(LI SHIGONG)

Chinese Ministry of Railways statistics show that from September 28 to October 7, the National Day Holiday period, China's railway networks were used for 67 million trips, an all-time high. On October 1 alone, 8.9 million trips were realized by the railway system.

China's rapid economic growth has stimulated people's demand for traveling. The National Day holiday and the Spring Festival holiday are relatively long holidays, or the Golden Weeks, for Chinese to take leave from work. Many Chinese do not easily give up a week of valuable free time and choose to travel. However, when long holidays come, traffic jams are almost unavoidable. When people rush to scenic spots, almost all parks, places of interest and famous mountains are crowded with people.

A series of problems occurred during the National Day holiday period, particularly several severe traffic accidents, have again sparked heated media debates on the topic—how to deal with the problems caused by the Golden Weeks. Are the crowds simply because of resource shortages? Is it necessary to upgrade the overall management of holiday traveling? What's the basic solution to cope with the colossal numbers of people? The consensus is that it is high time to adjust the vacation system and encourage people to travel at other times, avoiding the Golden Weeks.

Guo Wenbin (Yangcheng Evening News): A survey by China Xiaokang, a monthly political and economical news magazine, shows only 30 percent of workers have access to annual leave payments. We have only two Golden Weeks a year. If we continue to complain, probably the weeklong National Day holiday will disappear, too. So traveling during the long holidays is the best choice for most people.

Crowded scenic spots are not the fault of the Golden Week, but the result of legal failure. If people have paid for annual leave, National Daily holiday won't be as busy as now for most people. If you are sick of the crowds during this holiday, you may choose not to go out. But, as far as most workers are concerned, as long as there is a holiday, it's something great to cherish.

Deng Haijian (Yangcheng Evening News): To cancel the Golden Weeks or not? Debate has been going on for quite some time. Golden Weeks themselves are not the cause of all problems. The Golden Weeks are an explosion of all kinds of problematic public management issues. Take the tourism sector, for example, there are no special population flow control systems or consumption guides. As for the traffic, big jams are not only the result of limited traffic resources. As for services, it's said the falling quality of service results from the huge numbers of travelers during long holidays. The current vacation system might mean little to those who enjoy paid annual leave, but to the vast majority of normal workers, every single legal holiday is a precious chance for family reunions and rest.

Xu Gang (http://www.ce.cn): The weeklong National Day holiday is one of the two long holidays for the Chinese, and is highly anticipated. As a legal holiday, the National Day holiday is supposed to be a basic right and part of welfare of citizens. But in reality, only a small fraction of the population, such as civil servants and teachers can enjoy this holiday. As for private business workers, peddlers, farmers and people like this, this holiday does not exist at all.

It's undeniable the National Day holiday to some extent ensures the public's right to go on leave, but only covers limited groups. On one hand, people, such as most small- and middle-sized company workers, want a holiday and need to rest, but they have no holiday. On the other hand, people who are provided with paid annual leave can fully enjoy this holiday and any other holidays. For many people, the National Day holiday is an imposed holiday and should be replaced by paid annual leave.

According to a survey by Zhaopin.com, of 4, 220 employees, almost 40 percent have to work during the National Day holiday, with 9 percent working through the whole seven days. Most people are annoyed by overtime work and 56 percent of the interviewees say they have never got any overtime payments. While paid annual leave is impossible, the National Day holiday is then the second choice.