The calendar at a glance
Every window on this page, in order. 2026 is official (国办发明电〔2025〕7号). 2027 is estimated until the next notice lands (~Nov 2026).
4 things people get wrong
It's the opposite. National Day week (Oct 1–7) is when hundreds of millions of Chinese travel domestically at once. Top sights run at daily caps with multi-hour queues, and hotels in tourist cities charge 2–5× normal. It's the single worst tourist week of the year — every year.
Mostly the reverse: CNY is a family-at-home holiday. Megacities half-empty as workers head to their hometowns, many small restaurants and shops close for the first days, and the real spectacle — the migration — happens at train stations. Being in one big city is fine; moving between cities is the trap.
Not always. China pays for its long holidays by declaring selected weekend days official workdays — six of them in 2026 (Jan 4, Feb 14, Feb 28, May 9, Sep 20, Oct 10). On those days the whole country runs a normal weekday: full offices, rush-hour traffic — and noticeably quieter tourist sights.
Works on a random Tuesday. Around holidays it fails hard: high-speed rail presale opens ~15 days out on 12306, and peak-day trains sell out within minutes of release. If your trip touches any window above, book intercity legs the moment presale opens — not at the station.
The 2027 schedule drops in November.
China announces next year's exact holiday windows each November — that's when the 2027 estimates on this page become official dates (and sometimes surprise everyone, like 2026's record 9-day CNY). Leave your email and I'll send one note when the real schedule lands. You'll also get the first-72-hours checklist PDF.