Have your favourite travel booking platform and credit card within arm’s reach, but before hitting ‘book,’ here’s what to know about China’s official public holidays and make-up days for next year.
Whether you like 2027’s holiday schedule depends on how you feel about Wednesdays.
The ‘good’ news first 👍
There’s one fewer make-up workday in 2027 (five compared with six in 2026).
New Year’s Day also falls on a Friday, so we get a three-day weekend straight out of the gate.
Convenient graphic to save to your smartphone 📲
The ‘bad’ news 👎
Two previously long weekends are turning into single-day breaks. Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival both fell on Fridays in 2026, neatly rolling into the weekend. In 2027, both land on Wednesdays.
However, waking up on ‘hump day’ and remembering you can go back to sleep doesn’t sound half bad.
Other key differences ⚠️
Spring Festival comes up sooner, so some of us will still be reeling from the Christmas and New Year’s Eve festivities before the holidays are upon us again.
Dragon Boat and Mid-Autumn also arrive earlier on the Gregorian calendar, since all three festivals follow the lunar calendar.
Working on a weekend can come as a culture shock, but China’s tiáoxiū (调休) system exists to create longer, uninterrupted breaks for more meaningful family visits and long-distance travel.
Which do you prefer? Working on a weekend to stretch a holiday? Or taking a Wednesday off and keeping your weekend intact?
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Video and photo of Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region by Patrick Xu and Zhimai Zhang. This article is not to be replicated without prior consent from Time Out Shanghai.