China Long Weekends 2027
China’s long weekends cannot be listed yet for 2027, and any site that gives you a confident list is guessing. Unlike most countries, China does not derive its breaks from the calendar — the State Council publishes a holiday arrangement (放假安排) each November or December that decides both the days off and the weekends that become working days to pay for them. Until that notice lands in late 2026, only the fixed festival anchors are known. Three of them already touch a weekend on the calendar alone — New Year’s Day on Friday January 1, Qingming on Monday April 5 and National Day on Friday October 1 — and those are the windows in the table below. Treat them as the floor, not the forecast: every one of them will almost certainly come out longer.
China long weekends in 2027
New Year's Day
1 daysJan 1
Jan 1 falls on a Friday. Other 2027 long weekends depend on the make-up workday arrangement, which the State Council has not yet published.
Qingming Festival
3 daysApr 3 – 5
National Day
3 daysOct 1 – 3
How China manufactures its long weekends: 调休 explained
Chinese statutory holidays are short — one day for Qingming, Dragon Boat and Mid-Autumn, three days for New Year’s Day, and longer blocks only for Spring Festival and National Day. The famous week-long Golden Weeks are not generous statutory entitlements; they are assembled. The State Council attaches adjacent weekends to the statutory days and then designates one or two nearby Saturdays or Sundays as make-up workdays (调休 / 补班), so the country works a six- or seven-day week before or after the break. This is why a "7-day holiday" often only contains three or four genuinely new days off.
That mechanism is exactly why the 2027 list is unknowable today. The same festival date can produce a 3-day, 5-day or 8-day break depending on how many weekends the notice borrows. In late 2024 the rules were adjusted so that, apart from the Spring Festival and National Day blocks, make-up workdays should not create stretches longer than six consecutive working days — but the specific Saturdays chosen still change every year. We update this page within a day of the State Council announcement.
What the 2027 anchor dates already tell us
The seven statutory festivals have fixed 2027 anchors: New Year’s Day on Friday January 1, Spring Festival (Lunar New Year’s Day) on Saturday February 6, Qingming on Monday April 5, Labour Day on Saturday May 1, Dragon Boat on Wednesday June 9, Mid-Autumn on Wednesday September 15 and National Day on Friday October 1. Three of these are naturally favourable: New Year’s Day and National Day both fall on a Friday and Qingming on a Monday, so each already sits at the edge of a weekend and produces a three-day window before any borrowing at all.
Two others are structurally awkward. Dragon Boat (Wed Jun 9) and Mid-Autumn (Wed Sep 15) both land mid-week, which historically means either a single isolated day off or a break bought with two make-up workdays. And note the September–October spacing: Mid-Autumn on September 15 sits more than two weeks before National Day on October 1, so unlike 2025 the two cannot merge into a single super-break. Spring Festival day one on Saturday February 6 and Labour Day on Saturday May 1 both fall on a weekend, which almost guarantees make-up workdays around them.
Official sources & data
- State Council holiday noticesVisit sourceThe State Council of the PRC
Frequently asked questions
How many long weekends will China have in 2027?+
At least three, and probably many more. The table shows only what the calendar guarantees without any borrowing: New Year (Jan 1), Qingming (Apr 3–5) and National Day (Oct 1–3). The real number depends entirely on the State Council’s holiday arrangement, expected in November or December 2026 — the days off and the make-up workdays that shape the breaks are still unpublished.
When will the official 2027 China holiday schedule be published?+
The State Council normally issues the next year’s arrangement in November or December, so the 2027 notice is expected in late 2026. It is published on gov.cn and covers all seven statutory festivals plus the designated make-up workdays.
What are make-up workdays (调休) in China?+
They are weekends converted into working days so that a longer consecutive break can be granted. If a Saturday is designated a make-up workday, everyone works that Saturday and the borrowed day is added to the holiday. There is no Japan-style substitute holiday in China — the mechanism runs in the opposite direction.
When is Chinese New Year 2027 and how long will the break be?+
Lunar New Year’s Day is Saturday February 6, 2027. Because day one falls on a weekend, make-up workdays around it are very likely, but the length of the block is not decided until the State Council notice. In recent years the Spring Festival break has run about eight days including borrowed weekends.
Will Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day merge into one break in 2027?+
No. Mid-Autumn falls on Wednesday September 15, 2027 and National Day on Friday October 1 — more than two weeks apart, so the two cannot be bridged into a single super-holiday the way they were in 2025 when the festivals nearly coincided.
Which 2027 festival dates are already certain?+
All seven anchors: New Year’s Day Friday January 1, Spring Festival Saturday February 6, Qingming Monday April 5, Labour Day Saturday May 1, Dragon Boat Wednesday June 9, Mid-Autumn Wednesday September 15 and National Day Friday October 1. What is not certain is how many days off each one produces.