China 2011 Holiday Dates Announced

The new year is hurtling towards us, which means another joyous round of “when will the holidays be this year?” The powers that be actually got their act together pretty early this time around, and published the official Chinese holiday dates for 2011 this morning.

The dates are as follows:

New Year
Holiday: January 1 to 3 sabbatical leave.
Translation: January 1 and 2 are a weekend anyway, so the reality is we get one extra day off for new year – Monday January 3.

Chinese New Year
Holiday: February 2-8.
Work days: Sunday, January 30 and Saturday, February 12.
Translation: We get seven days straight off of chunjie, but as is the Chinese way we have to “earn” our break by working the Sunday before and the Saturday after, meaning that in reality we get three extra days off, since a weekend falls in the middle of the “seven day” holiday.

Qing Ming (Tomb Sweeping) Festival
Holiday: April 3-5.
Work days: Saturday, April 2.
Translation: We get one extra days off – ie it’s a long weekend that’s been moved around.

Labor Day
Holiday: 30 April-2 May.
Translation: We have Monday off – it’s a long weekend.

Dragon Boat Festival
Holiday: June 4-6.
Translation: We have Monday off – it’s a long weekend.

Mid-Autumn Festival
Holiday: September 10-12.
Translation: We have Monday off – it’s a long weekend.

National Day
Holiday: October 1-7.
Work days: Saturday, October 8 and Sunday, October 9.
Translation: Like Chinese New Year, this “seven day” holiday actually means we get three days off on top what we would have had anyway.