into force on January 1, 2008, offering all employees paid time off as long as they remain in the same company for more than one year. The length of the paid vacation varies according to how long the employee has been with the company. From one to 10 years entitles employees to five days of paid vacation a year, 10 to 20 years entitles them to 10 days off, and more than 20 years entitles them to 15 days.

Employees can choose to take the vacation in one block or separately. Companies that do not allow their employees to take a vacation must pay triple time for the vacation time worked.

At present, time off from work includes sick leave and a number of national holidays. Time off work under the paid vacation system is in addition to this.

Alongside the paid vacation system, a new national holiday list has been produced. It cancels the May Day golden week, reducing it from three days to one and adds three traditional festivals, the Tomb-Sweeping Day, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival. From 2008, Chinese people will be able to take time off during these four important traditional festivals. The golden week of National Day remains on the new list. The change increases the number of national holidays per year from 114 to 115.

Tomb-Sweeping Day

The Tomb-Sweeping Day marks the fifth seasonal division point and usually falls on the fifth or sixth of April, a traditional festival for commemorating the dead.

The festival arises from a sad story from ancient times. During the Spring and Autumn Period (770 B.C.-476 B.C.), China was divided into several parts, one of which was Jin. Jie Zitui was a minister of the State of Jin who was very loyal to Chong'er, the brother of the prince. After the prince committed suicide as a result of being framed, Chong'er was forced to leave his native land. Only few ministers including Jie followed him. Jie even cut the meat off his own leg when Chong'er was hungry. After 19 years of hard struggle, Chong'er finally became the king of Jin. He granted all the ministers who followed him high positions, but forgot Jie. He felt guilty when his ministers reminded him of Jie's loyalty and went to visit him, but Jie refused to see him and hid in a mountain with his mother. Chong'er burned the mountain to force Jie out. After three days of burning, no one came out, and Chong'er found the dead body of Jie, hugging his mother by a willow tree. Chong'er felt sad and set the day of Jie's death as Qing Ming Festival (Tomb-Sweeping Day).

Since then, every year during Tomb-Sweeping Day, people eat only uncooked food and place willow branches around their houses to commemorate the dead. Nowadays, many people also put flowers on graves to mourn for the dead.

Dragon Boat Festival

The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month by eating zongzi (a pyramid-shaped dumpling made of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves) and holding dragon boat races.

The festival began during the period of Warring States (475 B.C.-221 B.C.), and has a history of more than 2,000 years. The date of the festival is said to be the date when Qu Yuan, an official of the State of Chu, one state among seven in China during the period, died. He was a wise and articulate man, and was loved by the common people. He made an effort to fight against rampant corruption, which caused envy and fear among other officials. He advocated the emperor of Chu to fight against the State of Qin with the cooperation with the State of Qi, but was refused and driven out of service. During his stay in other states, he wrote many poems expressing his strong feelings for Chu. On the day that Chu was defeated by Qin, Qu jumped into the Miluo Lake expressing his strong love for his native land by taking his own life.

After the death of Qu, the common people of Chu went to Miluo Lake to mourn over the great poet they loved so much. Some threw eggs and rice wrapped in leaves into the lake to feed the fish in order to keep them away from Qu. Some doctors poured realgar wine into the lake to kill snakes and other animals that might try to eat Qu.

In commemoration of the day during the Dragon Boat Festival people race dragon boats, eat zongzi, and drink realgar wine to remember the great poet Qu.

Mid-Autumn Festival

This festival is celebrated on the 15th of the eighth lunar month. It is a traditional festival for family reunions and celebrated by eating moon cakes and enjoying the full moon.

The Mid-Autumn Festival has a long history. At first, it was only popular among nobles and scholars, who enjoyed the full moon and wrote poems. Later it spread to the common people and became a tradition festival. In the Tang Dynasty, it finally became a fixed festival and one of the most important festivals for the Chinese people.

A beautiful story is associated with the festival. It is said that there were 10 suns in the sky in ancient times and that they came out every day together, and burned the Earth. A man named Hou Yi killed nine of them and ordered the last one to rise and set down on time everyday. Hou was regarded as a great hero and respected by the people. He had a pretty wife, Chang'e, and they lived happily together. One day, Hou was given a potion of immortality from the Queen Mother of the Western Heavens, and kept it at home. A thief found out about it and tried to steal it when Hou was away. Chang'e couldn't fight against the thief and swallowed the medicine. After drinking it she flew to heaven and was unable to return to the Earth. Hou was desperate to have her back but could do nothing but pray to the moon and miss his wife. Once people heard the sad story they prayed to the moon with Hou and gradually praying to the moon became an important festival for the Chinese people. n-