Chinese turn three days of vacation into 13-day vacation

People in China have found a way to extend the autumn holiday to 13 days, using only three days of annual vacation. The scheme, dubbed "Take three days, rest thirteen," has led to a sharp rise in demand for travel services, Chinese media reported.

The possibility of a long rest is due to the location of the holidays in the calendar of 2026. The Mid-Autumn holiday falls on September 25-27, and the weekend in honor of the Day of formation of the PRC lasts from October 1 to 7. There are only three working days between them – 28, 29 and 30 September. Having issued a vacation or a day off for these dates, you can not appear at work from September 25 to October 7 inclusive.

Some employers have relieved employees of the need to spend vacation days. Companies of different sizes have independently declared interim dates paid holidays. The owner of a small food company in Hangzhou attributed the decision to the value of the creative approach of the staff and the refusal to race for working hours. After the publication of information about the 13-day vacation, the company received more than 200 applications from applicants. A number of universities have implemented a similar practice, transferring classes from three interim days to other dates.

The tourism industry has already felt the effects of massive extended vacation planning. On the first day of the Mid-Autumn holiday, September 25, the number of bookings of domestic flights exceeded last year’s figures by more than 60%. During the week, the number of searches for autumn travel has more than tripled.

Tickets to popular museums were sold out a few days in advance. Visits to the museums of Hunan and Luoyang provinces are fully booked, and tickets to Beijing’s Forbidden City were not available until October 1. Due to the influx of tourists, some attractions were forced to impose restrictions on the number of visitors.