China juggles holidays to assist logistics

A Chinese government panel has announced plans to adjust the holiday schedule to spread the holiday load. You could also think of it as re-emphasizing traditional festivals at the expense of the Marxist May Day celebration but the main reason is to spread the logistics load.

The new schedule aims to address the severe overloading of China’s air, rail and road links in the first week of May, when virtually the entire country goes on vacation. Gridlock may remain around the two other major holidays — essentially a week each — at the Chinese New Year and in the first week of October.

That is when everyone tries to visit distant family members or head for vacation destinations, frequently, almost invariably, producing transportation nightmares. (China is not alone in this. See what you can do with flights into and out of Australia on the European run during the January holidays. Lots of luck.)

The panel’s plans were posted on the Internet for public comment and in theory could still be changed. But the plan is ready to go into place early next year which suggests this is the way it will be.
Trimming the May 1 holiday to one working day from three.

Three traditional Chinese festivals will each become one-day public holidays.
The new holidays are Tomb-Sweeping Day in April, the Dragon Boat Festival in June and the Mid-Autumn Festival in September.
Chinese New Year, usually in late January or early February, and National Day, October 1, will continue as three-day national holidays. They typically expand to seven days through the rearrangement of weekends.
The first official day of Chinese New Year will also be recalculated to fall one day earlier, making it easier for laborers facing cross-country bus and train rides to reach their families in time for the height of the celebrations.