China Public Holidays 2021

This articles shows you a detailed list of China public holidays 2021.

China Public Holiday Calendar

China public holidays 2021 includes 7 holidays, that are New Year Holiday, Spring Festival, Ching Ming Festival, Labour Day Holiday, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and National Day Holiday. According to the Labor Law of People's Republic of China, the duration of public holidays is 11 days in total.

Holiday NameLegal Holiday DurationDate
New Year HolidayOne DayJan. 1
Spring FestivalThree DaysFirst, second and third day of the first month in the lunar calendar
Ching Ming FestivalOne DayThe day of Ching Ming Festival in the lunar calendar
Labour Day HolidayOne DayMay 1
Dragon Boat FestivalOne DayThe day of Dragon Boat Festival in the lunar calendar
Mid-Autumn FestivalOne DayThe day of Mid-Autumn Festival in the lunar calendar
National Day HolidayThree DaysOct. 1-3

Usually, General Office of the State Council of PRC announces annual public holidays three weeks before the beginning of each year. A notable feature of public holidays in China is that, the weekend is usually swapped with the working day after the actual holiday date, in order to create a more extended holiday. In this way, holidays are concentrated on certain days, let people have enough time to have a rest. The detailed information about how weekends are swapped with weekdays during china public holidays 2021 will be listed below.

China Public Holidays 2021

Holiday Name2021 Holiday2021 DateWorking Day
New Year HolidayJan. 1 - 3Jan. 1
Spring FestivalFeb. 11 - 17Feb. 12Feb. 7 (Sun.)Feb. 20 (Sat.)
Ching Ming FestivalApr. 3 - 5Apr. 4
Labour Day HolidayMay 1 - 5May 1Apr. 25 (Sun.)May 8 (Sat.)
Dragon Boat FestivalJun. 12 - 14Jun. 14
Mid-Autumn FestivalSep. 19 - 21 Sep. 21Sep. 18 (Sat.)
National Day HolidayOct. 1 - 7Oct. 1Sep. 26 (Sun.)Oct. 9 (Sat.)

Half-day-off Holiday

In addition to public holidays, the Labor Law also set holidays and anniversaries for some specific groups:

Holiday NameHoliday DurationDateTarget Group
International Women's DayHalf DayAug. 3Women
China's Youth DayHalf DayMay 4Youth over 14 years old
Children's DayOne DayJun. 1Children under the age of 14
Army DayHalf DayAug. 1Active-duty soldiers

School Holiday

Most Chinese schools have summer and winter vacations. The Ministry of Education does not have uniform regulations on school holidays since the situations vary from school to school. On the premise of completing the teaching tasks, local governments should make overall holiday arrangements for schools.

In China, schools usually divide each academic year into two semesters. The first semester is from early September to the mid of January, the winter vacation starts from January and ends at February.

The second semester starts from mid-February in spring and ends at June. In July, most schools enter into summer vacation. The summer vacation ends at the end of August, and in some places at the beginning of September. View 2021 China school holidays in your city.

Most Celebrated Festivals

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festival, is the grandest and the most important traditional festival in China. As the beginning of the lunar calendar, the custom of the Spring Festival has continued since the Western Han Dynasty, including New Year greetings, burning firecrackers, pasting Spring Festival couplets and blessing pictures. The purpose of all those activities is to have a good luck in the new year.

Mid-Autumn Day

On the 15th day of the eighth lunar calendar is the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival. This is the middle of the autumn in the year, so it is called the Mid-Autumn Festival. The moon on this day is rounder and brighter than it on other days. Usually, people have a family gathering on this day, look up to the bright moon at night and eat moon cakes. Therefore, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also called the "Reunion Festival".

National Day

On October 1, 1949, the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China was grandly held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. In December 1949, the Chinese government announced that since 1950, October 1 of each year was the National Day of the PRC for commemorating the founding of new China. In addition, the seven-day National Day holiday enables people to have enough time to rest and travel, making National holiday a peak time for tourism, therefore, that week is also called "Golden Week".