China Public Holidays 2026: The Complete Schedule
Every 2026 break day by day, straight from the official notice — plus what each one actually does to transport, prices, and what's open.
The official 2026 schedule at a glance
Issued by the State Council General Office as notice 国办发明电〔2025〕7号 and published November 4, 2025 in the State Council Gazette (2025, issue 32):
| Festival | Dates off | Days | Make-up workdays |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Year's Day 元旦 | Jan 1 – 3 (Thu–Sat) | 3 | Work Sun Jan 4 |
| Spring Festival 春节 | Feb 15 – 23 (Sun–Mon) | 9 | Work Sat Feb 14 + Sat Feb 28 |
| Qingming 清明节 | Apr 4 – 6 (Sat–Mon) | 3 | None |
| Labor Day 劳动节 | May 1 – 5 (Fri–Tue) | 5 | Work Sat May 9 |
| Dragon Boat 端午节 | Jun 19 – 21 (Fri–Sun) | 3 | None |
| Mid-Autumn 中秋节 | Sep 25 – 27 (Fri–Sun) | 3 | None |
| National Day 国庆节 | Oct 1 – 7 (Thu–Wed) | 7 | Work Sun Sep 20 + Sat Oct 10 |
13 statutory holiday days across 7 festivals; 6 swapped weekend days stitch them into longer breaks. Want to check a specific trip date against all of this? The Golden Week checker does it in one tap.
New Year's Day — Jan 1–3
A three-day city-break holiday, and the gentlest on the calendar: shops and restaurants trade normally, and only the headline attractions feel a bump. Cold-weather bonus in 2026 — it lands right in the middle of Harbin ice festival season, which is exactly why flights to Harbin that week behave like a mini-Golden Week even though the rest of the country barely moves.
Spring Festival — Feb 15–23
The big one: nine days around Chinese New Year's Day (Feb 17, the Year of the Horse), extended by swapped weekends on Feb 14 and Feb 28. For roughly two weeks either side, the annual human migration — chunyun — puts the transport network at maximum load. The cities themselves empty out as hundreds of millions travel home: metro and traffic are blissful, but small family-run restaurants close for the week and some markets go quiet. Tourist sights in destination cities (Harbin, Xi'an, temple fairs) run packed. Atmosphere is outstanding; logistics need the most planning of any week in the year.
Qingming Festival — Apr 4–6
Tomb-Sweeping Day, a natural three-day weekend with no swaps. Domestic travel spikes in the Spring: park and scenic-area queues build on the Saturday, then ease. A good middle ground — you get the holiday buzz without Golden Week extremes, and early April is prime blossom season in the Yangtze cities.
Labor Day — May 1–5
Five days, one swapped Saturday (May 9), and the first full-throttle tourism week of the year: May weather is the country's most comfortable, so every major sight runs at near-Golden-Week density. Hotels in tourist cities reprice upward for the window; trains sell out first on the Fri–Sat and Sun–Tue edges when the travel waves move.
Dragon Boat Festival — Jun 19–21
A natural Friday-to-Sunday weekend, no swaps — the calendar doing everyone a favor. Expect local rather than national travel: dragon boat races on rivers and lakes, zongzi everywhere, and a modest bump at nearby attractions. One of the easiest festival weekends to travel on.
Mid-Autumn Festival — Sep 25–27
Also a natural three-day weekend — and in 2026 it stands alone, a week before National Day rather than merging with it. Family dinners and mooncakes dominate; tourist sites see a normal-September-plus flow rather than a holiday wave. If you want festival color without peak crowds, this is the best-value festival weekend of 2026.
National Day Golden Week — Oct 1–7
The classic Golden Week: seven days, two swapped weekends (Sep 20, Oct 10), and the single busiest sightseeing week of the year. Everything stays open and runs extended hours — that's the point — but the places on every itinerary (the Forbidden City, Zhangjiajie, the Bund) run at maximum density all week. Weather in early October is excellent across most of China, which is precisely the problem. Book accommodation and inter-city transport as early as possible; go early in the morning to the headline sights.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Saturday, February 14, 2026 a working day in China?
It's a make-up workday (调休). To turn the Spring Festival break into nine continuous days off (Feb 15–23), the official schedule pulls two weekends into the run — Saturday Feb 14 before it, and Saturday Feb 28 after it. Employees work those Saturdays as ordinary workdays. For visitors it's invisible: shops, metros, trains, and attractions run normally.
How many total days off do workers in China get in 2026?
Across the seven official breaks, 33 calendar days off in total (including the weekends stitched in by the swaps), built on 13 statutory holiday days under the national rules in force since 2025. That's before annual leave, which employees accrue separately by tenure.
Are trains and flights more expensive during China's holidays?
Trains are price-regulated so the fare itself doesn't inflate — the problem is availability: Golden Week trains on popular routes sell out fast after booking opens, leaving priciest flights or circuitous routes as the fallback. Flights and hotels are market-priced and rise sharply for Feb 15–23, May 1–5, and Oct 1–7. Our train tickets guide covers the booking mechanics.
Which 2026 holiday is the worst for crowds?
It's a tie between Spring Festival (Feb 15–23) and National Day (Oct 1–7), with different flavors: Spring Festival empties the cities — you feel it in closed family restaurants and quiet streets — while transport hubs are at their absolute maximum. National Day keeps everything open and moves the crowds onto the tourist sites themselves. Labor Day (May 1–5) is nearly as intense for sightseeing.