Before National Day, the Entire Internet Is Buzzing With Outrage, as the Public Demands: We Want the Freedom to Take Vacations

Before National Day, the entire internet is buzzing with outrage, as the public demands: We want the freedom to take vacations (video).

[People News] Hello, dear viewers, welcome to "Forbidden News Decoded." I am Sun Ning.

What you just heard were the grievances of Chinese netizens regarding the "adjusted holiday" just before this year's Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day. Even before National Day, the adjusted holiday had already sparked widespread criticism. However, this time is different; after voicing their complaints, the public has directly called for a boycott of consumption and urged the freedom to take vacations and travel. Freedom is precisely what the Chinese people are lacking.

Let’s first examine this series of terms that resembles a code—"5 days on, 1 day off, 5 days on, 3 days off, 3 days on, 7 days off, 3 days on, 1 day off"—which, at first glance, can be quite perplexing, even for me. Why complicate things so much?

This year, the Mid-Autumn Festival is from September 25 to 27, which conveniently falls from Friday to Sunday, allowing for a natural 3-day holiday without any adjustments. However, for National Day, there is a 7-day holiday. Consequently, Sunday, September 20, which was supposed to be a day off, has now been designated as a workday. Similarly, Saturday, October 10, which was also meant to be a day off, must now be worked.

Many netizens, after checking their calendars, became furious: How is this considered "adding 7 days of vacation"? Clearly, they are taking away the weekends that originally belonged to us, shifting them around the National Day, and then telling us: Look, we’ve given you a long holiday! To put it bluntly—first they borrow your vacation, then they return your vacation to you.

It’s been 27 years, and the complaints persist.

In fact, criticism of holiday adjustments by the Chinese has been ongoing for more than a year or two. The 'Golden Week' that we are all familiar with today has its core system dating back to 1999. At that time, the number of statutory holidays was increased, and adjacent weekends were adjusted, gradually leading to the formation of three 7-day 'Golden Weeks' for the Spring Festival, May Day, and National Day. This year marks 27 years since its inception.

Interestingly, officials were quite candid when discussing the role of the Golden Week back then.

In 2000, the General Office of the State Council issued a document titled 'Several Opinions on Further Developing Holiday Tourism.' This document explicitly stated that the Golden Week had a significant impact, promoting the development of related industries such as tourism, railways, transportation, civil aviation, catering, and commerce, and—' effectively stimulating domestic demand and increasing fiscal revenue.'

Upon reading this, many netizens might respond:

Ah, now I understand! This year, one of the most intense criticisms online regarding holiday adjustments is precisely: stop telling us about the convenience of visiting relatives and traveling; ultimately, isn’t it just about encouraging everyone to go out and spend money? Who truly benefits from these long holidays?

This year, an interesting hot topic even emerged—'Holiday Adjustment Resisting Consumption.' Some individuals bluntly stated: you want me to go out and spend money during the National Day holiday, but I refuse to do so; no travel, no hotel stays, just buying groceries and cooking at home.

Let’s examine the consumption that the Golden Week can generate, which will help us understand why there has always been such a close relationship between concentrated holidays and the economy.

During the 8-day holiday for National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival in 2025, domestic travel in China is expected to reach 888 million trips, with total domestic travel expenditure amounting to 809 billion yuan.

In comparison to the 7-day National Day holiday in 2024, there were an additional 123 million trips taken, with tourism spending increasing by 108.189 billion yuan. What does it mean to have 888 million trips?

During this short period, people focused on buying plane tickets, taking high-speed trains, booking hotels, visiting tourist attractions, dining out, and shopping. For sectors like tourism, transportation, accommodation, dining, and retail, this translates to effortless profits, marking a significant surge in consumer spending.

The authorities have been aware of these issues for quite some time. So why has nothing changed after more than twenty years? The answer lies in a deeper issue related to holiday adjustments.

Why can’t ordinary workers take consecutive days off?

A survey cited by mainland authorities in 2013 revealed that in 2012, only about 30% of employees enjoyed paid annual leave to varying extents. This indicates that the problem has been recognized for over a decade.

If an average office worker could genuinely take 5, 10, or even 15 days of annual leave each year, and choose when to take it under reasonable guidelines, would hundreds of millions of people still need to wait for the National Day holiday?

This leads us to a rather absurd paradox: what the government should truly encourage is—“Your leave, you take it yourself.” Instead, it has become—“Your weekend, I’ll reschedule it for you.”

Furthermore, on a broader scale, this sentiment is not unfamiliar to the Chinese populace.

From how to take Saturdays and Sundays off to whether one can apply for a passport, travel abroad, when to have children, and how many children to have, personal choices for Chinese individuals are often dictated by shifts in government policy.

Similar to the situation with international travel, when the government eases restrictions on your ability to go abroad, it may appear to showcase a level of democracy and freedom. However, this freedom can be revoked at any moment; your passport can be demanded back, it can be arbitrarily destroyed, and you can be denied boarding at any time.

The choices of whether to take a break, whether to travel, and whether to live—how much of this is genuinely in the hands of individuals? True rights should not merely be about what policies permit you to do, but should be legally safeguarded to allow for personal autonomy in decision-making.

Why, by 2026, does the government still prioritize concentrated holidays, despite facing annual criticism? This likely needs to be understood within the current economic context of China.

In this year’s 'Government Work Report' from the Chinese Communist Party's Two Sessions, there was a renewed emphasis on expanding domestic demand and stimulating the internal drivers of consumer spending, as well as unlocking the potential for service consumption in areas like culture and tourism.

The Golden Week system was established in 1999. Initially, people were pleased to have a long holiday, but over time, the public began to calculate the situation for themselves. If you take away my Sunday and then return it to me in a concentrated manner, does that truly equate to giving me more time off?

When you have hundreds of millions of people traveling on the same day, hotel prices surge, tourist sites become overcrowded, and highways are jammed, can this really be considered genuine rest?

More importantly—while you want everyone to go out and spend, how much money do ordinary people actually have? Do they have confidence in the future? Are they willing to spend? These issues cannot simply be resolved by shifting Saturday to Monday.

As a result, this year, the public has voiced a 'resistance to consumption during adjusted holidays'; the more you push for concentrated spending, the less I will spend. This reflects a grassroots sentiment of resistance against government pressures.

This year, the collective grievances of Chinese netizens can perhaps be summed up in a straightforward phrase: My vacation, when can I genuinely take a break for myself? Alternatively, we could elevate this sentiment to: The freedom you have confined me with, when will it be restored to me?

That wraps up today's program.

What are your thoughts on China's adjustment leave system? Would you prefer to combine weekends to create a 7-day golden week, or would you rather have a standard two-day weekend that allows for the proper implementation of paid annual leave, enabling you to plan your own vacation? We welcome you to share your opinions in the comments section. Thank you for watching. I am Sun Ning. See you in the next episode.
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