黄金周-Golden Week

黄金周-Golden Week

We have three Golden Weeks in a year: first the Chinese New Year, second May 1 (Labor Day), and third October 1 (National Day). In fact, there are only three days in a period as public holidays. However, a Golden Week (a weeklong holiday) is made by weekend-shifting. Additional days have to be compensated by working the weekend before or after the holiday. That means people have to keep working for a period longer than five days. As the upcoming Golden Week will run from May 1 to 7, most people will have to work on Saturday (April 30) and Sunday (May 8).

The government called this the long-vacation policy with which they intend to boost the so-called "holiday economy" that benefits tourism, entertainment and service business in China. People are expected to go shopping, go out for dinner or go on vacation in a Golden Week.

A growing number of local residents plan to travel during the upcoming May Day holiday week, with overseas tours proving very popular. Local travel agencies even stopped receiving bookings now for most of their overseas tours for the May Day holiday week. But travelers will be unhappy to see the sharp price hikes for nearly all the routes, especially those lead to domestic destinations. In such a Golden Week, while some businesses turn Golden, consumers become the Weak to be ripped off!