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China holidays and makeup workdays
Mainland China moves weekends around its public holidays. Some Saturdays and Sundays become working days so the holidays can join into longer breaks. This page lists every date we have from the State Council's official notices and explains the rules behind them.
The rules since 2025
- There are 13 statutory holiday days a year: New Year's Day (1), Spring Festival (4: Lunar New Year's Eve to the third day), Qingming (1), Labour Day (2: May 1–2), Dragon Boat Festival (1), Mid-Autumn Festival (1) and National Day (3: October 1–3).
- Weekend days are moved next to the statutory days to build longer blocks. A Saturday or Sunday that loses its rest day this way becomes a makeup workday: a normal working day on the national schedule.
- When a statutory day falls on a weekend, a weekday off is given in lieu.
- Apart from special cases, there should be no more than six consecutive working days before or after a holiday.
- Each year's exact dates are set by a separate State Council notice, usually published in November of the year before.
Rules: State Council Decree No. 795 (revised holiday measures, in force from 1 January 2025)
2026 holiday schedule
| Holiday | Days off | Length |
|---|---|---|
| New Year's Day | Thu, Jan 1 – Sat, Jan 3 | 3 days |
| Spring Festival | Sun, Feb 15 – Mon, Feb 23 | 9 days |
| Qingming Festival | Sat, Apr 4 – Mon, Apr 6 | 3 days |
| Labour Day | Fri, May 1 – Tue, May 5 | 5 days |
| Dragon Boat Festival | Fri, Jun 19 – Sun, Jun 21 | 3 days |
| Mid-Autumn Festival | Fri, Sep 25 – Sun, Sep 27 | 3 days |
| National Day | Thu, Oct 1 – Wed, Oct 7 | 7 days |
Makeup workdays
- Sun, Jan 4
- Sat, Feb 14
- Sat, Feb 28
- Sat, May 9
- Sun, Sep 20
- Sat, Oct 10
248 working days in the year, including makeup workdays.
Source: 国务院办公厅关于2026年部分节假日安排的通知 · published 2025-11-04 · checked 2026-10-03
2025 holiday schedule
| Holiday | Days off | Length |
|---|---|---|
| New Year's Day | Wed, Jan 1 | 1 day |
| Spring Festival | Tue, Jan 28 – Tue, Feb 4 | 8 days |
| Qingming Festival | Fri, Apr 4 – Sun, Apr 6 | 3 days |
| Labour Day | Thu, May 1 – Mon, May 5 | 5 days |
| Dragon Boat Festival | Sat, May 31 – Mon, Jun 2 | 3 days |
| National Day & Mid-Autumn Festival | Wed, Oct 1 – Wed, Oct 8 | 8 days |
Makeup workdays
- Sun, Jan 26
- Sat, Feb 8
- Sun, Apr 27
- Sun, Sep 28
- Sat, Oct 11
248 working days in the year, including makeup workdays.
Source: 国务院办公厅关于2025年部分节假日安排的通知 · published 2024-11-12 · checked 2026-10-03
2027: not published yet
The notice for next year usually comes out in early November (the 2025 notice was published on 12 November 2024, the 2026 notice on 4 November 2025). We add it on the day it appears. Until then, the calculator shows these dates as not published rather than guessing.
What these dates don't cover
- Holidays for some groups only: a half day for women on Women's Day (8 March), for young people on Youth Day (4 May) and for active service members on Army Day (1 August), and a full day for children under 14 on Children's Day (1 June). Offices stay open, so we count these as normal days.
- Regional holidays, such as those in some ethnic autonomous areas.
- Company shutdowns. Many businesses close for longer than the official break, especially around the Spring Festival. Check directly with your counterpart.
- Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, which have their own holiday calendars.
Holiday pay, briefly
Under Article 44 of the Labour Law, work on a statutory holiday is paid at no less than 300% of the normal wage. Work on a rest day is paid at no less than 200% unless time off in lieu is arranged. Holiday days that are not statutory days are rest days moved from weekends. This is a summary of the law, not legal or payroll advice.
Questions
- Is a makeup Saturday a normal working day?
- Yes. Government offices, schools and businesses that follow the national schedule work a normal day. Banks and stock exchanges publish their own trading calendars, so check those separately.
- Why is the Spring Festival break longer than four days?
- The four statutory days are joined with nearby weekend days, and some of those weekend days are then worked as makeup workdays. In 2026 this made a nine-day break, from 15 to 23 February.
- When will next year's dates be known?
- Usually in early November. Until the notice is out, we show next year as not published.
- Do Hong Kong and Taiwan follow these dates?
- No. Both set their own public holidays. Taiwan stopped scheduling makeup workdays from 2026.
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