A large majority of Chinese surveyed by the National Development
and Reform Commission (NDRC) want to change the country's statutory
holiday system and have 11 days of holiday a year.
But fewer people support a plan to drop the May Day "Golden
Week" holiday in return.
About 80 percent of the 1.55 million Internet users who
responded to a questionnaire designed by the NDRC voted yes to the
idea of having 11 holiday days every year.
But support dropped when it came to changes that could see the
May Day Golden Week disappear -- only getting 68 percent
backing.
The proposal, drawn up by a special panel after more than a
year's research, calls for the scrapping of the May Day golden week
while adding three traditional festivals as national holidays,
which means workers will receive one more paid day off each
year.
The three-day May Day holiday will be cut to one day, while the
Tomb-sweeping Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-autumn
Festival will become national vacations, according to the draft
released Nov. 9.
This will raise the number of paid holiday days to 11 from
10.
The proposal also calls for the Spring Festival break to start
on lunar New Year's Eve instead of the first day of the Chinese New
Year and for the holiday to end a day earlier. This won support
from almost 81 percent of those in the survey.
Ninety percent hope China can introduce a paid vacation system
which might help ease traffic congestion caused by the current
"Golden Week" holidays.
The government has promised to consider all comments and
suggestions from the public. The final holiday plan is expected to
be released at the end of this year and will be implemented in time
for the 2008 Spring Festival which falls Feb. 7.
China introduced the "Golden Week" holidays in 1999 to boost
domestic consumption.
Tourism revenue soared from 14.1 billion yuan (US$1.90 billion)
during the 1999 National Day holiday to 64.2 billion yuan during
the recent "Golden Week" in October.
However, complaints about overcrowding and damage to historical
sites during the "Golden Week" breaks have prompted debate about
the holidays.
(Agencies via Shenzhen Daily November 19, 2007)
