Public Holidays in China in [2026]

Are you living in China or planning a trip there in 2026? It is a good idea to check the holiday calendar early, because China’s official holiday schedule affects not only days off, but also makeup working days on some weekends. China has 7 official public holiday categories, but the actual holiday breaks are arranged each year by the State Council.

For 2026, the State Council’s holiday notice confirms 13 statutory days off in total, spread across New Year’s Day, Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, Labour Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and National Day. The same notice also sets the adjusted working weekends for some of those breaks.

Whether you live in China or are just visiting, these dates are worth checking in advance. During major holiday periods, offices, banks, transport, tourist sites, and government services may follow different schedules, and some weekends may become official working days.

Public holidays in China in 2026

The table below follows the official 2026 holiday arrangement published by the General Office of the State Council.

Official makeup working days in 2026

China’s 2026 holiday notice also sets these weekend makeup working days: 4 January, 14 February, 28 February, 29 March, 26 April, 27 September, and 10 October 2026.

How many public holidays are observed in China?

China officially recognizes 7 public holiday categories: New Year’s Day, Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, Labour Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and National Day. For 2026, the holiday arrangement gives 13 statutory days off across those festivals.

What makes China different from many other countries is that the government also arranges holiday periods and weekend work adjustments each year. That means the exact break pattern changes annually even when the holiday names stay the same.

The most popular holidays in China

The biggest holiday in the calendar is Spring Festival, which in 2026 runs from 15 to 23 February and is the longest break of the year at 9 days. The official English government release described it as the longest Spring Festival holiday on record.

National Day is another major travel period, with a 7-day break from 1 to 7 October 2026. Labour Day is also one of the busiest travel windows, with a 5-day break from 1 to 5 May 2026.

What the public holidays and days off are in China

New Year’s Day

New Year’s Day opens the public holiday calendar in China. In 2026, the official break runs from 1 to 3 January, with 4 January set as a makeup working day.

Spring Festival

Spring Festival is the most important holiday in China. In 2026, the official break runs from 15 to 23 February, with 14 February and 28 February designated as working days.

Qingming Festival

Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day, falls on 5 April 2026, and the holiday break runs from 4 to 6 April.

Labour Day

Labour Day falls on 1 May 2026, with a 5-day holiday period from 1 to 5 May. The adjusted working day before that break is 26 April 2026.

Dragon Boat Festival

Dragon Boat Festival falls on 19 June 2026, and the official break lasts from 19 to 21 June.

Mid-Autumn Festival

Mid-Autumn Festival falls on 25 September 2026, with a 3-day break from 25 to 27 September.

National Day

National Day begins on 1 October 2026, and the official holiday period runs through 7 October. The schedule also sets 10 October 2026 as a makeup working day.

Public holidays in China in 2027

China does not finalize its full holiday arrangement years that far ahead in the same way some countries do. The official break lengths, adjusted working weekends, and exact holiday periods for 2027 are set by a later State Council notice, so a verified official 2027 table is not available from the 2026 notice.

These 2027 dates are currently shown by widely used calendar listings, but China’s official arrangement notice for 2027 is still the source that will determine the final holiday blocks and any weekend work adjustments.

Public holidays in China in 2028

For 2028, some listings explicitly say the dates are estimates until the official notice is released, so this table should be treated as a planning version, not a final government schedule. 

Conclusion

China’s 2026 holiday calendar is especially important to check carefully because it includes both long public breaks and several makeup working weekends. For travel and work planning, the official arrangement matters more than the holiday names alone.

Last Updated on 04/05/2026