China's government is likely to scrap up its "golden week"
holiday system and make public holidays of more traditional
festivals by 2009, a Chinese tourism expert has revealed.
The week-long May Day holiday would be shortened to one day and
the National Day holiday to two days, Zhang Hui, dean of the
tourism administration department at Beijing International Studies
University, told a forum in Xiamen, east China's Fujian
Province.
Zhang said the conclusion was drawn from discussions among
domestic tourism experts.
To make up for the lost holidays, experts suggested choosing
three traditional festivals as public holidays, according to a
story published in the China Youth Daily.
"Experts all agree that Mid-Autumn Day should be set as a public
holiday and the government can choose two more from the Lantern
Festival, the Tomb-Sweeping Day, the Dragon-Boat Festival and
Double Nine Day." Zhang was quoted as saying.
In addition, compulsory paid vacations, which might be written
into the labor law, would be granted to employees, he said.
Each person will have a basic seven-day paid leave a year,
increasing by one day for every year of employment. The longest
paid leave would not exceed 14 days, he explained.
China has three "golden weeks" for the Spring Festival, Labour
Day and National Day holidays. The "golden weeks" are actually only
three days holiday as a weekend on one side of the holiday is
designated as two working days.
The Lunar New Year golden week would be preserved, Zhang
said.
The week-long holidays were introduced in October 1999 to boost
tourism and holiday consumption. But the lucrative scheme has also
created travel peaks and a great threat to many heritage sites and
scenic spots.
Earlier after this year's May Day holiday, the China National
Tourism Administration said it was considering increasing appeals
for canceling the "golden weeks".
The administration, however, pointed out that it would still
keep the week-long holidays in place currently, as China's social
conditions are not mature enough to implement paid vacations.
(Xinhua News Agency July 2, 2007)