Golden Week holidays in China
The Golden Week holidays in China fall in January or February, as well as October.
Understand
The Golden Week holidays are popular times for holiday travel; despite significantly higher rates, trains, flights, and hotels are often fully booked. Popular sites for visitors will be busier during the Golden Week holidays.
The People's Republic of China observes two golden weeks each year:
- The Chinese New Year Golden Week begins in January or February. This is the more important golden week, with hundreds of millions of people going back to their hometowns to spend time with family, and many others taking trips as tourists. This is the largest annual human migration in the world. Many people have additional time off beyond the Golden Week, which means that the associated travel season lasts 40 days, from 15 days before Chinese New Year to 25 days after. For those 40 days, transportation will be extremely crowded and tickets may be hard to come by, even if you book well in advance. This is especially true for trains, whereas flights are not affected as much.
- 2019 New Year: Feb 5; holiday: Feb 4 - 10; travel rush Jan 21 - Mar 1
- 2020 New Year: Jan 25; holiday: Jan 24 - 30
- 2021 New Year: Feb 12; holiday: Feb 11 - 17
- The National Day Golden Week begins 1 October each year, and lasts until Oct 7 (or Oct 8, depending on weekends). Official estimates are that 700 million people travel during this period — that's close to half of China's population! (This does include some double counting as one person can take two trips.)
For each golden week, the country observes three days of paid national holidays, and the surrounding weekends are rearranged to give workers seven days off in a row. Schools and individual companies may take additional days off.
China takes steps to cope with the pressure put on its transport system, such as by increasing train services and suspending tolls. Expect long vehicle queues on expressways linking big cities, and line-ups at gas stations. Travel time on buses can triple, and some runs may be cancelled because of highway congestion. Also, expect queues at popular tourist attractions, and restaurants and hotels will be extremely busy.
Travel tips
If possible, avoid traveling to China during a Golden Week. If you can't help it, consider the following tips to manage your trip:
- Make your reservations early. This includes reserved train seating, airline tickets, hotels, and tours.
- Allow extra time for travel. You may encounter long lines or delays . Be sure to allow extra time to accommodate any delays.
- Enjoy what's local. One way to beat the crowds is to avoid using the highways, public transportation, and tourist attractions. Instead, plan to pursue activities within walking distance of your accommodation.
Other countries
Countries near China see an influx of tourists at this time as well, as both expats in China and well-to-do Chinese citizens take advantage of the time off to go on vacation. Hong Kong and Macau are popular destinations for mainlanders. People in China visiting another country often visit Thailand, Japan, and the US.
Outside of greater China, other countries with large ethnic Chinese populations have celebrations for Chinese New Year, including Malaysia and Singapore. In these countries, some businesses will be closed and travel may be hectic, though the disruption won't be nearly as bad as in China.