As calls grow from the public to make the Mid-Autumn Festival a
national holiday, the municipal government of Weifang City decided
to lead the way, albeit tentatively.
It gave government employees, doctors, teachers and other people
working in public institutions in the Shandong Province city -
famous for its kite-making - the day off to celebrate the festival.
However, out of a total population of about eight million, only
190,000 people were fortunate enough to get the day off.
Nor was it an act of generosity - those who were given yesterday
off had to work last Saturday.
"By adjusting people's work days, we hope they can celebrate the
traditional festival with their family without their work being
influenced," said Zhao Chongfa, a government official of
Weifang.
A survey on Sina.com showed that more than 97 percent of the
57,239 respondents nationwide supported the festival being made
into a public holiday as a way to "promote traditional
culture."
Another poll by a news Website based in nearby Qingdao, Shandong
Province, showed that 62 percent of the 1,055 people surveyed
craved a family reunion on Mid-Autumn Festival.
"Although the holiday is short, I am really glad to celebrate
with my family," said Wang Heshan, 38, who works for the Kuiwen
District government in Weifang.
Together with his 12-year-old daughter, Wang went back to his
hometown in Gaomi City, about 100 kilometers from Weifang, with
mooncakes and tea for his parents. "They have phoned several times
asking me to come back earlier, " he said. "In the past, although
we have to work on the day, many people's minds are elsewhere."
Many people are calling for the festival to be made a one-day
holiday for fear that traditional celebrations are dwindling.
Dai Liqin, a 22-year-old college student at Xiamen University in
Fujian Province, said when she was young the Mid-Autumn Festival
was an important occasion in her hometown of Ningbo, Zhejiang
Province, when mooncakes and fruits were offered to local temples
and elderly women prayed for blessings.
Theatrical troupes were invited to perform in villages and
families sat around tables with luxurious dinners. "Now that family
members can't gather on the festival, such celebrations have become
a memory," she sighed.
Zhao Lihong, writer and a member of the Chinese People's
Political Consultative Conference, has made four proposals
suggesting the Mid-Autumn Festival be made a public holiday.
"Celebrating the festival can remind people of their families
and siblings when they are engaged in pursuing their career," he
said, adding that as more and more young people choose to work away
from their hometowns, many elderly are left at home alone.
Experts attending a forum in Xiamen recently have called for the
week-long May Day holiday and the National Day holiday to be
shortened to make way for traditional holidays, including the
Mid-Autumn Festival, the Lantern Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day, the
Dragon-Boat Festival and Double Nine Day.
(Xinhua News Agency?September 26, 2007)