As China’s Golden Week begins, its ‘tiaoxiu’ policy dulls holiday glow for some. Is it time for change?

SINGAPORE: “Primary 1 students feel it the most. After every National Day holiday, you’ll find many kids whining and in tears,” said Chinese teacher Ou Yang Hui Er, who teaches at Liwan Overseas Chinese Elementary School in Guangzhou, China.

While post-holiday blues are not uncommon, it’s often felt more acutely in China under the country’s longstanding practice of “tiaoxiu” or adjusted rest, where work and school days are adjusted to carve out longer uninterrupted blocks of time off.

Under this policy, workers and students face a make-up day of work and school respectively after the week-long “Golden Week” National Day holidays that started on Tuesday (Oct 1). They also had to log such a day the weekend right before the break. 

“It’s not unusual to see many children falling sick after the break,” Ms Ou Yang told CNA. While her 20-plus years of teaching experience means she’s well prepared for the usual uptick, the 47-year-old feels the situation can be improved.

“What we can do is slow down the pace,” she said. “Everyone needs a day or two to recover - not just physically, but to restore our spirits too.”

While criticism over tiaoxiu surfaces from time to time, the practice has come under particular scrutiny this year due to the adjustments for the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays impacting five straight weeks of work schedules.

Some Chinese analysts have even publicly criticised the policy, adding to a chorus of online complaints as people vent their frustrations.

Observers told CNA that China has to weigh how effective tiaoxiu remains in stimulating consumption - a drive that has been picking up pace amid economic woes - versus the blowback, and whether such vocal callouts accurately reflect the sentiments of the general public.

"TOO TIRED TO SPEND"

So what exactly is tiaoxiu? 

Simply put, it is a system used in China to adjust public holidays. When public holidays fall in the middle of the week, working days are shifted to create longer breaks, usually by having employees work on a weekend before or after the holiday period.

For example, the Mid-Autumn Festival this year fell on Sep 17. Without tiaoxiu, people would have to work on Sep 16, between the weekend and the actual holiday. But with the policy, the Saturday (Sep 14) before the holiday was designated a work day and Sep 16 became a rest day, essentially carving out a three-day consecutive break.

While this resulted in an extended break, it also meant that people had to work six days straight the week before - leading some to air their grievances online over the longer work stretch.

Tiaoxiu was introduced in 1999 as a measure to boost consumption in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis. Initially targeting the Labour Day and National Day holidays, the extent of the adjustments has since varied to target more holidays and refine their durations.

While giving citizens more uninterrupted time to travel and spend, the policy has also been met with discontent. Common grouses include the challenge of keeping up with the changes, the disruptions to work patterns and the fact that some work days are just being moved around instead of being cut.

“I’m too tired to spend. I’ll spend National Day lying at home,” shared a Shanghai netizen on Chinese social media platform Weibo.

“I won’t travel or spend a cent. it’s my form of resistance,” vowed another user from Chongqing.

This year, the near back-to-back Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays have led to workday adjustments across five consecutive weeks. 

A viral phrase has emerged summing up the confusion: “Work six days, off three; work three, off two; work five, off one; work two, off seven; and work five, off one.”

Taking the National Day holiday as an example - without tiaoxiu, the designated break would be three days long, from Oct 1 to Oct 3. This would result in a day’s work on Friday (Oct 4), between the holiday period and the weekend.

With tiaoxiu, two weekend rest days (Sep 29 and Oct 12) have been turned into working days, and the “time off” for them designated on Oct 4 and Oct 7, effectively creating a seven-day holiday stretch.

Ms Law Sze Ching, who works for a Shenzhen human resources company based in Hong Kong, says this period has been particularly taxing. 

“It feels like I didn’t even get a holiday,” said the 29-year-old Hong Kong resident, now in her fifth year experiencing tiaoxiu. “We’ve had to work on weekends.”

And the National Day holiday brings little respite to Ms Law.

“I’ll be spending time networking with clients - something I can’t afford to do during regular workdays,” she explained to CNA. When asked about burnout, she added: “Networking isn’t part of my job, but without it, my work will suffer.”

Either way, Ms Law isn’t planning to travel during the National Day break. Networking aside, she prefers travelling overseas during off-peak times, using overtime compensation for leave, as domestic holiday destinations are typically overcrowded during public holidays. She would prefer if employees were given the option to take regular public holidays and use leave flexibly in between.

Authorities have said they expect the transport sector to handle an estimated 1.94 billion passenger trips nationwide during the National Day holiday, with a daily average of 277 million trips.

WEIGHING THE PERKS AND PITFALLS

Chinese analysts have also taken aim at tiaoxiu. Independent economist Ma Guangyuan recently criticised the system, calling it a “disturbance of social resources”.

“This time, it’s extreme - five adjustments in one month. It’s exhausting just to keep track, let alone return to a normal routine. The holiday clustering overwhelms people, attractions, and transport systems,” he said on a NetEase Finance programme.

Mr Ma also highlighted the cultural disconnect, noting that with the Mid-Autumn Festival falling on Sep 17 this year, having that date as the last day of the holiday period would take away people's chance for reunion as they’d have to work the day after.

“Rushing back on the last day of the holiday defeats the purpose of family reunions,” he said, suggesting that setting the break on Sep 17 and 18 would make more sense so people have a buffer day of sorts to travel home.

Another analyst echoed these concerns in an April interview with local news portal The Paper, noting that “make-up leave” doesn’t add holidays, it just shifts them.

“It’s robbing Peter to pay Paul, forcing people to ‘repay’ working days after a holiday. The focus is on boosting consumption, not on giving people time to rest,” said Mr Peng Han, chief analyst at TravelDaily China, a news platform specialising in tourism and finance.

However, other observers have also pointed out the merits of tiaoxiu.

Mr Lee Kok How, an adjunct lecturer at Singapore Management University (SMU), explained that China’s policy of adjusting statutory holidays helps align lunar calendar-based holidays, like the Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, with the Gregorian calendar.

“Without adjusting rest days, there would often be gaps of one working day between some holidays and weekends each year, leading to the ‘fragmentation’ of holidays,” Mr Lee told CNA, emphasising the reduced efficiency this would cause.

He highlighted that the policy affects various groups differently. For migrant workers, the extended breaks offer them more opportunities to visit home.

For manufacturers, Mr Lee said tiaoxiu minimises costly start-stop cycles. “It also allows workers to return to their hometown not just during Chinese New Year, potentially reducing churn,” he added.

Mr Lee noted that carving out extended holidays benefits less developed, remote locations like Gansu, Harbin, Changbaishan, and Urumqi. He explained that massive traffic jams and difficulties in securing train and attraction tickets often deter people from travelling to popular destinations.

“It’s a redistribution effect,” he said, citing off-the-beaten-track attractions like Lishui, a city in Zhejiang province, which is gaining popularity.

Not all workers are critical of tiaoxiu as well. Bank of China employee Liang Zhufeng told CNA that he prefers the arrangement as long as the total number of holidays isn’t reduced.

“If the number of holidays stays the same, I prefer tiaoxiu because it gives me longer breaks for travel. Working six days in a row is fine if I get seven consecutive days off to travel abroad,” said the 28-year-old, who will be travelling to Malaysia with his wife over the National Day holiday.

WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?

Discussions on bypassing tiaoxiu - and at what cost - have also emerged after one company announced it was taking matters into its own hands.

Mr Zhang Zibiao, popularly known as Zhang Xuefeng, a tutor and online influencer with 30 million followers, announced in a Douyin video in April that employees of his company, valued at over US$100 million, would not be required to follow the usual workday adjustments.

They would instead receive an additional five days off on top of national holidays to make up for weekend shifts. The move generated buzz, with many netizens expressing interest in joining his company.

Still, analysts have said such moves are considered the exception rather than the norm for Chinese companies, particularly state-owned enterprises.

Legal experts CNA spoke to point out that while companies can offer flexibility in tiaoxiu arrangements, they must safeguard employees' rights.

China's labour law sets limits on working hours and guarantees rest periods while allowing for extended holiday periods, said Ms Vicky Qin, a lawyer from Singapore-based law firm Chung Ting Fai & Co who specialises in China legal matters.

“Employers can offer extra leave, as long as statutory holidays are preserved. If employees are required to work on a statutory holiday, they must be compensated with no less than 300 per cent of their regular wage,” she clarified.

While state-owned enterprises generally adhere to national holiday guidelines, there are exceptions for certain departments depending on work requirements.

“We stick to the guidelines, but finance and treasury teams handling month-end reports may need to work during public holidays,” Ms Zhen Rong, a deputy manager in the human resources department at China Chengtong, a state-owned logistics company, told CNA, “Those employees are compensated with triple pay, as per national labour laws.”

It’s a different picture for retail and travel-related companies. Staff in these sectors typically work through the holidays as these periods are often the peak season.

Popular hotpot chain Haidilao is one example. “To maintain high-quality service during Golden Week, we make advance staffing arrangements, recruit early, and optimise our workforce,” a representative from its human resources department told CNA.

“Employees working through the holiday receive compensation and benefits. After the peak, we give them time off to ensure a balance between operations and rest.”

WORKING TOWARDS CHANGE

As the debate on the perks and pitfalls of tiaoxiu rages on, attention has turned to whether it’s time for authorities to review the longstanding policy, or possibly even dismantle it entirely.

Former chief economist of Yingda Securities Li Daxiao emphasised the role of tiaoxiu in supporting China’s economy in a Sina News article published in August last year.

Mr Li explained that tiaoxiu was designed with two main objectives - to maintain enough working days to support the economy, while also boosting domestic consumption during holidays.

"Data shows that months with more rest days significantly impact GDP," he noted. He added that tiaoxiu encourages spending through longer holiday breaks, while initiatives like the "old-for-new" programmes for home appliances and cars further stimulate consumption.

China observes seven official public holidays each year, although tiaoxiu doesn’t come into play for every occasion. Chinese news reports have highlighted the marked increase in domestic spending during those periods.

In 1999, the first year of the policy, the National Day holiday alone saw 28 million tourists spending 14.1 billion yuan (US$1.62 billion). That accounted for about 5 per cent of annual domestic tourism income, generated in just seven days, The Paper noted in an April 2023 report.

This year, the May Day holiday saw 295 million domestic trips, a 7.6 per cent increase from 2023, with tourists spending 166.89 billion yuan, up 12.7 per cent year-on-year. To support this, the State Council waived toll fees for vehicles with fewer than seven seats on public holidays, a practice in place since 2014.

At the same time, Mr Li pointed out the system's challenges. “They’re trying to have it both ways - ensuring enough working days while pushing for holiday spending, and that’s why tiaoxiu has so many issues.”

He suggested that, like in Europe and the US, giving citizens the right to more flexible vacations could improve the holiday experience. “If implemented, it would not only ensure better off-peak travel experiences but also maintain continuity in work while promoting consumption,” he said.

China has been on an all-out push to encourage domestic consumption, but efforts have run up against challenges as people tighten their belts amid rising costs, the faltering of traditional investment avenues like property and job insecurity.

Mr Song Seng Wun, an economic advisor for the international arm of China Galaxy Securities, a Chinese state-owned brokerage and investment bank, believes the policy is “outdated”, noting it was first introduced in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. 

“It's very interesting that something which was introduced in the aftermath (of the Asian financial crisis), in response to getting the economy back on its feet … was just left there,” he told CNA.

“Is it still relevant today? I say it's not,” Mr Song remarked, explaining that many things have changed over the last 25 years - such as people becoming more conscious about their mental wellbeing.

Singling out the public criticism over tiaoxiu for disrupting work schedules and the toll on physical and mental health, Mr Song said if workers are unhappy, the policy no longer serves its original purpose. He believes it might be time for China to do away with it, and allow employers and workers the flexibility to choose their holidays.

“I would say it’s more important to have a productive labour force. If you're happier, you'll be more productive,” Mr Song said.

Mr Song also highlighted the country’s rapidly ageing workforce, emphasising the need for a more flexible labour policy focused on long-term sustainability.

“You have a healthier, older, ageing labour force, which you might find that over time, they may just be healthier because they have better mental health, in turn (reducing) pressure on healthcare.

“You'll have productivity because workers are happier … they just can be doing more, whether it's at work or on their off days.”