Is Golden Week 1–7 October in 2026?

Yes. The official National Day holiday runs from Thursday 1 October through Wednesday 7 October 2026.

Is every office open on a make-up working day?

No. The national calendar classifies the date as a working day, but you must confirm the hours of the specific bank, counter, attraction or business you need.

Are China's 2027 public holidays official yet?

Use a published State Council notice for your travel year. Until you have one, treat exact dates as predictions and keep key bookings refundable. Confirm the official holiday calendar and operator transport dates before choosing a travel day.

China Public Holidays 2026: Dates & Working Weekends

HOLIDAY DATES

The official 2026 holiday calendar

Read the days off and make-up working days together. The State Council notice classifies the national calendar; it does not set the opening hours of every individual business or counter.

State Council General Office notice 国办发明电〔2025〕7号, issued 4 November 2025.
Holiday	Dates off	Days	Make-up working days
New Year's Day	Thu 1 Jan – Sat 3 Jan	3	Sun 4 Jan
Spring Festival	Sun 15 Feb – Mon 23 Feb	9	Sat 14 Feb; Sat 28 Feb
Qingming	Sat 4 Apr – Mon 6 Apr	3	None
Labour Day	Fri 1 May – Tue 5 May	5	Sat 9 May
Dragon Boat	Fri 19 Jun – Sun 21 Jun	3	None
Mid-Autumn	Fri 25 Sep – Sun 27 Sep	3	None
National Day	Thu 1 Oct – Wed 7 Oct	7	Sun 20 Sep; Sat 10 Oct

WORKING WEEKENDS

The six weekend dates that are working days

These six dates are nationally classified as working days even though they fall on Saturday or Sunday. That does not guarantee that a particular bank branch, public counter, attraction or private business will open.

Use the classification first, then confirm the exact organisation’s hours.
Date	Weekday	Attached holiday
4 January	Sunday	New Year's Day
14 February	Saturday	Spring Festival
28 February	Saturday	Spring Festival
9 May	Saturday	Labour Day
20 September	Sunday	National Day
10 October	Saturday	National Day

TRANSPORT PERIODS

A holiday block and a transport period are not the same thing

The most important correction is in February and March: the official Spring Festival holiday lasts nine days, while the separately defined comprehensive transport period lasts 40 days.

15–23 FEB · HOLIDAY

The official Spring Festival break

Nine days off under the State Council notice. This is not the same thing as the Spring Festival transport period.

2 FEB–13 MAR · TRANSPORT

A separate 40-day travel period

The Ministry of Transport defines the 2026 comprehensive Spring Festival transport period as 2 February to 13 March. A trip on 5 March is outside the holiday but still inside that transport window.

25 SEP–7 OCT · TWO BLOCKS

Three working days between two holidays

Mid-Autumn ends on 27 September and National Day begins on 1 October. Only 28, 29 and 30 September sit between them, so check any transfer across the whole stretch.

1–5 MAY · FIVE DAYS

Labour Day uses one make-up Saturday

The holiday runs for five days and Saturday 9 May is nationally classified as a working day.

Five worked date checks

Each case applies the official dates to a concrete planning decision. It does not forecast inventory, prices or attraction attendance.

DEFAULT

12–24 October: no holiday overlap

Conditions: Arrival is after National Day and after the 10 October make-up working Saturday.
Result: No national-holiday calendar change is required. Continue checking ordinary operator schedules for the actual dates.

FAILURE

1–8 October: National Day in full

Conditions: The itinerary puts multiple city transfers inside 1–7 October.
Result: If dates are flexible, move the transfers outside the holiday. If they are fixed, reduce the number of city changes and verify each remaining train, flight, hotel and attraction directly; this page does not predict inventory or prices.

REVERSAL

Saturday 10 October may be a business day

Conditions: A traveller assumes every Saturday is unusable for a meeting.
Result: The national arrangement classifies 10 October as a working day. A meeting may be possible, but only the organisation itself can confirm opening hours.

EDGE

5 March avoids the holiday, not the transport period

Conditions: The trip moves to 5 March because Spring Festival ended on 23 February.
Result: The date is outside the official holiday but still inside the Ministry of Transport's 2 February–13 March Spring Festival transport period. Check the exact service before treating it as an ordinary March date.

STOP

A website shows a 2027 holiday calendar

Conditions: A future trip is being booked before an official 2027 State Council notice exists.
Result: Do not treat predicted dates as policy. Keep changeable bookings and recheck the State Council policy library later in 2026; the publication date is not fixed.

Failure recovery

Your dates overlap a holiday

Trigger: A fixed date falls inside 15–23 February or 1–7 October.
First action: Separate immovable dates from transfers you can still move.
Alternative: Stay in one city during the block and place intercity moves on either side.
Escalation: If bookings remain changeable, shift the trip outside the block before adding more non-refundable parts.

You need an open counter

Trigger: A bank, government office or service desk is essential.
First action: Check whether the date is a holiday, ordinary weekend or make-up working day.
Alternative: Use the specific organisation's current opening notice or contact channel.
Escalation: For immigration policy advice, 12367 can route questions, but it does not prove a physical counter is open.

You misread a weekend

Trigger: The Saturday or Sunday appears in the six-date working list.
First action: Treat the national calendar classification as a weekday, not a rest day.
Alternative: Use the date for a meeting only after the specific organisation confirms hours.
Escalation: No authority call is needed merely to classify the date; the State Council notice is the source.

You are planning 2027

Trigger: A third-party site publishes exact 2027 dates before the State Council.
First action: Mark those dates as predictions, not official holidays.
Alternative: Keep bookings changeable and use only constraints that do not depend on the final holiday arrangement.
Escalation: Recheck the State Council policy library later in 2026; there is no fixed publication day.

2027: confirm the official calendar before booking

Use a published State Council notice for your travel year. Until you have one, treat exact dates as predictions and keep key bookings refundable. The publication date is not fixed; confirm the official holiday calendar and operator transport dates before choosing a travel day.

DO THIS NOW

Classify your dates in four passes

Mark every date inside the seven official holiday blocks.
Mark all six make-up working weekend dates.
For February and March, separately check the 2 February–13 March transport period.
Confirm the exact operator, office or business hours your trip depends on.
Do not use a predicted 2027 table as policy.

Sources and review boundary

Official sources establish the calendar and transport-period dates. The cases and recovery actions are editorial planning safeguards. This page deliberately gives no weather, price, ticket-inventory or measured-crowd claim. Sources checked 6 September 2026.

2026 national holiday arrangement (国办发明电〔2025〕7号)General Office of the State Council ↗2026 comprehensive Spring Festival transport plan (交运发〔2026〕9号)Ministry of Transport and seven national authorities ↗12367 immigration service scopeNational Immigration Administration ↗

TRAVELLER ANSWERCheck the conditions

Decide whether the May Day crowd risk is acceptable

Do not treat the day after a statutory holiday as an instant return to normal. In 2026, the May Day holiday ran through 5 May and the national railway peak period through 6 May. That proves a shoulder, not next year’s exact crowd level. For the 2026 example only, starting the busiest leg on or after 8 May is our extra-buffer suggestion; it is not an official quiet-day threshold or an observed crowd result. For a later year, wait for that year’s official holiday and operator transport dates before choosing the equivalent day; keep key bookings refundable. (checked 2026-08-28)

Beijing arrival on the evening of 3 May

Context / exact question: A two-week visitor asks whether the days after 5 May will still be extremely crowded because people extend their leave.
15-second answer: For a 3 May 2026 arrival, rest in Beijing first. The holiday ended on 5 May and the railway rush period on 6 May; using 7 May as a transition day and the busiest sights from 8 May is an editorial buffer, not a quiet-day guarantee. For your future-year trip, do not copy these dates forward.
Do now: Sleep in Beijing on arrival, schedule a neighbourhood or capacity-controlled indoor site first, and book the first essential intercity ticket as soon as its official sales window opens.
Failure recovery: If the essential ticket or timed entry is unavailable, stay in the current city and use a no-reservation alternative rather than buying a fragile same-day connection.
Reversal / edge: A future year’s legal holiday dates and crowd pattern are unconfirmed until the State Council and operators publish them; the 2026 dates must not be copied forward as a promise.

Gannan, western Sichuan, or Guizhou during May Day

Context / exact question: The traveller can hire a driver or join a small group and hopes a remote area will avoid shoulder-to-shoulder crowds.
15-second answer: Remote does not mean uncrowded: a single mountain road, park shuttle, or small-town room inventory can create a worse bottleneck. If avoiding crowds matters most, move the demanding leg beyond the officially announced holiday and transport peak for your travel year. In the 2026 example, 8 May is an optional editorial buffer, not proof that a remote region is quiet.
Do now: Choose one regional base, obtain a written driver route and cancellation plan, and avoid a same-day flight or train after a mountain excursion.
Failure recovery: If road control, weather, or accommodation inventory closes the loop, remain at the base and use a nearby day rather than switching to an unverified vehicle.
Reversal / edge: Fixed-date travellers may still go if they accept slower access, reserve refundable lodging, and define “less crowded than Beijing” rather than “quiet.” Exact route conditions need a dated field check.

Fact sources referenced in this answer

Source 1State Council English site, 2026 May Day/railway rush and post-holiday movement.